Columbia  fflnibersiitp 
in  tfje  Citp  of  i^eto  ^orfe 


LIBRARY 


GIVEN  BY 
S>  oei"c?H-y 


?a:ried  brJ'-B^'iDorf 


Kn^  bT-XDoney.iry 


0 


fi/rt  c^^^e^A-rr^ 


THE 


WRITINGS 


OF    THE    LATE 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND, 


INCLUDING 


SOME  EVENTS  m  HIS  LIFE, 


WRITTEN  BY  HIMSELF, 


WITH    ADDITIONAL    SKETCHES,&c. 


MISS  L  R  GREENE, 


LANESBORO,  MASS 


NEW   YORK: 

PRINTED  BV  G.   W.  WOOD,  29  GOLD-STREET. 
18  45. 


tUci^^  14'^izMri^^fM  0( 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1846, 
By  Miss  L.  F.  Greene, 
In  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


PREFACE 


The  candid  reader  is  earnestly  requested,  before  entering  upon  the  perusal  of 
the  following  pages,  to  follow  the  compiler  through  a  short  preface.  It  was  at  the 
suggestion  of  one  of  Mr.  Leland's  family  that  1  first  thought  of  attempting  this 
work  ;  and  after  her  removal  by  death,  it  was  with  the  subsequent  encouragement 
and  approbation  of  others,  that  1  continued  to  pursue  it.  When  first  proposed  to 
me,  1  viewed  it  as  an  impossibility,  both  on  account  of  my  inadequacy,  and  of  the 
little  leisure  aflbrded  me  by  a  vocation  which  involved  arduous  labors  and  anxious 
cares ;  but  an  ardent  desire  to  see  the  wcrk  accomplished,  and  the  uncertainty 
that  it  would  be  attempted  by  an  abler  hand,  together  with  the  consideration  that 
time  was  continually  thinning  the  number  of  those  who  could  furnish  accurate 
information,  or  correct  unavoidable  mistakes,  at  length  determined  me  to  make  the 
trial.  Had  I  then  foreseen,  that,  by  the  death  of  some,  and  the  removal  of  others, 
I  should  be  deprived  of  the  aid  on  which  I  mainly  depended,  and  left  to  complete 
the  task  alone,  I  should  have  yielded  entirely  to  the  sense  of  incompetency  which, 
even  wilh  the  prospect  of  such  assistance,  scarcely  permitted  me  to  hope  for  success. 
It  is  not,  therefore,  as  a  mere  matter  of  form,  but  with  a  painful  consciousness  of 
the  imperfect  manner  in  which  the  work  has  been  executed,  and  of  the  disappoint- 
ment which  many  will  probably  feel  on  seeing  it,  that  I  mention  the  circumstances 
under  which  it  was  commenced,  and  some  of  the  embarrassments  that  have  attended 
its  progress  and  completion.  Viewed  as  a  literary  performance,  I  am  happy  to  feel 
assured,  that,  so  far  as  my  own  share  in  it  is  concerned,  it  is  beneath  the  notice 
of  criticism ;  on  that  point,  therefore,  I  am  free  from  solicitude. 

Circumstances  have  rendered  the  task  a  much  more  arduous  one  than  I  at  first 
anticipated.  These  circumstances  were  so  unexpected  to  me,  that  I  should  have 
supposed  their  occurrence,  in  this  instance,  singular,  had  I  not  met  with  the  fol- 
lowing passage,  in  a  book  of  similar  kind,  published  many  years  ago,  which  des- 
cribes so  nearly  my  own  difficulties,  that  1  cannot  forbear  transcribing  it.  "  Vari- 
ous causes  have  contributed  to  create  the  delay  which  has  attended  the  publication 
of  the  book.  It  was  with  considerable  difficulty  that  I  collected  the  materials 
necessary  for  my  purpose.  I  had  imagined,  from  the  general  impression  which 
prevailed,  at  least,  among"  (Mr.  L.'s)  "  friends,  of  the  propriety  of  such  a  publica- 
tion, that  information  would  have  been  spontaneously  offered,  from  every  quarter 
whence  it  might  be  furnished.  But  in  this  I  was  disappointed  ;  and  it  was  some 
considerable  time  from  the  annunciation  of  my  design,  before  I  was  sufficiently 
supplied  to  commence,  with  any  degree  of  prudence,  the  composition  of  the  volume. 
In  addition  to  this,  the  laborious  duties  of  my  charge,  conspired  often  to  suspend 
the  prosecution  of  the  work,  for  the  appearance  of  which,  I  knew  many  to  be 
anxious,  but  none  more  so  than  myself."  Several  important  works  it  has  been 
impossible  to  obtain,  and  I  have,  therefore,  though  with  deep  regret,  been  com- 
pelled to  omit  them.  Whether  they  are  entirely  out  of  print,  or  whether  the  notices 
calling  for  them,  have  not  been  seen  by  those  who  possess  them,  or  from  some 
cause  they  were  not  disposed  to  furnish  them  for  publication,  it  is  in  vain  to  inquire. 
Such,  however,  is  the  fact.  And  here  I  would  present  my  sincere  and  heartfelt 
thanks  to  those  kind  friends,  in  various  parts  of  the  Union,  who  have  interested 
themselves  in  procuring  such  materials  as  I  have  needed,  and  would  assure  them, 
that  their  efforts,  though  many  of  them  may  have  been  unsuccessful,  shall  ever 
be  remembered  with  gratitude.  In  one  or  two  instances,  writings  have  been 
forwarded,  supposed  by  the  friends  who  sent  them  to  be  those  of  Leland,  which 
proved  to  have  been  from  some  other  pen  ;  but  my  thanks'are  equally  due  to  those 
friends  for  their  |romptness  in  offering  the  aid  I  needed,  though  their  kindness 
wa^,  by  that  mistake,  rendered  unavailing. 


4  PREFACE. 

% 
The  object  proposed  in  this  work,  is  a  full  and  correct  exhibition  of  the  character 

and  sentiments  of  John  Leland.  Every  thing,  therefore,  that  seemed  calculated 
to  throw  additional  light  on  these,  or  without  which  the  exhibition  of  them  would 
have  been  imperfect,  has  been  inserted.  Some  pieces  have  been  omitted  wholly, 
and  others  in  part,  to  prevent  the  unnecessary  repetition  of  the  same  ideas  ;  and 
this  has  been  done,  in  most  cases,  except  where  those  ideas  are  so  connected  with 
others,  or  so  brought  to  bear  upon  different  subjects,  that  they  could  not  be  discon- 
nected without  doing  violence  to  the  author's  evident  meaning. 

In  some  of  his  poetical  efforts,  Mr.  Leland  evidently  falls  below  himself.  While 
some  of  his  hymns  are  equal  in  poetical  merit,  as  well  as  in  spirituality  and  devo- 
tion, to  most  of  those  in  general  use,  there  are  other  pieces  which  are  manifestly 
deficient  in  the  former  of  these  qualities.  In  such  cases,  they  are  inserted,  not 
because  of  their  poetical  merit,  but  for  other  reasons  which  their  deficiency,  in  this 
respect,  could  not  set  aside. 

It  is  well  known  that  his  sentiments,  on  some  subjects,  differed  from  those  enter- 
tained by  many  of  his  brethren  at  the  present  day.  Individuals  have,  therefore, 
sometimes  attempted  to  explain  his  ideas  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  them  harmon- 
ize with  their  own  \'iews  ;  in  some  instances,  entirely  destroying,  by  their  expo- 
sition, the  force  of  his  own  words.  This  I  have  had  opportunity  of  knowing,  was 
extremely  annoying  to  him.  He  has  frequently  been  heard  to  express  the  wish 
that  his  own  language  might  be  permitted  to  speak  for  itself,  and  to  express,  as  he 
intended  it  to  do,  the  honest  convictions  of  his  own  mind.  This  being  known  to 
be  his  feeling  on  the  subject,  it  is  hoped  that  if  ever  any  of  his  writings  are  re- 
published, his  wishes  may  be  regarded  as  sacred.  His  opinions  can  be  by  no  one 
better  expressed  than  by  himself,  and  his  life  is  their  best  comment. 

The  order  followed  in  the  arrangement  of  most  of  the  works  is  that  of  the  time 
(as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained)  when  they  were  written  or  published.  This  will 
enable  the  reader  to  trace  the  workings  of  his  mind,  and  to  discover  whatever 
changes  took  place  in  his  views  from  time  to  time. 

A  number  of  pieces  will,  perhaps,  appear  to  those  acquainted  with  them,  some- 
what changed.  It  may  be  proper  to  mention,  in  regard  to  such,  that  there  being 
several  copies  differing  from  erch  other,  I  have  taken  the  liberty,  in  some  cases, 
to  put  the  parts  together,  and  in  others  to  select  the  one  that  appeared  to  me  the 
best. 

I  will  only  add  that  the  delay  in  the  appearance  of  the  work,  since  its  prepara- 
tion for  the  press  has  been  completed,  (a  period  of  more  than  a  year,)  has  been 
occasioned  entirely  by  the  want  of  a  sufficient  number  of  subscriptions  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  publication. 


NOTE. 

It  having  been  thought  advisable,  by  those  who  executed  the  following  work,  to 
throw  it  into  smaller  type  than  was  at  first  contemplated,  the  number  of  pages 
falls  considerably  short  of  the  original  estimate,  though  the  same  amount  of  mat- 
ter is  contained.  It  was  deemed  most  expedient,  under  the  circumstances,  to 
include  the  whole  in  one  volume  ;  but  it  is  presumed  the  consequent  reduction  in 
the  price,  together  with  the  superior  style  of  binding  in  which  it  now  appears,  wiU 
render  it  equally  satisfactory  and  acceptable  to  subscribers. 

With  great  reluctance  the  compiler  was  obliged  to  forego  the  personal  exami- 
nation of  the  proof-sheets,  which  could  not  bedone  without  occasioning  great  delay 
in  the  issuing  of  the  work.  A  number  of  errors  of  considerable  importance  re- 
main uncorrected  except  in  the  errata,  which  the  reader  is  desired  to  consult. 
Other  inaccuracies  in  orthography,  punctuation,  etc.,  may  be  observed  ;  but  those 
which  it  was  supposed  the  reader  would  easily  understand  ai^  correct  for  him- 
self, are  not  noticed  in  the  errata. 


CONTENTS 


1. 

1  2- 

'    3. 

4. 

6. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

11. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 

20. 

21. 

22. 

23. 

24. 

v^    25. 


Preface, 

Some  events  in  the  Life,  &c. 

Further  Sketches,  &c. 

The  History  of  Jack  Nips, 

The  Bible  Baptist, 

The  Virginia  Chronicle, 

The  First  Rise  of  Sin, 

Letter  of  Valediction  on  Leaving  Virginia, 

The  Rights  of  Conscience  Inalienable,  &,c. 

The  Modern  Priest, 

Circular  Letter  of  the  Shaftsbury  Association,  1793, 

A  Sermon  preached  at  the  Funeral  of  Mrs.  Northrop, 

The  Yankee  Spy,  .... 

Corresponding  letter  of  the  Shaftsbury  Association,  1796 

A  Blow  at  the  Root, 

An  Oration  delivered  at  Cheshire,  July  5,  1802, 

Corresponding  Letter  of  the  Shaftsbury  Association,  1803 

The  Government  of  Christ,  a  Christocracy, 

An  Elective  Judiciary,  «Sz,c., 

Sermon  preached  at  Ankram,  Dutchess  Co.,  N.  Y.,  at  the 

Rev.  Luman  Birch, 
Lines  on  the  Death  of  Rev.  Lemuel  Covell, 
Experience,  .... 

Biographical  Sketch  of  Rev.  Peter  Werden, 
Ten  Hymns,  viz : 
The  day  is  past  and  gone. 
Wandering  pilgrims,  mourning  Christians, 
Now  the  Saviour  stands  a  pleading, 
Blessed  be  God  for  all. 
Come  and  taste  along  with  me. 
How  arduous  is  the  preacher's  fight 
Brethren,  I  have  come  once  more. 
Think,  O  my  soul,  the  dreadful  day. 
Christians,  if  your  hearts  be  warm, 
I  set  myself  against  the  Lord, 
A  Budget  of  Scraps,  viz  : 
A  Man  must  have  Sense  to  judge  of  Sense, 
A  ILittle  Cake  first, 
M'..av  Men  of  many  Minds, 
The  Bible, 

The  Long  Island  Indian,     . 
Jemima  Wilkinson  and  the  Indian, 
One  thing  leads  on  to  another. 
Dialogue  between  Philo  and  Jubal, 
Self-excuse, 


Ordination  of 


330 
332 
335 
336 
338 
339 
340 
343 
346 


CONTENTS. 


26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 
31. 


32. 
33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 
38. 
39. 
40. 
41. 

42. 
43. 


44. 
45. 
46. 
47. 
48. 
49. 
60. 
61. 
62. 
53. 
54. 
56. 


Labecula,  or  Little  Spot,    .... 

The  Returning  Penitent,  .  ... 

Prayer  better  than  Law-suits, 

He  that  dwells  in  a  Glass  House,  must  not  cast  Stones  at 

A  Little  Good  Thing,  .... 

Old  They,  Exposed,  .... 

The  Genealogy  of  Christ,  &c., 

Speech  in  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives, 

A  Short  Narrative  of  a  Five  hours  Conflict, 

Address  to  the  Association  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty, 

Syllabus  of  a  Sermon  preached  at  Philadelphia,  April  17, 

The  Jarring  Interests  of  Heaven  reconciled-,  &c., 

Miscellaneous  Essays,  &c.,  viz: 

Which  is  Best,  the  Hypocrite  or  the  Clown  ? 

Extracts  from  a  Little  sermon,  sixteen  minutes  long, 

Facts  and  Questions, 

Lines  on  the  Death  of  Rev.  John  Waller 

Republicanism  the  Best  Government,  &c, 

Age  and  Egotism, 

Hawk  and  Buzzard, 

A  Thought  on  Systems, 

No  Holy  Orders,  but  Good  Ministers, 

-Old  Pigs  want  Teats,  as  well  as  the  Young, 

Nimrod,  Moses,  Christ,  and  the  United  States, 

Faith,  ..... 

Saddle-bags  Journal, 

Old  Mr.  Well's  You  Can, 

Antediluvian  and  Patriarchal, 

The  Parchment.     An  Allegory, 

Superficial  Thoughts  on  Angels, 

On  Sabbatical  Laws, 

Broken  Leg,  .... 

Catechism,  .... 

Free  Thoughts  on  War, 

A  Ray  for  the  Sun, 

Missionary  Societies.     Letter  from  Palestine, 

Short  Essays  on  Government,  etc.. 

Appendix  to  a  Pamphlet  by  Rev.  Justus  Hull, 

King's  Evil  and  Priestcraft, 

Extract  of  a  Letter  to  an  Inquisitive  Friend, 

Short  Reflections,        .        . 

Address  Delivered  at  Pittsfield,  July  5,  1824, 

From  a  Charge  to  a  Candidate  at  his  Ordination, 

Short  Remark  on  Creeds, 

Extract  from  a  Manuscript  read  in  Connexion  with 

on  his  Seventieth  Birthday, 
Part  of  a  Speech  delivered  at  Suffield,  Conn., 
Letter  to  Mrs.  Peatross, 
Extract  from  a  Letter  to  a  Friend, 
Thoughts,  .... 

Extracts  from  "  Leland  Again," 
Address  at  Pittsfield,  January  8,  1829, 
Address  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Baptist  Meeting 
Facts  and  Questions, 

Extract  of  a  Letter  to  Col.  R.  M.  Johnson, 
Transportation  of  the  Mail, 
Extract  of  a  Letter  to  Hon.  R.  M.  Johnson, 
Ljetter  to  the  Editor  of  the  Baptist  Chronicle, 


Others, 


1814 


a  Sermon  preached 


house,  Lanesboro. 


CONTENTS. 


i 

56 

t 

67 

/ 

68 

/ 

69 

/ 

60 

> 

61. 

« 

62. 

1 

63 

« 

64 

♦ 

65 

• 

66 

'• 

67 

^ 

68 

» 

69 

« 

» 

< 

70. 

■» 

71. 

72. 

73. 

74. 

« 

75. 

76. 

77 

K 

78. 

1 

79. 

80. 
81. 
82. 
83. 


Short  Sayings,  etc., 
The  Result  of  Observation, 
Oaths,        ..... 
Extract  of  a  Letter  to  Rev.  John  Taylor, 
Address  at  Dalton,  Mass.,  January  8,  1831, 
Letter  to  Rev.  O.  B.  Brown, 
Address  at  North  Adams,  March  4,  1831, 
Letter  to  Thomas  Buck,  Esq.,  Va., 
Address  at  South  Adams,  July  4,  1832, 
Anonymously  to  Elder  James  Whitsitt, 
Address  at  Cheshire,  January  8, 1833, 
Address  at  Westfield,  March  4,  1833, 
Dialogue,  .... 

Letter  to  Thomas  Bingham,  Esq., 
Lines  Occasioned  by  the  Death  of  Laura  Whitmarsh, 
Do.  do.  do.  Emeline  Whitmarsh, 

Do.  do.  do.  Rev.  Justus  Hull, 

Letter  to  Hon.  R.  M.  Johnson, 
Address  at  Cheshire,  August  28,  1834, 
Letter,        ..... 
Piece  Written  for  his  Daughter, 
I  also  will  sh|w  my  Opinion, 
Communication  to  Signs  of  the  Times, 
Do.  Free  Thoughts  on  Times  and  Things, 
Letter  to  Hon.  G.  N.  Briggs,         ... 
Of  Ministerial  Duties,       .... 
Advertisement.     Great  Reward  Offered, 
How  long,  dear  Saviour,  O  how  long,  (hymn) 

How  solemn  the  sight  we  behold,  do. 

If  grace  could  reach  the  dying  thief,  do. 

Jesus,  who  reigns  in  Heaven  above,  do. 

The  Bible, 

The  Sabbath  Examined, 

Extract  from  Address  at  Bennington,  August  16,  1839, 

Posthumous  and  Miscellaneous,  viz., 

Oaths,       -...-. 

Appeal  to  the  Deist,  etc.,  ... 

Truth,  

Do., 

A  Short  Comment  on  2  Cor.  i.,  17-20, 

The  Kingdom  of  Me,        .... 

"  Beloved,  believe  not  every  Spirit,"  etc., 

Sketch  of  A,  B,  and  C,  ... 

The  Book  of  Job,  .... 

"  The  Prophet  that  hath  a  Dream,"  etc.. 

Do.,  ...... 

Attending  Angels  long  have  waited. 

Church  Contracts,  etc., 

Theomachy,  ..... 

A  Huddle  of  Thoughts, 

Borrowed  Ideas,  etc.,         .... 

Acrostic.  ..... 

Do., 

When  the  Saviour,  all-triumphant, 
When  God  revealed  his  grand  design. 
When  the  Almighty  forms  the  souls  above. 
Thus  saith  the  eternal  God. 


Page 
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648 
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671 
675 
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680 
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688 
697 

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701 
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703 
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706 
706 
709 
710 
711 
712 
712 
714 
717 
718 
718 
718 
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8  CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Short  and  unconnected  sentences,              ....  723 

<#    "  Come,"  said  Moses,  "  and  go  with  us,"                -            -            .  742 

»    Not  much  can  be  expected,            -            -            .            .            .  743 

■**  Must  I  forever  spend  my  years,                  ....  744 

^  <i  I  am  thinking  while  I'm  spinning,             ....  744 


EVENTS 

IN    THE 

LIFE    OF   JOHN   LELAND: 

WRITTEN  BY  HIMSELF. 


And  rtion  shall  remember  all  the  way  which  the  Lord  thy  God  led  thee. MosKS. 

Now  the  things  which  I  write  unto  you,  behold,  before  God,  I  lie  not. Pacl. 


I  WAS  born  in  Grafton,  about  40  miles  west  of  Boston,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  1754,  on  the  14th  of  May. 

The  earliest  public  events  which  I  can  remember,  are  the  death  of 
George  the  Second,  and  the  coronation  of  George  the  Third,  together  with 
some  melancholy  accounts  of  the  French  and  Indian  war.  But  a  number 
of  juvenile  incidents  are  fresh  in  memory,  which  took  place  when  I  was 
two,  three,  and  four  years  old  ;  some  of  which  I  will  here  relate. 

When  my  father  was  a  young  man,  he  was  convinced,  (as  he  has  told 
me,)  by  reading  the  Bible,  that  believers  were  the  only  proper  subjects  of 
baptism,  and  immersion  the  only  gospel  mode ;  but  when  he  broke  his 
mind  to  his  mother,  she  gave  him  an  alarming  warning  against  heresy ; 
and  as  there  was  no  preachers  thereabout  but  pedobaptists,  he  sunk  from 
his  conviction,  and  concluded  that  his  mother  and  the  ministers  were  right. 
Accordingly,  after  he  was  married,  and  had  a  son  born  unto  him,  he  pre- 
sented his  child  for  baptism :  but  after  the  rite  was  performed,  his  mind 
was  solemnly  arrested  with  the  text,  "  Who  hath  required  this  at  your 
hands  ?"  that  it  was  with  difficulty  he  held  his  son  from  falling  out  of  his 
arms ;  nor  did  he  get  over  the  shock  until  he  had  six  more  children  born. 
He  then  got  his  scruples  so  far  removed,  that  he  invited  the  minister  of  the 
town  to  come  to  his  house  on  a  certain  Sunday,  after  public  service  was 
over,  and  baptize  all  of  them.  At  this  time  I  was  something  more  than 
three  years  old.  When  I  found  out  what  the  object  of  the  meeting  wag, 
I  was  greatly  terrified,  and  betook  myself  to  flight.  As  I  was  running  fast 
down  a  little  hill,  I  fell  upon  my  nose,  which  made  the  blood  flow  freely. 

2 


10  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

My  flight  was  in  vain ;  I  was  pursued,  overtaken,  picked  up  and  had  the 
blood  scrubbed  off  my  face,  and  so  was  prepared  for  the  baptismal  water. 

All  the  merit  of  this  transaction,  I  must  give  to  the  maid  who  caught 
me,  my  father  and  the  minister  ;  for  I  was  not  a  voluntary  candidate,  but 
a  reluctant  subject,  forced  against  my  will. 

In  early  life  I  had  a  thirst  for  learning.  At  five  years  old,  by  the  in- 
struction of  a  school  dame,  I  could  read  the  Bible  currently,  and  after- 
wards, in  the  branches  of  learning,  taught  in  common  schools,  I  made  as 
good  proficiency  as  common.  But  what  proficiency  soever  I  made  in 
learning  (owing  to  a  stiffness  of  nature  and  rusticity  of  manners)  I  could 
never  gain  the  good  will  of  my  masters,  nor  was  I  a  favorite  among  the 
scholars. 

The  character  which  one  of  my  masters  gave  rne,  seems  to  have  been 
the  opinion  that  all  of  them  formed  of  me.  Said  he,  "John  has  more 
knowledge  than  good  manners." 

The  minister  of  the  town  was  importunate  with  my  father  to  give  me 
a  collegiate  education  for  the  ministry.  The  doctor  of  the  place  was 
equally  solicitous  to  make  me  a  physician.  My  father  designed  me  to  live 
with  him,  to  support  his  declining  years.  My  own  intention  was  to  be  a 
lawyer,  if  possible ;  but  in  our  designs  and  wishes,  we  have  all  been  dis- 
appointed. 

As  my  father  had  no  library,  and  I  was  fond  of  reading,  the  Bible  was 
my  best  companion. 

Deism  and  Univcrsalism  I  never  heard  of,  and  of  course  was  what  is 
called  a  believer  in  revelation. 

I  had  no  thought  that  I  myself  was  right,  but  believed  that  some  great 
thing  must  be  done  for  me  (I  did  not  know  what)  or  I  could  not  be  saved. 

At  times  I  had  awful  horrors  of  conscience,  when  death,  judgment  and 
the  world  to  come  arrested  my  attention ;  but  these  horrors  did  not  reform 
mc  from  vice  nor  turn  me  to  the  Lord. 

I  loas  almost  in  all  evil,  full  of  vanity,  exceedingly  attached  to  frolick- 
ing and  foolish  wickedness.  When  I  reflect  on  the  follies  of  my  youth, 
the  question  of  Paul  involuntarily  rises  in  my  heart;  "What  fruits  had 
you  then  m  those  tilings  whereof  ye  are  now  ashamed  ?"  In  this  course 
I  continued  until  I  was  eighteen  years  old. 

In  the  summer  of  1772,  I  met  with  one  thing  singular.  When  I  was 
returning  from  my  frolicks  or  evening  diversions,  the  following  words 
would  sound  from  the  skies ,  "You  are  not  about  the  work  which  you 
have  got  to  do."  The  last  time  I  heard  those  sounds,  I  stood  amazed  ;  and 
turning  my  eyes  up  to  the  heavens,  it  seemed  that  there  was  a  work  of 
more  weight  than  a  mountain,  which  I  had  yet  to  perform. 

Soon  after  this,  I  cannot  tell  how  or  why,  a  conviction  took  place  in 
my  mind,  that  all  below  the  sun  could  not  satisfy  or  tranquilize  the  mind. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  11 

The  world  and  all  that  was  in  it  appeared  of  small  consequence.  And 
without  any  unusual  horror  of  mind  or  dread  of  damnation,  the  charms  of 
those  youthful  diversions,  which  had  been  sweeter  to  me  than  the  honey- 
comb,  lost  all  their  sweetness,  nor  could  I  conceive  bow  there  could  be 
any  pleasure  in  them. 

About  this  time,  there  was  an  evening  frolic  in  the  neighborhood,  and  I 
concluded  to  go  to  see  whether  there  was  delight  in  it  or  not;  and  if  not, 
to  find  out  the  cause  of  its  death  in  my  mind.  Accordingly  I  went,  but 
found  nothing  to  please,  but  everything  to  disgust.  After  I  had  tried  the 
experiment,  I  asked  a  young  man  if  he  would  return  home  with  me,  which 
he  agreed  to  do.  On  our  return,  I  introduced  the  subject  of  religion  for 
conversation  on  the  road.  The  next  day  he  reported,  that  he  believed 
John  would  soon  be  a  preacher,  for  he  would  talk  on  no  subject  but  religion. 
At  this  time,  a  young  preacher  (Elhanan  Winchester)  came  into 
Grafton,  and  preached  and  prayed  to  the  astonishment  of  the  people;  and 
a  young  woman,  it  was  said,  was  converted.  When  I  heard  the  report, 
it  greatly  effected  me,  for  I  had  been  at  many  dances  with  her.  The  re- 
sult with  me  was,  now  the  waters  are  troubled,  and  it  is  time  for  me  to 
step  in. 

Reading  the  Bible  and  meditating  on  the  shortness  of  time,  and  the  im- 
portance of  being  prepared  for  death  and  j^.dgment,  occupied  the  chiefest 
of  my  time. 

After  a  few  weeks,  in  the  month  of  September,  Mr.  Winchester  came 
to  Grafton  again.  I  heard  of  it  on  Saturday  evening,  and  concluded  that 
I  would  read  the  Bible  that  evening,  and  attend  meeting  the  following  Sun- 
day,  and  be  converted  like  Priscilla,  (for  that  was  the  name  of  the  young 
woman.)  When  I  went  to  meeting,  I  heard  the  man  preach,  and  while 
he  was  preaching,  something  kept  answering  in  my  breast,  yes,  yes,  yes, 
it  is  so.  After  he  had  done,  I  question  whether  all  the  men  in  the  world 
could  have  convinced  me  that  it  was  not  the  truth.  After  public  service 
was  over,  the  people  retired  to  the  water,  where  Priscilla  was  baptized. 
What  I  saw  and  heard  at  the  water,  greatly  effected  me.  There  I  stood  upon 
a  rock,  and  made  my  vows  to  God  to  forsake  all  sinful  courses  and  seek 
the  Lord,  if  he  would  direct  me  how. 

From  this,  I  began  to  pray,  but  was  hard  put  to  it  to  find  a  place  secret 
enough.  I  was  afraid  some  one  would  hear  me,  and  was  confounded  to 
hear  my  own  voice.  How  often  did  the  words  of  Jesus  sound  like  thun- 
der  in  my  ears :  "  He  that  is  ashamed  to  own  me  before  men,  I  will  be 
ashamed  to  own  him  before  my  Father  and  before  his  angels." 

From  this  time  down,  fifteen  months,  a  volume  might  be  written  on  the 
views,  exercises  and  conflicts  of  my  mind. 

As  the  work  of  God  broke  out  in  Grafton,  Northbridge  and  Upton,  I 
heard  much  preaching  and  conversation  about  the  cliange  which  is  es- 
sential  to  salvation  :  on  which  I  formed  the  following  conclusions : 


12  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

1st.  That  I  must  be  deeply  convicted  of  sin,  greatly  borne  down  under 
the  weight  of  it,  and  heartily  i-epent  of  it.  This  led  me  to  pray  much  for 
conviction,  read  the  threatenings  of  God  to  alarm  myself,  and  study  to 
make  sin  look  horrid. 

2dly.  That  if  ever  I  was  converted,  I  should  know  it  as  distinctly  as  if 
a  surgeon  should  cut  open  my  breast  with  his  knife,  take  out  my  heart  and 
wash  it,  put  it  back  again  and  close  up  the  flesh.  This  caused  me  to  think 
light  of  any  pleasing  views,  which  sometimes  would  break  into  my  mind, 
how  God  could  pardon  sinners  for  the  sake  of  the  Mediator.  All  was 
nothing  to  me,  without  L  could  be  converted  in  the  way 'which  I  laid  out, 
and  know  for  certain  that  T was  born  of  God. 

3dly.  That  whenever  I  should  be  enabled  to  believe  in  Jesus,  I  should 
see  him  as  plainly  as  I  could  see  an  object  of  sense.  While  waiting  and 
hoping  for  these  things,  (some_  of  which  I  have  never  yet  seen  or  felt,)  my 
mind  was  led  to  the  following  views  and.exei'cises  :  ;  ,  ■'. 

First.  To  see  the  extent  and  purity  of. the  holy  law:  That  it  was  the 
perfect  rule  of  eternal  right,  which  arose  from  the  relations  that  exist  be- 
tween God  and  man,  and  between  man  and  man  ;  that  it  will  remain  un- 
alterable while  the  perfections  of  God  and  the  faculties  of  men  exist,  and 
that  the  least  deviation  from  this  rule  is  sin. 

Secondly.  By  looking  into  the  law,  as  a  clear  glass,  to  see  my  own 
weakness  and  wickedness.  Here,  I  found  myself  as  incompetent  to  repent 
and  believe  in  Jesus,  as  I  was  to  keep  the  whole  law.  Never  was  a  poor 
creature  more  perplexed  with  a  hard,  unyielding  heart,  and  a  corrupt  na- 
ture, than  I  was.  I  often  compared  my  heart  to  a  spring  of  water,  rising 
up  against  God  and  godliness. 

Thirdly.  To  view  the  justice  of  God  in  my  condemnation.  Never  did 
the  benevolence  of  God  appear  more  pleasant  to  me  than  justice  did.  I 
was  not  willing  to  be  damned  ;  but  thought,  if  damnation  must  be  my  lot, 
it  would  be  some  relief  to  my  mind  that  God  would  be  just. 

Fourthly.  To  discover  the  sufficiency  of  a  Mediator.  For  a  number  of 
months  before  I  had  a  settled  hope  of  my  interest  in  Christ,  the  plan  of 
atonement,  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  appeared  to  me  as  plain  as  ever  it 
has  since.  Once,  I  remember  to  have  broke  out  thus,  when  walking  in 
the  road  :  "  O  what  a  complete  Saviour  is  Jesus,  every  way  suited  to  my 
needs :  I  can  be  saved  no  other  way — I  do  not  wish  to  be  saved  any  other 
way — but  fear  I  shall  never  be  saved  in  that  way." 

There  were  a  number  of  young  people  converted  in  the  place,  who  as- 
sembled together  for  religious  worship,  with  whom  my  heart  was  greatly 
united.  While  thinking  of  them,  at  a  certain  time,  the  words  of  John 
came  into  my  mind  :  "  We  know  we  have  passed  from  death  unto  life,  be- 
cause we  love  the  brethren ;"  which  gave  me  a  small  hope,  for  a  few  min- 
utes, ihdit  perhaps  I  was  born  of  God. 

One  morning,  about  day-break,  as  I  was  musing  on  my  bed,  upon  this 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  13 

text,  "After  ye  believed,  ye  were  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise," 
it  struck  my  mind  that  souls  first  believed  before  they  were  sealed ;  on 
which  conclusion,  the  following  words  rushed  into  my  mind,  as  if  they  had 
been  spoken  by  some  other,  "  Ye  are  already  sealed  unto  the  day  of  re- 
demption." If  so,  said  I  to  myself,  then  surely  I  am  converted.  But  as 
I  had  never  passed  through  stages  of  distress  equal  to  some  others,  nor 
equal  to  what  I  supposed  an  essential  pre-requisite  to  conversion,  I  could 
not  believe  for  myself.  And  yet  the  words  continued  to  run  in  my  mind, 
*'  Ye  are  already  sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption." 

One  morning,  my  father  was  reading  a  chapter,  when  the  following  text 
arrested  my  attention  with  irresistible  force  :  "  If  ye  will  not  believe,  ye 
shall  not  be  established."  At  another  time  my  thoughts  ran  thus  :  "  If  it 
is  possible  that  I  am  a  Christian,  it  is  certain  that  I  am  the  least  of  all." 
On  which  the  words  of  the  Prophet  came  into  my  mind  with  great  force : 
"  Peace,  peace  to  him  that  is  near,  and  to  him  that  is  far  off,  saith  the  Lord, 
and  I  will  heal  him." 

Though  very  far  from  being  satisfied  with  myself,  yet  with  a  very  feeble 
hope  which  I  began  to  have,  on  the  solicitation  of  others,  I  did  sometimes 
attempt  to  pray  in  small  circles.  And  here  I  will  relate  a  strange  event, 
which  I  know  to  be  true,  but  can  never  account  for  it.  In  the  month  of 
February,  1774,  in  the  time  of  great  snow,  a  very  respectable  preacher, 
Rev.  Samuel  Dennis,  came  into  Grafton  and  preached  one  afternoon  at  a 
Mr.  Wheeler's.  I  attended  ;  and  notwithstanding  his  talents,  he  appeared 
muddy  in  his  mind  about  salvation  freely  by  grace.  After  he  had  done, 
the  people  all  took  their  seats,  and  strange  to  tell,  that  I,  naturally  bashful, 
with  hardly  any  hope  that  I  was  converted,  should  rise  and  state  my  ob- 
jections  against  the  discourse,  and  give  another  interpretation  to  the  texts 
which  the  preacher  had  quoted  to  support  his  doctrine  :  after  which  I  reti- 
red into  another  room ;  but  very  soon  a  messenger  came  and  told  me  I 
must  return  and  dispute  the  point  with  Mr.  Dennis.  I  returned,  but  who 
can  describe  wh^t  I  felt?  I  said  thus  to  myself:  "  I  am  not  converted 
myself,  and  it  must  be  the  Devil  that  has  instigated  me  to  harrass  the  peo- 
pie  of  God."  Mr.  Dennis  addressed  me  like  a  gentleman  and  Christian. 
Said  he,  "  Mr.  Leland,  you  have  lodged  your  objections  against  my  doc- 
trine ;  I  wish  to  discourse  with  you  on  the  subject,  for  the  cause  is  not 
mine  but  God's."  Upon  which  the  battle  began  between  a  venerable 
preacher,  clothed  in  black,  with  a  large  white  wig  on  his  head,  and  a  beard- 
less boy,  not  twenty  years  old,  coarsely  clad,  and  wearing  a  leather  apron. 
The  people  all  stuck  to  see  and  hear.  After  about  three-quarters  of  an 
hour,  there  was  a  cessation  of  arms.  At  any  rate,  as  I  was  the  querist, 
and  he  the  defendant,  such  questions  were  flung  in  his  way  that  he  could 
not  well  solve  ;  and  concluded  by  saying,  "  The  Lord  have  mercy  on  us, 
for  we  are  poor  ignorant  creatures." 

On  this,  there  sprang  up  immediately  in  my  heart  a  strong  desire  to 


14 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


pray.  Indeed,  I  felt  as  if  I  must  pray  or  burst ;  but  the  preacher,  the 
whole  congregation,  and  my  father  among  the  rest,  were  all  present,  and 
I  had  never  attempted  the  like  before.  At  this  crisis,  one  of  the  young 
converts  came  to  me,  and  said,  "  John,  won't  you  pray  ?"  I  durst  not  re- 
fuse, lest  I  should  quench  the  Spirit.  I  proposed  it,  and  the  congregation 
united  by  rising.  I  had  not  spoken  many  words,  before  the  preacher,  my 
father,  and  all  others  were  out  of  the  way.  I  felt  strong  in  the  grace  that 
is  in  Christ  Jesus.  Prayer  being  closed,  I  felt  impelled  to  give  the  people 
a  word  of  exhortation,  which  was  the  first  address  of  the  kind  that  ever  I 
made.  After  this  a  psalm  was  sung;  when  the  line  came  forward,  "We 
tremble  and  rejoice,"  I  felt  confident  in  myself  that  I  did  tremble  before 
the  greatness,  and  rejoice  in  the  goodness  of  God  ;  and  spake  within  my- 
self thus  :  "I  am  converted,  and  will  not  believe  Satan  any  more  when  he 
tells  me  otherwise."  This  frame  of  mind  continued  a  few  minutes,  and 
then  the  vision  closed,  and  I  returned  home  full  of  heaviness,  reproach- 
ing myself  for  my  forwardness  and  presumption.  The  next  day,  I  went 
around  and  told  some  who  heard  me  the  day  before,  that  they  need  not 
mind  any  thing  that  I  had  said,  for  I  was  a  poor  unconverted  sinner. 

My  desire  was  to  be  searched  and  not  deceived.  I  spent  nearly  a  whole 
day,  as  I  was  going  a  little  journey,  praying  in  David's  words,  "Search 
me,  O  God,  and  try  me,  and  know  if  there  be  any  evil  in  me,  and  lead  me 
in  the  way  everlasting.  The  night  following,  I  dreamed  that  I  must  read 
Psalm  xxxii.  8,  which  I  did  as  soon  as  I  awoke.  The  words  are,  "  I  will 
instruct  thee  and  teach  thee  in  the  way  which  thou  slialt  go.  I  will  guide 
thee  with  mine  eye." 

My  heart  was  greatly  attached  to  the  Holy  Scripture.  I  have  not  yet 
forgot  the  burning  desire — the  soul-longings  that  I  had  to  know  what  was 
the  mind  of  God,  contained  in  his  word.  I  would  read — then  pray — then 
read  and  pray  again,  &c.  that  I  might  know  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

One  evening,  as  I  was  walking  the  road  alone,  I  was  greatly  cast  down, 
and  expressed  myself  thus  :  "  I  am  not  a  Christian  ;  I  have  never  been 
convicted  and  converted  like  others,  who  are  true  saints.  The  Devil  shall 
deceive  me  with  false  hopes  no  longer.  I  will  never  pretend  to  religion, 
until  /  knoio  that  I  am  born  of  God  !"  These  words  I  spoke  aloud  ;  but 
immediately  the  words  of  Peter  rushed  into  my  mind,  with  great  energy, 
"I  know  not  the  man."  These  words  dashed  my  conclusion  and  resolu- 
tion to  atoms  in  a  moment.  It  was  a  shock  to  the  centre  of  my  heart.  From 
that  day  to  this  minute,  which  is  a  term  of  forty-six  years,  amidst  all  the 
doubts,  darkness,  troubles  and  temptations  that  I  have  had,  I  have  never 
said  that  I  knew  not  Christ,  or  that  I  was  unconverted. 

Soon  after  this,  I  received  great  comfort  from  Proverbs  xxx.  5.  Every 
word  of  God,  both  precept  and  promise,  seemed  pure.  I  felt  my  soul  yield 
up  to  Christ  and  trust  in  him,  and  believed  he  would  be  my  shield  and  de- 
fence. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  15 

A  young  man,  about  my  age,  in  the  neighborhood,  professed  lo  be  con- 
verted. The  work  was  short  with  him,  and  he  came  out  strong  and  bold. 
He  and  myself  set  up  evening  meetings,  to  sing,  pray,  and  speak  according 
to  our  proportion  of  faith,  as  the  Spirit  gave  us  utterance.  A  number  of 
men  opened  their  houses,  and  many  came  in  to  hear  the  boys.  It  was  com- 
mon for  each  of  us  in  turn  to  preach  two  or  three  of  our  sort  of  sermons 
at  each  meeting.  When  I  was  going  to  these  meetings,  I  often  had  such 
fears  that  I  was  not  converted,  but  only  deceived — that  I  had  learned  these 
things  of  men  and  not  of  Christ ;  and  viewing  the  greatness  of  the  work 
of  manifesting  truth  to  the  consciences  of  men  in  the  sight  of  God  ;  all  to- 
gether would  nearly  take  away  my  strength,  so  that  I  could  not  walk.  At 
such  times,  1  would  resolve  to  appoint  no  more  meetings.  But  when  I  got 
to  the  meeting,  the  gloom  and  horror  of  my  mind  would  subside,  which  em- 
boldened me  to  appoint  another ;  but  when  I  had  left  the  meeting  and  was 
returning  home,  the  same  load  would  fall  upon  me.  In  this  course  I  con- 
tinued from  February  to  June. 

The  work  of  ingathering,  which  prevailed  the  year  before,  seemed  to 
be  over ;  and  I  know  not  that  any  new  cases  of  conversion  took  place  at 
these  little  meetings. 

Within  the  time  that  I  have  been  treating  of,  I  visited  one  of  the  young 
converts,  who  told  me  his  dream.  Said  he,  "  I  dreamed  I  was  down  by 
the  burying-ground  in  Grafton,  and  saw  a  large  company  of  people  coming 
from  the  north-east,  and  you  were  in  the  midst  of  them,  riding  in  a  horse- 
cart.  The  procession  came  to  the  place  where  a  gallows  was  erected. 
The  hangman  drove  his  cart  under  the  gallows,  and  fastened  the  halter 
which  was  around  your  neck  to  the  transverse  of  the  gallows.  You  then 
arose,  and,  with  hands  and  eyes  towards  heaven,  said,  '  Lord  Jesus,  for 
thy  cause  I  am  brought  to  this  end.'  The  hangman  then  led  off  the  horse 
and  cart — you  swung,  and  I  awoke.  Soon  1  slept  and  dreamed  again, 
that  I  was  in  Worcester,  where  was  a  vast  concourse  of  people,  and  Cap- 
tain G.  among  the  rest :  said  the  Captain  to  me  '  Do  you  know  John  Le- 
land  ?'  I  answered,  'yes.'  'Well,'  said  he,  'John  is  to  be  hanged  to- 
day, for  preaching  heresy.'  The  procession  then  moved  into  the  burying- 
ground,  in  Worcester,  with  you  in  the  cart,  where  the  same  tragedy  was 
repeated  that  was  done  in  Grafton." 

This  dream,  told  to  me  with  great  solemnity,  when  I  was  so  weak  and 
fearful,  made  me  more  ready  to  halt  than  I  was  before. 

Two  things  greatly  perplexed  me  at  this  time.  One  was,  that  I  felt 
more  moral  evil  in  myself,  than  I  could  see  or  believe  there  was  in  the 
young  converts.  When  I  saw  them  with  their  lamb-like  faces  and  dove- 
like eyes,  and  heard  them  pray  and  praise,  they  appeared  to  me  seraph- 
ical ;  and  I  had  formed  the  conclusion,  that  if  I  should  ever  be  converted, 
I  should  be  so  too  ;  but  now,  (notwithstanding  the  little  hope  which  I  en- 
tertained for  myself,  and  durst  not  deny  it,)  I  found  more  corruption  in  me 


16  THE    WRITINGS   OP 

than  can  be  described.  The  other  was,  the  want  of  will.  At  times,  I 
would  feel  as  if  my  whole  soul  was  absorbed  in  the  fountain  of  love,  and 
devout  prayer  was  the  breath  of  my  heart ;  at  other  times,  I  would  feel 
such  amazing  languor  and  want  of  will,  that  if  I  might  have  had  all  the 
glories  of  heaven  for  asking,  I  could  not  have  sincerely  done  it.  This 
gave  me  a  very  poor  opinion  of  myself.  Indeed,  from  that  time  to  the 
present,  I  have  had  a  constant  falling  out  with  myself  j  which  leads  me  to 
cry  out,  O,  wretched  man  that  I  am ! 

To  these  two  perplexities,  I  may  add  another,  which  was  a  constant 
worry  in  my  mind  about  preaching.  No  sooner  was  my  mind  exercised 
about  the  salvation  of  my  soul,  than  it  was  agitated  about  preaching.  The 
number  of  sermons  (such  as  they  were)  that  I  preached,  when  alone  by 
myself,  was  very  great.  Both  saints  and  sinners  said,  "  John  will  be  a 
preacher."  My  mother  professed  that  she  had  the  same  impressions  about 
me  when  I  was  a  sucking  child ;  but  my  fears  were,  that  the  Devil  was  at 
the  bottom  of  it,  seeking  to  deceive  me,  and  cheat  me  out  of  my  soul.* 
Text  after  text  would  crowd  into  my  mind  to  urge  me  on  ;  but  I  could  not 
tell  whether  they  were  the  voice  of  God  or  the  voice  of  Eli — whether  the 
Devil  suggested  them  to  me — whether  they  were  accidental,  or  whether 
they  came  from  the  good  spirit  of  God. 

Strange  to  relate,  one  hour  I  would  entertain  a  comfortable  hope  that 
my  sins  were  pardoned;  the  next  hour,  nearly  give  up  all  hope;  fearing 
that  all  my  exercises  were  self-learned,  and  that  1  had  not  been  taught  of 
God  ;  the  third  hour,  be  impelled  that  I  must  preach  or  perish.  This 
conflict  wore  off  my  flesh,  and  made  me  irresolved  about  anything. 

My  faith  was  firm  in  this  :  that  no  man  should  undertake  to  preach  un- 
til he  was  born  of  God  :  that  no  man  born  of  God  was,  by  that  change, 
prepared  to  preach  ;  that  Christ  called  unto  him  whom  he  would,  for  the 
work  of  preaching,  either  fishermen,  herdsmen,  or  men  of  science ;  and 
when  he  called  and  ordained  them,  if  they  neglected  the  work,  and  con- 
ferred with  flesh  and  blood,  they  would  be  disobedient  to  the  heavenly 
vision. 

The  first  of  June,  1774,  Elder  Noah  Alden,  of  Bellingham,  came  to 
Northbridge,  and  baptized  seven  others  and  myself.  Four  of  them  were 
men,  and  the  others  women.  I  was  extremely  dark  in  my  mind  ;  but 
when  I  gave  a  relation  of  my  exercises,  I  had  this  hope,  that  if  I  was  de- 
ceived, the  preacher  would  discern  it  and  reject  me :  and  that  if  he  reject- 
ed me,  it  would  strike  such  conviction  into  my  heart  that  would  lead  me 
on  to  a  sure  conversion.  The  preacher,  however,  only  asked  me  if  I  be- 
lieved in  the  Calvinistical  doctrine  ?  I  replied,  I  did  not  know  what  it 
was,  but  I  believed  in  free  grace. 

As  he  received  me,  dark  as  my  mind  was,  I  would  not  give  back.    The 


*  To  quote  and  transcribe  all  the  texts,  with  the  peculiar  bearings  each  had  on  my 
mind,  would  swell  the  narrative  to  large. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  17 

preacher  was  a  short  man,  and,  therefore,  requested  me  to  go  into  the 
water  with  him,  to  assist  him  in  raising  and  leading  the  women,  which  I 
consented  to.  After  it  was  over,  the  people  said,  "  John  has  begun  and 
he  will  keep  on."  The  day  afterwards,  on  reflection  of  what  was  past,  I 
felt  strengthened,  and  could  say,  "  Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it  behooved 
me." 

On  Sunday,  the  20th  of  June,  I  went  to  meeting  at  Grafton,  where 
there  was  no  preacher.  My  mind  was  greatly  embarrassed  about  preach, 
ing,  and  my  prayer  was,  that  I  might  know  my  duty.  The  words  of  the 
Prophet  occurred  to  my  mind,  "  There  is  none  to  guide  her  of  all  the  sons 
she  has  brought  forth."  Having  the  Bible  in  my  pocket,  I  drew  it  out,  and, 

without  design,  opened  to  Mai.  ix.  chap.     " this  commandment  is  for 

you.  If  ye  will  not  hear,  and  if  ye  will  not  lay  it  to  heart,  to  give  glory 
unto  my  name,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  I  will  even  send  a  curse  upon 

you ."     Whatever  the  original  design  of  the  text  was,  at  that  time  it 

arrested  my  conscience  thus  :  Thou  art  the  man.  Attempts  to  evade  the 
force  of  it  were  all  in  vain.  I  must  either  lay  it  to  heart,  open  my  mouth 
and  give  glory  to  the  name  of  God,  or  his  curse  would  fall  upon  me. 
Fearing  the  hot  displeasure  of  the  Lord,  I  rose  in  great  distress,  and,  hav- 
ing read  Mai.  iii.  16,  17,  I  told  the  people,  if  there  was  no  objection,  I 
would  attempt  to  speak  a  little  from  the  text.  Being  answered  with  si- 
lence,  as  custom  led  the  way,  I  divided  my  text  into  several  heads  of  doc- 
trine. At  the  beginning,  my  mind  was  somewhat  bewildered,  and  my 
words  sounded  very  disagreeable  to  myself;  so  much  so,  that  I  partly  re- 
solved to  quit ;  but  continuing,  my  ideas  brightened,  and  after  a  while  I 
enjoyed  such  freedom  of  thought  and  utterance  of  words  as  I  had  never 
before.  I  spake  about  half  an  hour  and  then  closed.  One  of  the  old 
Christians  made  a  prayer,  and  thanked  God  for  what  he  had  discovered  in 
the  young  man.  At  noontime,  I  was  all  delight ;  my  burden  of  soul, 
which  had  borne  me  down  so  long  and  so  low,  was  all  gone,  and  I  conclu- 
ded I  should  never  have  it  any  more.  But  when  the  people  collected  for 
afternoon  worship,  my  spirits  sunk  within  me.  I  retired  into  a  lot,  and 
fell  down  upon  my  face,  by  a  fence,  full  of  dismay ;  but  suddenly  the 
words  which  God  spake  to  Joshua,  "  Why  liest  thou  upon  thy  face  ? — up," 
gave  me  to  understand  that  there  was  no  peace  for  me  in  indolence.  I  there- 
fore went  to  the  meeting-house,  and  tried  to  preach  again,  but  made  misera- 
ble work  of  it.  I  continued,  however,  to  try  to  preach,  as  doors  opened  ;  but 
I  tried  it  more  than  ten  times  before  I  equalled  the  first,  in  my  own  feeling. 
A  question  rose  in  my  mind,  whether  I  should  be  received  if  I  gave  myself 
Avholly  to  the  work ;  which  was  answered  by  Solomon  thus :  "  A  man's 
gift  maketh  room  for  him,  and  bringeth  him  before  great  men."  From  a 
sense  of  my  insufficiency,  I  trembled  at  the  attempt ;  but  what  was  said 
to  a  king  in  another  case,  was  now  spoken  to  a  feeble  youth  :  "Be  ye 

3 


18  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

strong,  therefore,  and  let  not  your  hands  be  weak,  for  your  work  shall  be 
rewarded." 

I  finally  surrendered,  and  devoted  my  time  and  talents  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  without  any  condition,  evasion  or  mental  reservation.  In 
myself,  I  have  seen  a  rustic  youth — unacquainted  with  men,  manners  and 
books;  without  the  smallest  prospects,  or  even  the  thought  of  gain  or  ap- 
plause, turn  out  a  volunteer  for  Christ,  to  contest  with  all  the  powers  of 
darkness.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  I  have  been  deceived  in  the  affair, 
(for  thousands  are,)  but  if  I  have  been  deceived,  it  was  an  error  in  my 
judgment.  A  hypocrite,  1  was  not ;  for,  at  that  time,  nothing  could  have 
tempted  me  to  engage  in  the  work,  until  I  was  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
The  greatest  obstruction  that  I  had,  when  undertaking  the  work,  was  this  : 
I  did  not  believe  that  I  had  the  longing  desire  and  holy  zeal  for  the  salva- 
tion of  sinners,  that  some  preachers  had ;  indeed,  this  was  my  heaviest 
trial  for  the  first  five  years  of  my  ministry.  I  had,  however,  a  love  for 
the  gospel  and  the  gospel  worship,  and  was  pleased  when  I  saw  people 
turning  to  the  Lord.* 

From  this  beginning,  I  preached  in  the  towns  around  where  I  was  re- 
quested. 

The  first  preaching  tour  that  I  made,  was  a  small  one,  about  forty  miles 
in  len<Tth  ;  preaching  to  little  congregations  on  the  way.  My  mind  was 
dark  when  first  selling  out,  but  grew  darker  and  darker  all  the  way,  till,  at 
lentTih,  I  concluded  that  1  had  run  before  I  was  sent,  and,  therefore,  return- 
ed home  with  precipitance,  resolving  to  attempt  the  work  no  more. 

Before  I  went  on  this  journey,  I  had  appointed  a  meeting  to  attend  after 
my  return ;  had  it  not  been  for  this  circumstance,  I  know  not  what  would 
have  brought  me  into  action.  But  attending  that  appointment,  I  obtained 
great  comfort,  and  resolution  to  persevere. 

At  one  of  these  little  meetings,  a  young  woman  received  a  gracious 
change,  and  gave  good  evidence  of  it.  This  encouraged  me,  that  my  la- 
bor was  not  in  vain.  About  thirty  years  afterwards  I  saw  her.  She  had 
joined  with  the  Presbyterians,  and  blamed  me  for  being  a  close  communi- 


*  From  a  manuscript,  written  mostly  in  1800,  the  following  extract  is  taken: — 
•*  Volumes  might  be  written  upon  the  wanderings,  darkness  and  errors  of  my  life, 
which  would  afford  no  pleasure  to  others  in  hearing  thereof,  and  which  would  be  of  no 
advantage  to  myself  to  relate  ;  and,  therefore,  I  shall  pass  them  by ,  and  attend  only  to  a 
few  of  God's  gracious  and  notable  dealings  with  me,  a  great  sinner,  in  my  ministerial 
labors.  Under  all  the  trials  and  temptations  that  I  have  passed  through  for  twenty-six 
years,  I  have  never  felt  guilty  for  undertaking  to  preach  at  the  time  when  I  began.  I 
cannot  reproach  myself  with  undertaking  the  work  from  any  other  motive  than  a  real  be- 
lief that  it  was  my  indispensable  duty.  I  might  have  been  deceived  ;  but  a  hypocrite  I 
was  not,  so  far  as  I  have  ever  yet  seen.  Yet,  from  the  20th  June,  1774,  until  November, 
1779  I  had  one  general  trial  in  my  mind.  It  was  this :  I  did  not  possess  that  strong  de- 
sire for  the  conversion  of  sinners,  that  many  others  evidently  had.  This  made  me  fear 
that  all  was  not  right  with  me." 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  19 

cant.  I  asked  her,  if  her  ministers  and  church  would  let  me  preach  in 
their  meeting-house ;  she  said,  she  beUeved  not.  Why  then,  said  I, 
should  I  be  blamed  for  not  communing  with  those  who  have  no  fellowship 
with  me  ? 

The  autumn  of  this  year,  I  joined  Bellingham  church,  (for  till  then,  I 
belonged  to  no  church,)  and  after  about  six  months,  that  church  gave  me 
a  license  to  do  that  which  I  had  been  doing  for  a  year  before. 

In  October,  1775,  I  took  a  journey  to  Virginia,  and  was  gone  eight 
months.  One  person  in  New  Jersey,  one  in  Connecticut,  and  two  in  Vir- 
ginia, professed  to  receive  some  impression,  under  my  improvement, 
which  turned  them  to  the  Lord. 

September  30,  1776, 1  was  married  to  Sally  Devine,  of  Hopkinton  ;  and 
immediately  started  with  her  to  Virginia.  As  we  made  a  stay  of  six 
weeks  at  Philadelphia,  and  a  longer  stay  in  Fairfax,  Virginia,  we  did  not 
reach  Culpepper  until  March.  At  Mount  Poney,  in  Culpepper,  I  joined 
the  church,  and  undertook  to  preach  among  them  half  the  Sundays.  In 
August,  I  was  ordained  by  the  choice  of  the  church,  without  the  imposition 
of  the  hands  of  a  Presbytery.  As  this  was  a  departure  from  the  usage  of 
the  churches  in  Virginia,  I  was  not  generally  fellowshipped  by  them.  I 
spent  all  my  time  travelling  and  preaching,  and  had  large  congregations. 
The  first  person  that  I  baptized,  was  Betsey  Tillery.  I  saw  her  in  1814. 
She  had  then  supported  a  Christian  character  for  thirty-eight  years.  In  the 
close  of  the  year  1777,  I  travelled  as  far  south  as  Pee  Dec  river,  in  South 
Carolina,  and  returned  to  Culpepper  early  in  1778.  Soon  after  this,  I  re- 
moved into  Orange  county,  where  I  acquired  me  a  residence,  and  where  I 
continued  all  the  time  of  my  stay  in  Virginia.  My  stay  in  Culpepper  was 
not  a  blessing  to  the  people.  I  was  too  young  and  roving  to  be  looked  up 
to  as  a  pastor.  Difficulties  arose,  the  church  split,  and  I  just  obtained  a 
dismission  and  recommendation.  God  had  another  man  for  Mount  Poney 
church.  William  Mason  became  their  pastor,  and  he  has  done  wonders  in 
the  name  of  Jesus.  Having  moved  to  Orange,  I  commenced  my  labors 
with  ardor.  Twelve  and  fourteen  times  a  week  I  frequently  preached. 
But,  notwithstanding  the  constancy  of  my  preaching,  and  the  multitudes 
that  attended,  there  was  but  small  appearance  of  the  work  of  God's  spirit. 
I  said  before,  I  knew  my  heart  did  not  burn  with  the  holy  fire  as  it 
ought  to. 

In  the  spring  of  1779,  I  appointed  a  string  of  meetings,  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  miles,  as  far  down  as  York  county.  As  I  had  sold  my 
horse  to  pay  for  my  house  and  lot,  I  concluded  to  go  on  foot :  accordingly 
I  started ;  but,  as  I  had  a  pair  of  new  shoes  that  pinched  my  feet,  I  found 
I  must  either  desist — go  barefoot,  like  the  old  Apostles,  or  purchase  a 
horse.  I  chose  the  last,  and  promised  the  Lord  if  he  would  aid  me  to  pay 
for  the  horse,  I  would  spend  it  in  his  service.  I  gave  my  note  for  the 
beast,  and  pursued  my  journey.    It  so  happened,  in  the  event,  that  when  I 


20  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

returned  home,  I  had  more  than  money  enough  to  pay  for  my  mare  ;  and 
many  thonsands  of  miles  she  carried  me  about  to  preach.  But  though  she 
was  good,  she  was  not  invulnerable ;  for,  on  the  8th  of  June,  as  I  was  re- 
turning  from  Bedford  county,  I  called  at  a  friend's  house,  arid  found,  by 
the  badness  of  the  saddle,  her  back  was  so  swelled  that  I  could  not  ride 
her.  A  man,  twenty  miles  distant,  had  fallen  from  a  fence  and  broken 
his  neck,  and  this  day  I  had  appointed  to  preach  his  funeral  sermon  com- 
memorative. My  friend  could  not  help  me,  and,  therefore,  I  arose  at  day- 
break and  travelled  twenty  miles,  preached  to  the  people,  and  then  re- 
turned  on  foot  to  my  friend's,  where  my  beast  was.* 

In  September,  this  year,  I  was  likewise  returning  from  Bedford,  and 
had  an  evening  meeting  at  a  place  called  the  North  Garden.  After 
preaching  was  over,  a  Mrs.  Baily  informed  me  that  she  had  a  desire  to  be 
baptized,  but  her  husband  had  told  her,  if  she  was  ever  baptized  he  would 
whip  her  within  an  inch  of  her  life,  and  kill  the  man  that  should  baptize 
her.  That  he  had  once  seen  me,  and  liked  me  so  well,  that  he  said  if  Le- 
land  should  come  that  way  he  might  baptize  her ;  and  now  she  wished  to 
embrace  the  opportunity.  I  asked  her  if  she  was  willing  to  suffer,  on  sup- 
position her  husband  should  revolt  to  his  first  resolution.  "  Yes,"  said  she, 
"if  I  am  whipped,  my  Saviour  had  long  furrows  ploughed  upon  his  back." 
*'  Well,"  said  I,  "  if  you  will  venture  your  back,  I  will  venture  my  head." 
Accordingly,  the  candles  were  lighted — we  went  to  the  water,  and  she  was 
baptized.  My  engagements  called  me  to  start  very  early  next  morning. 
I  heard  afterwards  that  he  whipped  her,  but  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist 
is  not  taken  off  yet. 

I  now  come  to  a  period,  which  was  very  interesting  to  me,  and,  possi- 
bly,  on  account  of  the  incidents  of  this  period,  may  be  profitable  to  others. 

In  the  month  of  October,  my  mind  was  graciously  impressed  with  eter- 
nal realities.  Souls  appeared  very  precious  to  me,  and  my  heart  was 
drawn  out  in  prayer  for  their  salvation.  Now,  for  the  first  time,  I  knew 
what  it  was  to  travail  in  birth  for  the  conversion  of  sinners.  The  words 
of  Rachel  to  Jacob  were  the  words  of  my  heart  to  God :  "  Give  me  chil- 
dren or  else  I  die."  One  night,  as  I  lay  on  my  bed  weeping  and  praying, 
I  thought  if  it  was  spring  instead  of  autumn,  I  would  spend  all  my  time  at 
the  feet  of  Jesus  in  prayer,  and  at  the  feet  of  sinners,  praying  them  to  be 
reconciled  to  God ;  but  winter  was  coming  on,  the  summer  was  ended, 
and  the  opportunity  past.  On  which  reflection,  the  following  words  burst 
into  my  mind  with  surprising  effect :  "  The  shepherds  rejoiced  on  a  win- 

*  In  June,  this  year,  the  first  Camp  Meeting  was  attended  in  Caroline  county,  that  I 
ever  heard  of.  By  arrangement,  eight  or  ten  Baptist  preachers  held  the  meeting  three 
days  and  nights  ;  but,  as  nothing  extraordinary  followed,  it  was  not  repeated  ;  and  it  was 
a  number  of  years  before  those  meetings  arose  in  the  West,  and  have  spread  all  over 
the  United  States. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  31 

ter's  day."  These  words  awakened  all  the  latent  energies  of  my  soul.  I 
resolved  to  double  my  vigor,  and  had  faith  to  believe  that  I  should  see  souls 
return  to  the  Lord,  and  that  I  should  rejoice  at  it  that  winter.  For  eight 
months  after  this,  I  had  the  spirit  of  prayer  to  a  degree  beyond  what  I  ever 
had  it  in  my  life ;  and,  if  I  mistake  not,  my  preaching  savored  a  little  of 
the  same  spirit.  My  field  of  preaching  was  from  Orange  down  to  York, 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles.  From  November,  1779,  to  July, 
1780,  I  baptized  one  hundred  and  thirty,  the  chiefest  of  whom  professed 
to  be  the  seals. of  my  ministry.  As  this  was  the  first  time  that  ever  such 
a  work  attended  my  ministry,  it  was  refreshing  indeed ;  nor  can  I  think 
of  it  now,  without  soft  emotions  of  heart.  The  chiefest  of  my  suc- 
cess was  in  York,  where  Lord  Cornwallis  and  the  British  army  were  made 
prisoners,  in  October,  1781.  Matthew  Wood,  Robert  Sta.cy  and  Thomas 
Cheesman,  (all  preachers  afterwards,)  were  the  children  of  this  revival. 

In  the  first  of  my  preaching  in  York,  I  had  a  meeting  in  the  edge  of 
Warwick.  Just  as  I  had  read  my  text.  Col.  Harwood,  with  six  others, 
entered  the  house.  "Sir,"  said  the  Colonel,  "I  am  come  to  stop  you  from 
preaching  here  to-day."  Without  any  time  to  think,  I  gave  a  heavy  stamp 
on  the  floor,  and  told  him  in  the  name  of  God  to  forbear.  He  replied,  "  I 
did  not  come  to  fight,  but  to  stop  you  from  preaching."  A  Mr.  Cole 
Diggs,  son  of  a  counsellor,  was  there,  and  said,  "  Col.  Harwood,  you  are 
a  representative  in  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  Assembly  has  just 
made  a  law  to  secure  the  religious  rights  of  all,  and  now  you  come  to 
prevent  them.  What  does  that  look  like  ?"  Said  the  Colonel,  *'  Mr. 
Diggs,  I  only  came  to  prevent  an  unlawful  conventicle,  for  this  meeting 
draws  away  the  people  from  the  church  !"  Mrs.  Russell,  the  mistress 
of  the  house,  replied,  "  Hah  !  Colonel,  I  think  it  is  a  pity  that  people 
cannot  do  as  they  please,  in  their  own  house."  "  Madam,"  said  the 
Colonel,  "I  did  not  come  to  dispute  with  ladies."  And  here  the  fracas 
ended.  The  Colonel  and  Co.  went  off*,  and  the  meeting  was  continued. 
When  he  returned  home,  his  mother  said  unto  him,  "  Well,  Neddy,  what 
did  the  man  say  imto  you  ?"  "  What  V  said  the  Colonel,  "  He  stamp- 
ed at  me,  and  made  no  more  of  me  than  if  I  had  been  a  dog.  I  shall 
trouble  them  no  more."     Some  of  his  servants  I  baptized  afterwards. 

Captain  Robert  Howard,  of  York,  had  a  beautiful  and  pious  wife  whom 
he  adored.  She  wished  to  be  baptized,  but  as  he  was  a  vestryman  in  the 
church,  he  opposed  it.  At  a  time,  however,  she  came  forward  and  was 
baptized.  When  he  heard  of  it,  he  called  for  his  carriage,  and  took  his 
cow-skin,  and  said  he  would  lash  me  out  of  the  county.  His  sister  replied, 
"  Brother  Bobby,  Mr.  Leland  is  a  large  man,  and  will  be  too  much  for 
you."  "  I  know  it,"  said  the  Captain,  "  but  he  will  not  fight."  His  wife 
made  answer,  "  Perhaps  he  may — he  goes  well  armed  ;  and  if  he  should 
wound  you  in  the  heart,  you  would  fall  before  him."     "Ah  .'"said  the 


22 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


Captain,  "  I  know  nothing  about  this  heart-work.'  "  I  wish  you  may,  my 
dear,"  said  his  wife.  He  finally  declined  the  contest,  and  afterwards  be- 
came serious,  penitent,  believing,  and  was  baptized.  After  his  reform,  as 
he  was  riding  in  company  with  me  to  meeting,  one  of  his  uncles  met  him 
in  the  road,  and  accosted  him  thus :  "  Nephew  Bobby,  I  pity  you  in  my 
heart,  to  see  you  following  that  deluded  people,  and  wasting  your  time  so 
much,  that  you  will  raise  no  corn  this  year."  "  My  uncle,"  said  the  Cap- 
tain, "  I  wish  you  had  pitied  me  as  much  two  years  ago,  when  you  cheated 
me  out  of  my  mill." 

About  the  same  time,  a  gentlewoman,  in  James  City,  was  convinced  that 
it  was  her  duty  to  be  baptized,  but  neglected  it  until  she  could  evade  it  no 
longer.  She  came  to  my  quarters  on  Saturday,  and  made  known  her  de- 
sire  ;  accordingly  the  neighbors  were  collected,  and  she  was  baptized  : 
when  she  returned  and  told  her  husband  of  it,  he  would  not  sleep  with  her 
that  night,  nor  eat  breakfast  with  her  in  the  morning.  She  came  to  meet- 
ing on  Sunday  and  informed  me  of  what  had  taken  place,  and  asked  my 
advice  in  the  affair.  I  knew  the  lady  to  be  an  excellent  cook,  and  her 
husband  was  fond  of  good  dinners.  My  answer  was,  "  My  sister,  give 
yourself  no  uneasiness;  his  appetite  will  bring  him  to  his  reason  by  dinner 
time;"  which  accordingly  came  to  pass. 

At  the  close  of  the  eight  months,  which  I  am  now  treating  of,  as  I  was 
taking  leave  of  the  young  disciples  in  York,  to  return  home  to  Orange, 
and  was  preaching  to  them,  from  "  Little  children,  keep  yourselves  from 
idols,"  I  was  taken  with  a  pain  in  my  head,  and  an  ague,  followed  by  a 
bilious  fever,  and  preached  not  again  for  eighteen  weeks.  Reports  reach- 
ed  my  home  that  I  was  dead,  and  a  kind  of  funeral  sermon  was  preached 
on  the  occasion.  Notwithstanding  this,  I  was  carried  home  in  a  carriage, 
after  six  weeks  sickness,  but  did  not  preach  until  twelve  weeks  more  had 
elapsed.  In  this  sickness,  my  mind  was  greatly  depressed.  The  spirit 
of  prayer  left  me.  My  hope  for  heaven  was  shaken  to  the  centre.  The 
truth  of  what  I  had  been  preaching  was  doubted.  The  fear  that  I  had 
been  governed  by  an  ambitious  spirit,  like  Jehu,  was  great.  In  short,  I 
was  a  poor,  forlorn,  sick  worm  of  the  dust. 

One  thing,  however,  stuck  by  me,  because  I  felt  it,  viz :  "  That  a  death 
unto  sin,  and  a  new  birth  unto  righteousness,  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
constitute  a  man  either  safe  or  happy."  When  my  sickness  abated,  my 
spirit  was  so  peevish  that  I  was  out  of  all  esteem  of  myself. 

When  my  health  was  so  far  recovered  that  I  could  preach,  I  resumed 
the  work  again,  but  ah !  my  hair  was  shaven,  my  strength  was  gone. 
Through  the  mercy  of  God,  however,  I  was  holpen  with  a  little  help  ; 
and  after  I  was  tried  I  saw  brighter  days. 

From  this  time  to  the  year  17S5,  by  the  siege  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  the 
refunding  of  paper  money,  and  removals  to  Kentucky,  religion  ran  low  in 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  23 

Virginia.     A  few  events  that  took  place  in  those  four  years,  connected 
with  the  narative  which  I  ann  here  giving,  I  shall  nevertheless  notice. 

One  day,  I  went  from  home  about  eight  miles.  On  my  return,  there 
arose  a  heavy  thunder  storm.  Being  in  summer  dress,  I  stopped  under 
the  large  branches  of  a  lofty  oak,  to  shelter  me  from  the  rain.  The  rain, 
however,  continuing,  I  started  for  home.  I  had  gone  but  a  little  distance 
before  the  lightning  struck.  The  next  time  I  passed  the  road,  I  found  the 
lightning  had  struck  the  oak,  and  split  off  one  of  the  huge  limbs,  which  had 
fallen  on  the  very  spot  where  I  had  stood  about  three  minutes  before. 

In  the  bend  of  Pamunky  river,  a  little  below  New  Castle,  there  is  an 
Indian  town.  By  the  circle  of  the  river,  and  a  cross  creek,  agate,  with 
two  lengths  of  fence,  enclose  it  around.  There  was  at  that  time  about 
seventy-five  proprietors.  The  name  of  their  king  was  John  Tohon.  His 
royal  majesty  gave  me  an  invitation  to  visit  the  town,  and  preach  among 
them.  Accordingly  I  went,  and  preached  at  the  royal  pavilion.  After 
preaching,  I  baptized  two  persons,  and  then  heard  the  king  preach ;  for, 
like  Melchizedeck,  he  was  priest  as  well  as  king.  His  majesty  did  not 
seem  to  be  possessed  with  much  regal  power,  and  by  the  text  which  he 
preached  from,  one  would  think  that  he  did  not  seek  after  hierarchal  au- 
thority. His  text  was,  "  Be  ye  not  called  Rabbi,  for  one  is  your  master, 
even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren."  I  ate  a  good  dinner  with  the  king, 
slept  in  his  apartment  the  following  night,  and  left  the  town  in  the  morn- 
ing.    Soon  after  this  he  died. 

Funeral  sermons  in  Virginia  are  seldom  preached  at  the  time  of  the  in- 
terment, but  sometime  afterwards.  I  was  invited  to  preach  a  sermon,  on 
the  death  of  a  small  child,  long  after  it  was  dead.  This  was  in  the  county 
of  Louisa,  about  eighteen  miles  from  home.  The  text  was  Isaiah  Ivii.  2. 
At  this  meeting,  three  persons  were  first  awakened,  who  became  and  lived 
shining  Christians.  This  was  the  first  fruits  of  my  labor  in  Louisa,  where, 
afterwards,  the  Lord  gave  me  a  rich  harvest. 

An  inn-holder  in  Pagestown  strongly  importuned  me  to  preach  at  his 
house.  When  I  went  there,  he  did  not  open  his  own  doors  for  worship, 
but  provided  another  place.  There  was  some  appearance  that  he  wished 
the  people  to  collect,  more  to  purchase  his  drink  and  dinner,  than  to  have 
their  souls  converted.  After  some  time,  he  pressed  me  again  to  come  and 
preach  ;  when  I  went,  he  would  not  open  his  house,  nor  could  he  get  any 
other ;  we,  therefore,  repaired  to  a  tobacco  house  for  worship.  In  this 
instance,  I  felt  as  if  my  master  was  mocked ;  and  if  I  had  felt  gracious 
enough,  I  should  have  shaken  off  the  dust  of  my  feet  against  him  ;  but  as 
I  was  a  poor  imperfect  creature  myself,  I  peaceably  pursued  my  course, 
after  the  meeting  was  over.  Some  weeks  afterwards,  as  I  was  travelling 
the  road  a  little  distance  from  the  place,  I  saw  the  landlord's  chimney 
standing,  but  the  house  was  consumed  by  fire.     When  I  saw  it,  my  heart 


24 


THE    WHITINGS    OP 


burst  out  in  sacred  language,  "  Righteous  art  thou,  Lord  God  Almighty, 
because  thou  hast  judged  thus." 

In  the  year  1784,  I  travelled  northward  as  far  as  Philadelphia,  where 
I  tari'ied  six  weeks.     As  I  went  in  company  with  Mr.  Winchester,  the 
Baptists  in  Philadelphia  were  so  fearful  that  I  was  a  Universalist,  that 
I  was  not  invited  by  them  to  preach  in  their  meeting-house.     I  therefore 
preached  Sundays  and  almost  every  night  in  the  Hall  of  the  University, 
and  in  private  houses.     But  when  I  saw  the  many  thousands  of  people  in 
the  city,  and  those  who  attended  at  the  Hall  did  not  exceed  200,  I  was  re. 
solved  to  try  the  street.     Accordingly,  I  appointed  a  meeting  to  preach 
one  afternoon  at  five  o'clock,  at  the  sign  of  the  Blue  Bell.     When  I  went, 
but  few  appeared.     I  stepped  upon  a  stick  of  ship  timber  and  began  by 
singing :  on  which  the  people  came  running  from  every  lane,  and  contin- 
ued  to  increase  until  preaching  was  over,  when  I  judged  there  was  about 
three  hundred  people.     I  then  appointed  to  preach  there  again,  when  there 
w^ere  about  twice  as  many.     During  my  stay  in  the  city,  I  baptized  four 
persons  in  Schuylkill  river,  and  returned  home  to  Virginia  by  water.     Six 
years  afterwards  I  was  in  Philadelphia,  and  having  preached  one  evening 
in  the  Baptist  meeting-house,  a  man  took  me  by  the  hand  and  invited  me 
to  take  lodgings  with  him  that  night,  which  I  accepted  of.     As  we  were 
walking  to  his  house,  he  gave  the  following  account  of  himself:  '-Sir, 
formerly  I  attended  meeting  nowhere,  but  when  you  was  here  six  years 
ago,  as  I  was  at  work  in  my  shop,  1  heard  the  voice  of  singing  as  if  it 
came  down  from  heaven.     I  left  my  shop  and  ran  out  to  see  what  was 
coming,  and  beheld  you,  sir,  upon  a  stick  of  ship-timber  at  prayer.    After 
prayer,  I  attended  to  your  preaching,  which  sunk  so  deeply  into  my  heart, 
that  I  have  never  lost  it ;  and  am  now  a  member  in  the  Baptist  church." 

Late  in  the  year  1784,  I  travelled  to  the  south-east  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  near  the  Dismal  Swamp,  and  returned  in  six  weeks. 

In  the  spring  of  1785,  I  went  to  the  same  district,  and  ranged  and 
preached  much  more  than  I  did  in  my  first  visit. 

I  now  come  to  a  period  when  religious  appearance  began  to  assume  a 
more  pleasing  face  than  it  had  done  for  many  years.  In  Powhattan  county 
the  work  first  broke  out,  and  many  became  the  subjects  of  victorious  grace. 
Some  old  professors,  on  the  other  side  of  James  River,  about  Chickahominy, 
went  to  see  what  was  going  on,  who  caught  the  spirit,  and  returning  home, 
were  instrumental  of  a  similar  work  in  their  neighborhood,  and  round 
about  in  Goochland. 

The  last  of  this  year  I  took  a  preaching  tour  into  the  lower  part  of  North 
Carolina.  Preached  eighteen  times  in  that  state,  in  a  circular  course, 
then  came  into  Virginia  and  steered  home. 

There  was  a  place  for  preaching  on  the  line  between  Louisa  and  Gooch- 
land, called  Hodger's  Seats,  where  I  sometimes  preached.     In  the  spring 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  25 

of  1786, 1  appointed  a  long  and  circular  string  of  meetings.  And  as  I  had 
a  strong  impression  that  God  would  work  at  that  place,  I  reserved  five  days 
in  my  tour  to  spend  among  that  people.  After  the  Association  at  Boar 
Swamp  was  over,  I  travelled  through  Goochland,  where  many  people  seem- 
ed to  be  on  the  alert  for  heaven,  and  came  to  Mr.  Hodger's,  where  a  large 
number  of  people  were  waiting  for  me.  I  introduced  worship  by  repeat- 
ing a  hymn, 

"  0  that  my  load  of  sin  were  gone,"  &.c. 

All  of  a  sudden,  it  seemed  as  if  something  fell  from  heaven  upon  the 
people.  I  could  not  speak  for  weeping,  for  some  time.  I  am  but  a  poor 
preacher,  at  best,  and  the  sermon  which  I  then  preached  was  hardly  mid- 
dling, but  the  effect  on  the  people  was  amazing.  Some  were  crying  out, 
some  on  their  knees,  and  others  prostrate  on  the  floor.  In  the  course  of  a 
few  weeks  about  forty  were  baptized  ;  and  I  believe  that  a  majority  of  them 
dated  their  first  awakenings  at  the  meeting  at  Mr.  Hodger's. 

In  August,  the  same  year,  I  attended  a  meeting  of  the  General  Com- 
mittee, at  Buckingham  ;  after  which  I  travelled  southward  to  Pittsylvania, 
to  visit  that  great  man  of  God,  Rev.  Samuel  Harris ;  and  on  my  return, 
preached  on  a  Sunday  in  Prince  Edward.  In  the  midst  of  the  meeting,  a 
Mr.  Owen  Smith  was  brought  out,  and  by  his  shouting,  and  praising,  and 
exhorting,  he  set  the  whole  assembly  in  motion.  I  have  never  seen  him 
since,  but  have  received  a  number  of  letters  from  him.  His  last  letter 
was  in  1816.  He  was  then  well,  and  reminded  me  of  the  meeting  in  Prince 
Edward,  and  wrote  that  nine  of  his  family  belong  to  the  church. 

I  had  met  Mr.  Harris  on  the  banks  of  James  river,  and  accompanied 
him  at  his  meetings  through  Goochland,  Fluvanna  and  Louisa  to  Orange. 
At  a  meeting  in  Goochland,  after  preaching  was  over,  Mr.  Harris  went 
into  the  yard,  and  sat  down  in  the  shade,  while  the  people  were  weeping 
in  the  meeting-house,  and  telling  what  God  had  done  for  them,  in  order  to 
be  baptized.  A  gentlewoman  addressed  Mr.  Harris  as  follows  :  "  Mr. 
Harris,  what  do  you  think  all  this  weeping  is  for  ?  Are  not  all  those  tears 
like  the  tears  of  a  crocodile  ?  I  believfe  I  could  cry  as  well  as  any  of  them, 
.if  I  chose  to  act  the  hypocrite."  On  this  address,  Mr.  Harris  drew  a  dol- 
lar out  of  his  pocket  and  replied,  "  Good  woman,  I  will  give  you  this  dol- 
lar for  a  tear,  and  repeat  it  ten  times  ;"  but  the  woman  shed  no  tears. 

Among  the  seven  that  were  baptized  at  that  time,  was  a  Mrs.  Johnson, 
daughter  of  Col.  James  Dabncy,  of  whom  take  the  following  account: 
Col.  Johnson's  son  Christopher  paid  attention  to  the  young  lady,  and  gained 
her  good  will,  but  could  not  obtain  the  consent  of  her  father ;  on  which 
Miss  Betsey  agreed  to  elope  with  young  Johnson ;  and  from  her  chamber 
window,  on  a  ladder,  she  descended  in  the  night,  and  was  conducted  by  her 
lover  to  the  house  of  his  father.  In  the  morning  Col.  Dabney  missed  his 
daughter,  and  suspecting  where  she  was  gone,  he  armed  himself  with  sword 

4 


26  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

and  pistol,  and  steered  his  course  to  Col.  Johnson's.  When  he  got  within 
call,  he  demanded  if  his  daughter  Betsey  was  there  ?  Being  answered  in 
the  affirmative,  he  gave  orders  for  her  to  meet  him  on  the  risk  of  her  life. 
Betsey's  affections  no  ways  accorded  with  the  demand  of  her  father,  and 
seeing  him  thus  armed,  she  was  greatly  distressed.  Col.  Anderson  being 
at  the  house,  seeing  what  was  passing,  said,  "  Come  Betsey,  don't  be  dis- 
couraged,  I'll  effect  a  reconciliation."  With  that,  he  armed  himself  with 
sword  and  pistol,  and  marched  into  the  field  to  meet  Dabney,  with  his  arm 
stretched  out,  holding  his  glittering  sword,  and  Betsey  walking  under  it. 
When  he  got  near  Dabney,  he  exclaimed,  "Col.  Dabney,  here  is  your 
daughter,  Betsey,  who  wishes  for  a  reconciliation ;  1  have  undertaken  to 
protect  her,  and  shall  defend  her  with  the  last  drop  of  my  blood."  Betsey 
fell  upon  her  knees — Dabney  softened — a  reconciliation  was  effected — the 
young  couple  were  married ;  and,  at  the  meeting  just  spoken  of,  she  was 
baptized  :  nor  was  it  long  before  her  husband  followed  her  example. 

This  event  has  often  led  my  mind  to  reflect  on  an  incident,  infinitely 
more  important.  The  guilty  runaway  sinner  is  pursued  by  the  holy,  fiery 
lasv,  and  threatened  with  eternal  death  ;  but  the  Mediator  appears  to  inter- 
pose,  and  when  the  sinner  is  humbled  by  grace,  a  reconciliation  is  ob- 
tained. 

In  June,  1787,  I  was  ordained  by  laying  on  of  hands.  The  ministers 
that  officiated,  were  Nathaniel  Saunders,  John  Waller  and  John  Price.  By 
this,  not  only  a  union  took  place  between  myself  and  others,  but  it  was  a 
small  link  in  the  chain  of  events,  which  produced  a  union  among  all  the 
Baptists  in  Virginia,  not  long  afterwards. 

In  1787,  old  Col.  Harris  made  me  a  visit,  whose  coming  called  out  a 
vast  crowd  of  ministers  and  people.  His  eyes — his  every  motion  was 
preaching ;  but  after  he  had  read  his  text,  his  mind  was  so  dark  that  he 
could  not  preach  ;  and  of  course  the  lot  fell  on  me. 

From  my  house,  Col.  Harris  went  down  to  Spottsylvania,  where  the 
work  of  the  Lord,  like  a  mighty  torrent,  broke  out  under  his  ministry. 
A  few  weeks  afterwards,  I  went  down  through  Spottsylvania  and  Caroline, 
and  was  glad  to  see  the  grace  of  God,  but  was  extremely  mortified  to 
find  myself  so  far  behind  the  work  of  God.  In  this  visit,  however,  I  caught 
the  spirit  of  prayer,  which  lasted  me  home.*  Indeed,  before  I  got  home, 
I  gained  an  evidence  that  God  would  work  in  Orange.  Having  such  con- 
fidence, I  addressed  myself  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  with  fresh  courage. 

*  "  On  my  return  through  Caroline  county,  after  I  had  been  preaching,  I  sat  in  the 
door-yard  of  a  friend's  house  conversing  as  usual ;  but  here  a  strange  solemnity  seized  my 
mind,  and  a  strong  drawing  of  soul  to  God  inspired  my  breast,  such  as  I  had  not  enjoyed 
for  some  years.  I  soon  lost  sight  of  my  company,  and  was  conversant  at  the  throne  of 
grace.  This  frame  of  mind  continued,  with  some  abatements,  until  I  reached  home, 
■which  was  two  Cava  afterwards.  About  three  miles  before  I  reached  home,  I  obtained 
great  comfort  in  believing  that  God  would  work  among  the  people  in  Orange. — MS, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  S7 

There  was  a  dancing  school  set  up  in  the  vicinity,  which  was  much  in  my 
way.  On  Sunday,  after  service,  I  told  the  people  that  I  had  opened  a 
dancing  school,  which  I  would  attend  one  quarter  gratis :  that  I  would  fid- 
dle the  tune  which  the  angels  sung,  if  they  would  dance  repentance  on 
their  knees.  The  project  succeeded  ;  the  dancing  school  gave  way,  and 
my  meetings  were  thronged.  Solemnity,  sobs,  sighs  and  tears  soon  appear- 
ed. The  last  Sunday  in  October  I  began  to  baptize  those  that  were 
brought  out,  and  the  work  prevailed  greatly.  The  tract  of  land  which  I 
occupied  in  this  revival  was  more  than  twenty  miles  square,  including  the 
corners  of  Orange,  Culpepper,  Spottsylvania  and  Louisa. 

When  the  work  seemed  to  languish  in  one  neighborhood,  it  would  break 
out  in  another,  and  consequently,  there  was  a  continual  fall  of  heavenly 
rain  from  October,  1787,  until  March,  1789,  during  which  time  I  baptized 
about  400.  Precisely  300  of  them  were  baptized  in  1788 — more  than  I 
have  ever  baptized  in  any  other  year.  During  the  ingathering,  the  follow- 
ing events  took  place.  In  the  south  part  of  Orange,  a  man  took  his  gun, 
with  the  professed  intention  of  killing  me.  He  had  given  his  consent  for 
his  wife  to  be  baptized,  and  the  meeting  was  appointed  for  that  purpose ; 
but  when  we  got  to  the  water,  and  I  had  taken  her  by  the  hand  to  lead  her 
into  the  water,  there  was  an  alarm  that  the  man  was  coming  with  his  gun. 
"While  a  detachment  of  the  congregation  went  to  meet  the  man  and  pacify 
him,  I  thought,  "now  or  never," and  baptised  her.  No  mischief  ensued. 
In  another  part  of  Orange,  a  woman,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  intimacy 
with  myself  and  wife,  invited  me  to  preach  at  her  house  on  a  certain  even- 
ing. When  we  got  at  the  gate,  her  son,  who  was  a  Captain,  (having  been 
reproved  by  his  mother,  and  taken  offence  at  it,)  met  us,  and  said  I  should 
not  preach  there.  I  asked  him  if  he  thought  he  was  right.  "  No,"  said 
he,  "  I  know  I  am  wrong,  and  I  expect  to  be  damned  for  it ;  but  I  have 
said  it  and  shall  abide  by  my  word."  The  man  of  the  house  came  also 
to  the  gate,  and  desired  us  to  go  into  the  house,  and  said  the  house  was  his 
own  and  not  his  son's.  The  woman  was  at  a  loss  what  was  best.  I  hesi- 
tated, but  finally  went  in.  As  the  people  began  to  collect,  the  Captain  with- 
drew with  threatenings.  After  I  arose  to  open  the  meeting  by  singing,  he 
came  rushing  into  the  house,  like  a  bear  bereaved  of  her  whelps — sprang 
upon  the  bed — took  his  sword  and  drew  it  out  of  the  scabbard — and  step- 
ping off"  the  bed  with  his  arm  extended  and  sword  glittering,  exclaimed, 
"  let  me  kill  the  damned  rascal !"  As  he  made  a  stroke  towards  me,  the 
point  of  the  sword  hit  the  joists,  and  he  behaved  like  an  awkward  soldier. 
The  case  was  this  :  my  wife,  who  was  seated  near  the  head  of  the  bed, 
when  she  saw  the  Captain  step  from  the  bed  with  his  sword  drawn,  and 
drawback  his  arm  to  give  the  thrust,  like  a  female  angel,  sprang  like  the 
lightning  of  heaven,  clasped  her  arms  within  his  elbow,  around  his  body, 
locked  her  hands  together,  and  held  him  like  a  vice,  till  the  men  took  away 


28  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

his  sword.  We  then  took  a  lantern  and  went  into  the  road  and  carried 
on  our  meeting.  As  God  would  have  it,  a  young  nnan  and  a  young  woman 
dated  their  change  of  heart  at  this  meeting. 

As  I  was  returning  from  Fredericksburg,  in  the  lower  part  of  Orange, 
a  young  man  had  married  and  brought  his  bride  to  his  father's,  where 
there  was  music  and  dancing.  I  stopped  in  the  road,  and  the  groom 
came  out  and  wished  me  to  drink  sling  with  him.  I  asked  him  what 
noise  it  was  that  I  heard  in  the  house  ?  He  answered  it  was  a  fiddle. 
As  he  was  going  to  the  house,  I  requested  him  to  bring  the  fiddle  to 
me.  But  as  this  was  not  done,  I  lighted  off  my  horse  and  went  into 
the  house.  By  the  time  I  got  in,  the  fiddle  was  hidden,  and  all  was 
still.  I  told  them,  if  fiddling  and  dancing  was  serving  God,  to  proceed 
on,  and  if  I  could  gain  conviction  of  it,  I  would  join  them.  As  they  did 
not  proceed,  I  told  them  I  would  attempt  to  serve  God  in  my  way.  I 
then  prayed  among  them  and  took  my  leave.  The  next  week  I  was 
sent  for  to  come  and  preach  at  the  same  house.  The  power  of  the  Lord 
was  present  to  heal.  In  the  course  of  a  few  weeks,  numbers  were  con- 
verted and  turned  to  the  Lord,  whom  I  baptized  in  a  stream  of  water 
near  the  house. 

At  another  time,  I  had  a  meeting  at  John  Lea's,  in  Louisa,  when 
something  seemed  to  descend  on  the  people,  like  that  which  took  place 
at  Mr.  Hodgers's,  (mentioned  before,)  but  the  effects  were  not  so  great. 
The  next  day  there  were  five  to  be  baptized.     The  day  was  very  cold. 

While  Mr.  Bowles  was  preaching  to  the  people,  I  composed  the  hymn : 

Christians,  if  your  hearts  be  warm, 
Ice  and  snow  can  do  no  harm  ; 
If  by  Jesus  you  are  priz'd, 
Rise,  believe,  and  be  baptiz'd. 

Jesus  drank  the  gall  for  you, 
Bore  the  Cross  for  sinners  due  ; 
Children,  prove  your  love  to  him. 
Never  fear  the  frozen  stream. 

Never  shun  the  Saviour's  Cross, 
All  on  earth  is  worthless  dross  ; 
If  the  Saviour's  love  you  feel. 
Let  the  world  behold  your  zeal. 

At  an  Association  in  Caroline,  two  others  with  myself  were  chosen  to 
preach  on  Sunday.  When  my  turn  came,  I  felt  every  way  unprepared.  I  was 
hoarse  with  a  cold,  and  exceedingly  barren  in  spirit.  I  therefore  declined, 
and  one  of  the  others  preached.  While  he  was  preaching,  I  doubted  whe- 
ther I  was  right  in  declining,  and  resolved  that  as  soon  as  he  had  finished, 
I  would  do  what  I  could.     Accordingly  I  did.     My  voice  improved  ;  my 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  29 

ideas  brightened  so  much  that  I  preached  about  forty  minutes.  The  people 
were  greatly  affected.  On  account  of  a  similitude  used,  together  with  the 
shortness  of  the  discourse,  it  was  called  the  ginger-cake  sermon.  Mr. 
Waller,  who  was  the  stated  minister  at  that  place,  told  me  afterwards, 
that  in  the  relations  which  the  people  gave  before  baptism,  not  less  than 
fifteen  persons  had  reference  to  the  ginger-bread  sermon. 

In  the  year  1789,  nothing  of  importance  turned  up. 

In  1790,  I  travelled  into  New  England,  to  see  my  father  and  relations. 
I  preached  on  the  way,  going  and  coming.  The  term  of  my  absence  from 
home  was  four  months.     The  number  baptized  thirty-two. 

The  winter  following,  I  made  my  arrangements  to  move  into  New  Eng- 
land.    Having  baptized  precisely  seven  hundred  while  I  lived  there,  and 
leaving  two  churches,  one  in  Orange,  and  the  other  in  Louisa  ;  the  first 
containing  three  hundred  and  the  other  two  hundred  members.     On  the 
last  of  March,  I  started,  with  my  family  of  a  wife  and  eight  children,  and 
a  small  quantum  of  effects,  and  travelled  by  land  to  Fredericksburg,  where 
I  took  ship  for  New  England.     We  fell  down  the  Rappahannock  river, 
crossed  the  Chesapeake,  and  entered  the  sea  between  the  Capes  of  Henry 
and  Charles.     The  day  after  we  entered  the  Atlantic,  we  were  attacked 
by  a  thunder  gust  and  heavy  gale  of  wind,  which  lasted  fifteen  hours.  The 
boat  was  crippled,  the  oars  swept  off,  the  quadrant  injured,  and  some  of 
my  goods  were  swept  from  the  quarter-deck.     That  passengers  should  be 
affrighted,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at;  but  here,  the  sailors  all  turned  pale. 
In  the  midst  of  the  gale,  the  wind  shifted,  and  flung  the  vessel  into  the 
trough  of  the  sea  ;  on  which  the  Captain   stepped  to  the  cabin  door  and 
said,  "  We   shall  not  weather  it  many  minutes."     This  he  said,  (as  I 
judged,)  not  to  terrify  the  sailors,  but  for  my  sake.     The  sense  of  it,  to 
me,  was  this  :  "  Leland,  if  you  have  got  a  God,  now  call  upon  him."    But 
there  was  no  need  of  this  admonition,  for  I  had  begun  the  work  before  ; 
and  can  now  say,  that  that    night  is  the  only  one  of  my  life  that  I  spent 
wholly  in  prayer.     That  I  prayed  in  faith,  is  more  than  I  can  say ;  but 
that  I  prayed  in  distress,  is  certain.    About  day-light,  April  15th,  the  wind 
abated,  but  we  knew  not  where  we  were  for  five  days  ',  for  the  quadrant 
was  injured.     The  distress  which  I  had  at  that  time,  so  affected  my  ner- 
vous system,  that  I  did  not  entirely  recover  from  it  for  more  than  ten 
years.      In   time,  however,  we  gained  the  port  of  New  London,  on  a 
certain  Saturday  night.     I  did  not  intend  to  make  any  stay  at  that  place, 
save  only  to  get  some  refreshments,  but  the  Captain  had  written  from 
Fredericksburgh,  to  his  friends  in  New  London,  that  he  had  turned  his 
vessel  into  a  meeting-house,  and  was  bringing  a  preacher  and  his  family 
with  him.     On  Sunday  morning  early  it  was  known  that  the  vessel  lay 
by  the  wharf,  and  before  I  was  up  the  brethren  in  New  London  came 
down  to  the  vessel,  to  see  what,  for  a  cargo,  the  Captain  had  brought 


30 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


into  port.  The  Captain  told  them  that  he  intended  to  go  to  the  in- 
surance  office,  and  demand  the  sum  that  was  insured  on  the  vessel ;  for  if 
it  had  not  been  for  my  prayers  he  was  sure  the  vessel  would  have  been 
lost.  The  brethren  invited  me  to  go  ashore,  and  preach  to  them  in  the 
State-house,  which  I  acceded  to.  Finding  myself  courteously  received,  I 
tarried  there  about  two  months.  Here  I  met  with  some  success  in  winning 
souls ;  and  here  my  wife  was  sick  nigh  unto  death  ;  but  she  had  more 
faith  in  prayer  than  she  had  in  physic.  The  godly  old  Elder,  Z.  Darrow, 
came  to  visit  us,  whose  prayer  for  my  wife  seemed  to  be  answered,  and 
she  recovered.  The  people  were  very  kind  and  liberal  to  me  ;  but  the 
expenses  of  my  family,  and  the  sickness  of  my  wife,  cost  me  about  twenty 
dollars  more  than  I  received.  But  this  thought  came  to  my  mind  :  "  Jesus 
gave  his  life  and  blood  for  sinners,  and  shall  I  begrudge  a  few  dollars  for 
their  salvation  !"  After  preaching  around  in  the  towns  about  New  Lon- 
don, on  the  1st  of  July  we  left  the  place,  and,  in  boats  and  scows,  went  up 
Connecticut  river  to  Sunderland,  and  then  by  land  to  Conway,  where  my 
father  and  old  acquaintance  were  living.  In  Conway,  I  purchased  a  house 
and  small  lot,  for  a  temporary  residence  until  I  gained  more  acquaintance 
in  the  country.  At  this  place,  my  family  abode  eight  months.  My  travels 
in  the  meantime  in  the  country  were  considerable — my  success  some. 

The  last  day  of  February,  1792, 1  moved  into  Cheshire,  which  has  been 
my  home  the  chiefest  of  the  time  since.  For  two  or  three  years  there 
was  a  sprinkling  of  blessings  on  the  people  in  Cheshire,  Lanesborough  and 
Adams,  so  that  about  seventy  were  baptized.  And  in  Philip's  town,  Ca- 
naan and  the  Gore,  I  had  good  success.  In  the  year  1795,  the  work  of 
God  appeared  in  Conway.  A  messenger  came  and  desired  me  to  visit 
them  ;  I  went  and  preached  twelve  times  among  them,  and  baptized  twelve 
persons  at  that  time,  and  more  afterwards.  Here  my  heart  caught  a  little 
heavenly  fire,  and  I  returned  home  to  Cheshire,  longing  and  praying  that 
God  would  pour  out  his  spirit  on  the  people  in  Cheshire.  I  set  up  evening 
meetings,  and  preach  about  as  often  as  once  a  day,  for  seventy  days  run- 
ning. I  have  never  known  a  time  like  this,  when  I  had  so  much  of  the 
spirit  of  praying  and  preaching,  and  met  with  so  small  success.  No  more 
than  seven  came  forward  as  the  reward  of  my  painful  labor.  In  the  com- 
pass of  these  seventy  days,  I  had  a  night  meeting  at  Deacon  Wood's,  in 
Cheshire.  Going  to  the  meeting,  my  mind  was  so  solemnly  impressed, 
that  I  could  hardly  walk.  When  I  arose  to  speak,  I  could  scarcely  stand. 
Of  the  many  thousands  of  sermons  that  I  have  preached  in  my  life,  (for 
solemnity  of  mind,  discovery  of  heavenly  things,  and  flow  of  words,)  I  give 
that  the  preference,  and  yet  but  small  effects  followed.  An  individual 
young  woman  only  was  divinely  wrought  upon.  Christ's  time  was  not  yet 
come  to  work  miraculously  in  Cheshire. 

I  continued  my  travels  in  the  New  England  states,  and  state  of  New- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  31 

York,  until  1797.  In  August,  that  year,  I  nnade  a  tour  to  Virginia,  and 
was  gone  six  months.  I  preached  all  the  way  there,  and  travelled  and 
preached  among  my  old  friends  three  months,  and  then  returned  home, 
having  travelled  more  than  two  thousand  miles,  and  preached  more  than 
one  hundred  and  seventy  times.  My  friends  through  the  whole  received 
me  kindly ;  but  I  saw  no  great  revivals  of  religion  anywhere,  save  only  at 
Scotch  Plains,  among  Mr.  Vanhorn's  people.  After  my  return,  I  was 
busily  employed  in  domestic  concerns  for  about  eighteen  months,  prepar- 
ing to  go  to  Virginia  again,  in  August,  1799.  To  this  end,  I  had  sent  on 
appointments  for  meetings,  about  one  hundred  miles  on  my  way,  as  far  as 
Carmel  meeting-house.  Having  finished  my  domestic  affairs  a  fortnight 
before  my  appointments  began,  I  told  the  people  in  Cheshire,  that  I  would 
preach  for  them  every  day  or  night  until  I  started.  At  this  time,  a  hea- 
venly visitant  came  to  my  house — my  heart,  with  the  salutation  of"  Peace 
be  to  you — peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men."*  When  I  sat  in  my 
house,  it  would  seem  as  if  the  room  was  white-washed  with  love.  When 
I  went  into  the  field,  a  circle  of  heavenly  mildness  would  seem  to  surround 
me,  and  the  following  words  would  be  injected  into  my  heart  again,  again, 
and  again  :  "  The  Lord  will  work."  My  meetings,  during  this  feast  of 
tabernacles,  (as  I  called  the  fortnight,)  were  crowded.  At  the  meeting, 
house,  such  silence  reigned  as  I  had  never  seen  before.  My  struggle  of 
mind  was  great,  whether  I  should  go  to  Virginia  and  leave  these  hopeful 
appearances,  or  stay  at  home  and  strive  to  fan  the  sparks.  And  as  the 
time  drew  on,  my  struggles  increased.  I  prepared  for  my  journey,  and 
preached  my  last  sermon  a  few  miles  on  the  way.  The  people  followed 
in  droves,  and,  in  time  of  meeting,  wept  bitterly.  I  finally  went  on  my 
journey,  and  attended  my  appointments,  which  I  before  had  made,  the  dis- 
tance of  one  hundred  miles,  and  then  returned  back.  I  was  gone  about 
twenty  days,  and  preached  about  the  same  number  of  sermons,  and  bap- 
tized thirteen  persons.  On  my  return,  I  found  the  work  had  broken  out 
like  the  mighty  rushing  waters.  This  induced  me  to  preach  every  day  or 
night  until  the  March  following,  in  which  time  more  than  two  hundred 
were  baptized. 

Before  the  work  made  a  visible  appearance,  and  for  three  months  after- 
wards, there  was  not  a  day  but  what  I  had  the  spirit  of  prayer,  and  a  tra- 
vail for  souls ;  and  often  felt  as  if  I  should  sink  under  the  weight  of  my 
burden  if  souls  were  no  delivered.  Sometimes,  individuals  would  lay  in 
my  heart ;  at  other  times,  the  longing  desire  would  be  more  general. 
After  three   months  I  felt  that  spirit  of  prayer  abate,  but  the  spirit  of 

*  In  August,  1799,  my  soul  was  again  visited  with  the  same  peace  and  holy  longings 
after  God  and  the  salvation  of  men  as  at  former  times.  My  preaching  then,  through 
grace,  was  not  coasting  around  the  shallow  shores  of  doubt  and  uncertainty,  but  launching 
out  into  the  deep  for  a  draught.    Attention  and  solemnity  followed." — MS. 


32  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

preaching  continued  for  three  months  afterwards,  until  the  ingathering  was 
over,  and  then  the  peculiar  impression  which  I  had,  subsided.* 

In  1800,  I  made  a  tour  of  four  months,  travelling  southward  as  far  as 
Bedford,  N.  Y.  Then  eastward  through  Connecticut  to  New-London. 
Then  pursued  my  course  through  Rhode  Island,  (visiting  Providence  and 
Newport,)  into  Bristol  county.  Then  returning  through  Worcester  and 
Hampshire  counties,  reached  home  the  last  of  October.  I  was  somewhat 
debilitated  when  I  left  home,  and  the  summer  was  unusually  hot,  but  I  was 
preserved  and  enabled  to  preach  about  as  many  times  as  there  were  days. 
In  this  journey,  I  saw  eight  old  preachers,  whose  ages  in  average,  exceed- 
ed eighty  years.  The  venerable  Backus  was  one  of  them.  There  was  a 
revival  in  his  congregation,  and  on  his  request  I  baptized  a  few  in  the 
place.  I  have  never  seen  him  since,  nor  either  of  the  eight;  nor  shall  I 
ever  see  them  in  mortal  bodies,  for  they  are  all  dead.  My  journey  was 
not  altogether  lost.  By  letters  and  verbal  accounts,  I  was  afterwards  in- 
formed that  in  several  places  a  divine  blessing  attended  the  preaching, 
which  proved  etfectual  unto  salvation. 

In  November,  1801,  I  journeyed  to  the  south,  as  far  as  Washington,  in 
charge  of  a  cheese,  sent  to  President  Jefferson.  Notwithstanding  my 
trust,  I  preached  all  the  way  there  and  on  my  return.  I  had  large  con- 
gregations  ;  led  in  part  by  curiosity  to  hear  the  Mammoth  Priest,  as  I  was 
called. 

After  this,  I  lived  several  years  in  great  barrenness  of  soul,  and  had 
but  little,  if  any  success. 

In  March,  1804,  I  removed  into  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  where  I  con- 
tinued  two  years,  which,  (as  it  respects  my  ministry,)  was  a  gap  of  lost 
time.  Just  before  I  left  the  place,  a  revival  took  place  about  ten  miles 
off,  where  brother  Luman  Birch,  an  unordained  preacher,  improved,  which 
called  me  there  to  baptize  a  few. 

In  1806, 1  removed  back  to  Cheshire.  The  day  before  the  total  eclipse, 
brother  Birch  was  ordained.  It  was  my  lot  to  preach  the  sermon,  which 
seemed  to  be  blessed  among  the  people.  The  substnace  of  that  sermon 
was  offered  to  the  public,  in  a  pamphlet,  afterwards  entitled  "  The  Flying 
Seraphm.''  The  following  winter,  I  sunk  into  great  distress  of  mind. 
It  has  always  been  a  question  with  me  of  great  importance,  to  know  how 

*  At  the  close  of  the  original  MS.,  before  referred  to,  he  writes,  "  I  have  experienced 
seven  instances  in  my  life  in  praying  for  the  sick  and  maimed,  when  there  appeared  to 
be  such  an  immediate  relief  granted,  that  I  should  be  unbelieving  and  ungrateful  not  to 
mention  them  among  the  signal  favors  of  God  to  me.  I  have  passed  through  many  fa- 
tigues in  travel,  several  perils  occasioned  by  mobs  and  furious  men,  many  wants  and 
pinches  in  life,  and  many  tokens  of  providential  relief;  but  after  all,  remain  an  unholy, 
helples3  creature,  and  if  the  Lord  does  not  keep  me,  I  shall  fall,  disgrace  myself,  bring 
the  ministry  under  blame,  and  be  ashamed  to  read  what  I  have  now  written.  Amen." 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  33 

to  address  a  congregation  of  sinners,  as  sucli,  in  gospel  style.  And  this 
winter  it  attacked  my  mind  with  great  force.  Neither  Gill,  Hopkins, 
Fuller  nor  Wesley,  could  remove  my  difficulties.  My  fears  were,  that  I 
did  not  preach  right,  which  was  the  cause  why  I  was  so  barren  in  myself 
and  useless  to  others.  This  burden  lay  heavy  upon  me  a  long  time.  At 
length,  at  an  evening  meeting  at  a  school  house  in  Cheshire,  my  heart 
waxed  a  little  warm  with  holy  zeal,  and  I  gave  my  spirit  vent  to  the  youth 
and  school  children,  regardlessof  all  authors  and  systems,  which  had  a  good 
effect.  Four  of  the  school  children  and  a  young  man  besides,  came  for- 
ward for  baptism  in  a  few  weeks,  who  dated  the  beginning  of  their  reli- 
gious impressions  at  that  meeting.  This  little  success,  obtained  at  that  try- 
ing  time,  gave  me  both  relief  and  courage.* 

The  year  1808  was  a  memorable  year  in  Pownal.  Religion  had  a  great 
triumph  in  that  place  at  that  time.  A  man  by  the  name  of  John  Williams 
was  their  preacher ;  but  he  was  not  ordained ;  of  course  I  preached  and 
baptized, through  the  cold  winter.  The  number  baptized  was  more  than 
sixty.  Williams  did  not  behave  like  a  wolf,  seeking  to  destroy,  but  like  a 
goat,  as  if  he  was  ignorant  of  what  was  going  on.  He  finally  turned  out 
an  abandoned  character.  In  this  revival  some  little  boys  set  up  a  confer- 
ence meeting ;  and  as  they  were  poor,  they  would  meet  in  cow-sheds  and 
on  the  mountains.  This  was  in  the  winter,  and  some  of  them  had  no  shoes. 
When  it  was  known,  the  neighbors  gladly  opened  their  houses  for  their 
accommodation. 

In  the  year  1811,  while  I  was  in  the  General  Court  at  Boston,  a  time  of 
refreshing  came  in  Cheshire.     After  my  return  I  baptized  forty.     There 

*  "  At  the  close  of  the  year  1806,  I  got  amazingly  distressed  on  account  of  my  preach- 
ing, fearing  that  my  barrenness  in  the  ministry  was  owing  to  improper  addresses.  The 
Methodists  were  amazing  successful  and  zealous,  and  the  addresses  of  their  ministers 
were  general  and  undaunted.  I  visited  them — I  conversed  with  them  ;  they  were  all  for 
heaven,  and  assured  they  were  in  the  way ;  but  their  zeal  and  confidence  appeared  to  me 
like  the  mighty  wind  and  fire  in  Elija's  vision,  and  I  could  not  discover  that  any  with 
whom  I  conversed  had  any  knowledge  of  themselves,  of  the  law  of  God,  or  of  the  way  of 
pardon. 

The  Gillite  mode  of  addressing  sinners,  seemed  a  little  different  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment mode.  The  Hopkinsian  method  appeared  as  if  if  took  all  the  wisdom  of  God  to 
devise  a  way  for  an  honorable  pretence  to  damn  men.  Dr.  Fuller  only  cast  another  bun- 
dle of  straw  on  the  fire.  So  that  the  great  query  which  has  agitated  my  mind  for  more 
than  thirty  years, '  How  is  a  congregation  of  sinners  to  be  addressed?'  at  the  time  I  am 
speaking  of,  fell  with  such  distress  upon  my  mind,  that  I  could  hardly  contain  myself. 
But  in  the  midst  of  my  difficulties,  I  had  a  meeting  at  a  school  house  ;  in  the  time  of 
service  my  soul  got  into  the  trade  winds,  and  without  consulting  Gill,  Hopkins,  Fuller, 
or  Wesley,  without  comparing  our  translation  with  the  Septuagint,  Chaldee.  or  the  King 
of  Spain's  Bible,  I  addressed  the  scholars  and  young  people  in  a  way  I  never  can  with- 
out God  helps  me.  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  fell  upon  them.  Very  soon  after  this,  five  of 
them  came  forward  and  confessed  Christ."     Continuation  of  MS.  1807. 

5 


34  TflE    WRITINGS    OF 

was  a  division  among  the  people.  Other  ministers  baptized  about  ten.  In 
the  height  of  this  revival,  I  vv'as  taken  sick  of  the  typhus  fever.  What  I 
passed  through  in  that  sickness  has  been  publislied  in  a  pamphlet.* 

In  December,  1813,  I  started  again  for  Virginia;  and  preaching  on  the 
way  to  Washington,  I  crossed  the  Potomac  into  Virginia  the  last  day  of 
January,  1814.  I  was  in  the  state  eighty  days,  in  which  time  I  travelled 
seven  hundred  miles,  and  preached  more  than  seventy  times.  I  never  had 
before — I  never  have  since — nor  do  I  ever  expect  to  preach  to  as  many 
people  in  so  short  a  time.  The  kindness  of  the  people  to  their  old  friend, 
whom  they  had  not  seen  for  sixteen  years,  was  unbounded.  I  shall  never 
forget  it  while  my  memory  remains.  I  reached  Richmond  on  Saturday, 
March  5th.  The  Sunday  before  that.  Elder  Courtney  had  baptized  seventy- 
five  persons  in  the  basin  on  the  canal.  He  descended  into  the  water  and 
took  his  stand,  from  which  he  did  not  remove  until  all  were  baptized.  He 
had  assistants  who  led  the  candidates  to  and  from  him  ;  and  he  performed 
the  whole  in  seventeen  minutes,  notwithstanding  he  was  seventy  years  old. 
The  chiefest  of  the  candidates  were  people  of  color.  As  I  returned  home, 
I  preached  in  Dr.  Staughton's  meeting-house  in  Philadelphia,  on  the  even- 
ing preceding  the  meeting  of  the  great  Convention  which  formed  the  plan 
of  the  missionary  society.  I  arrived  at  home  in  June,  after  an  absence 
of  six  months  ;  having  travelled  in  that  time  eighteen  hundred  miles,  and 
preached  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  times. 

After  my  return  home,  I  went  into  the  Genessee  country  to  see  my 
children,  and  late  in  the  fall  I  sold  my  residence  in  Cheshire,  with  a  view 
to  move  westward ;  but  before  I  had  made  any  purchase,  as  I  was  travel- 
ling for  that  purpose,  about  eighty  miles  from  home,  the  beast  on  which  I 
rode,  like  Balaam's  ass,  not  only  crushed  my  feet,  but  threw  me  to  the 
ground  and  fell  upon  me,  which  broke  my  leg.  After  nearly  a  fortnight, 
I  was  carried  home  in  a  sleigh.  The  old  bone  was  a  long  while  growing 
and  strengthening,  and  I  was  reduced  very  low.  As  this  disaster  happened, 
I  was  entirely  defeated  in  my  object  of  moving  to  the  westward.  My 
family  advised  me  to  purchase  the  place  where  I  now  live,  which,  with 
great  reluctance  I  consented  to,  and  was  drawn  in  a  sleigh,  on  bare  ground, 
to  my  new  home.  After  my  leg  got  well  enough,  and  my  strength  suffi- 
cient, I  began  to  preach  again,  leaning  on  my  staff. 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1817,  there  was  a  precious,  though  not  a  very  extefl- 
sive  revival  in  Hancock,  where  I  attended  as  preacher,  and  baptized  thirty- 
one,  who  (excepting  three  others)  were  the  first  that  1  baptized  after  my 
leg  was  broken. 

In  March,  1819,  a  like  work  began  in  the  north  part  of  Adams,  which 
progressed  several  months.     The  people  in  that  place  had  no  settled  min- 

*  Five  Hours  Conflict. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.    '  35 

ister,  but  were  visited  by  ministers  who  lived  around  them  ;  of  the  seventy 
who  united  with  the  church,  I  baptized  twenty-seven. 

Since  I  began  to  preach  in  1774,  I  have  travelled  distances,  which,  to- 
gether,  would  form  a  girdle  nearly  sufficient  to  go  round  the  terraqueous 
globe  three  times.  The  number  of  sermons  which  I  have  preached,  is  not 
far  from  eight  thousand.  The  number  of  persons  that  I  have  baptised  is 
one  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight.  The  number  of  Baptist  min- 
isters whom  I  have  personally  known  is  nine  hundred  and  sixty-two.  Those 
of  them  whom  I  have  heard  preach,  in  number,  make  three  hundred  and 
three.  Those  who  have  died,  (whose  deaths  I  have  heard  of,)  amount  to 
three  hundred.  The  number  that  have  visited  me  at  my  house  is  two 
hundred  and  seven.  The  pamphlets  which  I  have  written,  that  have  been 
published,  are  about  thirty. 

I  am  now  in  the  decline  of  life,  having  lived  nearly  two-thirds  of  a  cen- 
tury. When  Jacob  had  lived  twice  as  long,  his  days  had  been  few  and  evil. 
I  have  spent  my  years  like  a  tale  that  is  told.  Looking  over  the  foregoing 
narrative,  there  is  proof  enough  of  imperfection ;  and  yet  what  I  have 
written  is  the  best  part  of  my  life.  A  history  seven  times  as  large  might 
be  written  of  my  error  in  judgment,  incorrectness  of  behaviour,  and  base- 
ness of  heart.  My  only  hope  of  acceptance  with  God,  is  in  the  blood  and 
righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  when  I  come  to  Christ  for  pardon,  I 
come  as  an  old  grey-headed  sinner  ;  in  the  language  of  the  publican,  "  God 
be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner." 

How  long  I  have  to  stay  on  earth  I  know  not.  What  labors  or  suffer- 
ings I  have  yet  to  sustain  below,  I  cannot  tell.  O,  that  the  God  of  all  grace 
would  keep  me  in  his  holy  care,  and  never  suffer  me  to  make  shipwreck  of 
faith  and  a  good  conscience,  but  make  me  faithful  unto  death,  that  I  might 
finish  my  course  with  joy  and  receive  a  crown  at  last. 

June  15,  1824. — It  is  now  more  than  four  years  since  I  closed  the  fore- 
going narrative  of  events.  My  life  and  health  have  been  preserved  until 
the  present  time.  In  several  places  within  the  district  of  my  ministration, 
there  have  been  times  of  refreshing,  so  that  I  have  baptized  seventy-four 
persons  in  the  four  yeaj's. 

The  14th  of  May  past  was  my  birth-day :  I  preached  on  the  occasion  a 
septennarian  sermon. 

January  14, 1825. — I  have  preached  in  four  hundred  and  thirty-six  meet- 
ing-houses, thirty-seven  court-houses,  several  capitols,  many  academies 
and  school-houses ;  barns,  tobacco-houses  and  dwelling-houses :  and  many 
hundreds  of  times  on  stages  in  the  open  air.  Not  the  place,  but  the  pre- 
sence  of  Christ,  and  a  right  temper  of  mind,  makes  preaching  solemnly  easy 
and  profitable.  My  congregations  have  consisted  of  from  five  hearers  to 
ten  thousand. 

December  12,  1826. — Faint  yet  pursuing.     The  summer  past  I  have 


36  THK    WRITINGS    OP 

spent  chiefly  in  travelling  and  preaching.  I  have  attended  three  Associa- 
tions— the  jubilee  and  funeral  of  three  Presidents — as  also  a  general  meet- 
ing which  lasted  four  days — preached  eighty-one  times,  and  seen  eighty-six 
Baptist  preachers  since  the  first  of  June. 

Two  remarkable  events  have  taken  place  the  present  year.  Two  old  pa- 
triots, both  of  them  Ex-Presidents,  died  on  the  4th  of  July  ;  just  fifty  years 
after  they  signed  tlie  Declaration  of  Independence — John  Adams  and 
Thomas  Jefferson.  The  first  aged  ninety-one,  the  other  eighty-three.  Mr. 
Jefferson  drew  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ;  and  by  his  writings  and 
administration,  he  has  justly  acquired  the  title  of  the  Apostle  of  Liberty. 

In  the  state  of  Vermont,  the  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  are  both 
Baptist  preachers — Ezra  Butler  and  Aaron  Leland.  This  is  a  new  thing  in 
the  world. 

March  25,  1827. — Baptized  ten  candidates,  which  makes  my  baptismal 
number  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-two.  It  is  not  probable  that 
I  ever  shall  baptize  many  (if  any)  more. 

From  pretty  correct  information,  I  find  I  have  now  living  eighty-two  de- 
scendants, including  children,  grand-children,  and  great-grand-children.  A 
few  of  my  posterity  have  died  at  their  respective  homes  ;  but  I  have  never 
had  a  cofiin  or  a  death  at  my  house. 

If  a  conscious  sinner  may  apply  words  to  himself  which  were  spoken  of 
Abraham,  they  are  as  follows :  "  For  I  called  him  alone,  and  blessed  him, 
and  increased  him." 

May  6. — Beyond  my  expectation,  this  day  I  baptized  fifteen,  making  up 
the  number 1,377 

May  27. — Wondering  still  :  preached  this  day  to  a  large  concourse, 
and  baptized  eleven,  making ► 1,388 

Baptized 4 

July  4. — Preached  to  nearly  1,000  people,  and  baptized  six,  two  of 
whom  were  my  grand-children,  making. 1,398 

July  15. — Baptized  another  of  my  grand-children  and  four  others,       5 

Baptized » 3 

July  29.— Baptized 6 

Aug.  12. — Baptized  five  in  Cheshire  and  three  in  Lanesborough,        8 

Making 1,420 

I  have  a  great-grand-child,  (Helen  Maria  Brown,)  who  has  now  living* 

ten  direct,  and  great  grand-fathers  and  grand-mothers. 

Aug.  26.— Baptized  5         Oct.  21.— Baptized  4 

Baptized  1         Nov.  4. — Baptized  2 

Sept.  9. — Baptized  5  Nov.  5. — Baptized  2 

Oct.  7. — Baptized  10 

One  of  t'lese  last  was  Eunice  Baxter,  whose  grand  and  great  grand-moth- 

ers  I  baptized  more  than  thirty  years  past. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  37 

Nov.  11. — Baptized 2. 

One  of  these  was  seventy-seven  years  old,  which  added  to  the  age  of  the 
administrator,  (seventy-three,)  would  oiake  one  hundred  and  fifty  years. 

Nov.  30.— Baptized  1         Dec.  30.— Baptized  2 

Dec.    9.— Baptized  2         Feb.  1,  1838.— Baptized  1 

Dec.  17. — Baptized  1 

The  father  and  mother  of  this  candidate  have  fourteen  children  now  liv- 
ing  ;  ELEVEN  of  whom  I  have  baptized. 

Baptized  five  more,  making 1,465. 

May  14,  1828. — I  am  this  day  seventy-four  years  old,  able  to  travel  and 
preach  as  doors  open  ;  and  labor  with  my  hands  as  duty  calls. 

The  sins  of  childhood — the  vices  of  youth — the  improprieties,  pride  and 
arrogance  of  riper  years  ;  with  the  presumptuous  and  blasphemous  sugges- 
tions of  my  mind,  up  till  the  present  time,  lie  heavy  on  my  mind,  and  sink 
my  spirits  very  low.  It  is  true,  I  have  had  a  hope  for  more  than  fifty  years, 
that  my  sins  were  attoned  for  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  forgiven  for  his 
name's  sake  ;  but  still  I  find  them  attached  to  my  character,  and  must  for- 
ever, for  truth  cannot  decease. 

When  the  saints  in  heaven  look  on  the  blessed  Jesus,  and  remember  the 
doleful  sorrow  and  pain  which  their  sins  cost  him,  what  kind  of  feeling  must 
they  have  ?  To  call  their  feeling  sorrow,  tears  or  mourning,  would  be  un- 
scriptural ;  but  a  remembrance  of  their  sins,  a  view  of  their  Redeemer,  and 

a  sense  of  his  bloody  agony,  must  give  them  a  surprizing ■ —j 

fill  them  with  an  exquisite  hatred  tasin,  and  raise  their  songs  of  praise  to  him 
who  has  redeemed  them. 

December  7,  1828.— This  day,  for  the  first  time,  I  baptized  a  man  in  a 
font,  near  the  pulpit,  in  Albany.  During  my  stay  in  Albany,  which  was 
four  days,  I  v/as  introduced  to  three  governors.  My  rusticity  of  manners, 
and  the  humble  rank  I  fill,  make  such  interviews  more  painful  than  flatter- 
ing. 

May  14,  1829. — This  day  I  am  seventy-five  years  old.  Nothing  singu- 
lar with  respect  to  myself  has  occurred  in  the  course  of  the  last  year. 

My  greatest  afflictions  in  life  have  been  of  that  character  that  I  have  had 
to  bear  them  all  alone  ;.  a  communication  of  them  to  others,  (if  indeed  I  could 
have  done  it,),  would  only,  have  added  to  their  weight., 

I  noticed,  in  a  former  page,  that  in  the  year  1795, 1  had  the  most  solemn 
meeting  at  Deacon  Nathan  Wood's,  that  1.  had  ever  experienced,  which  was 
attended  with  but  small  success.  I  have  now  to  add,  that  in  the  lapse  of 
something  more  than  thirty  years,  I  have  baptized  fifty-seven  grand  and 
great-grand-children  of  the  said  Deacon  Wood;  all' of  whom,  except  one, 
are  now  living,  as  is  believed. 

May  14,  18;]0. — Another  year  of  my  unprofitable  life  is  gone.  Nothing 
worth  recording  has  taken  pltice  with  me  in  the  year.     Of  the  fourteen  hun- 


38  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

dred  and  seventy-one  that  I  have  baptized,  but  very  few  of  them  had  the  seal 
of  the  covenant  put  upon  them  in  infancy,  and  but  one  or  two  ever  attended 
Sunday  Schools. 

May  14,  1831. — I  am  yet  living  and  enjoying  good  health.  The  year 
past  I  have  had  a  large  epistolary  correspondence  with  distant  friends  ;  and 
have  been  advertised  in  the  newspapers,  through  the  states,  as  an  infidel  and 
an  outcast.  May  the  Lord  increase  my  faith  and  make  me  more  holy,  which 
will  be  the  best  refutation  of  the  libel.  From  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth  have  we  heard  songs ;  even  glory  to  the  righteous  :  but  I  said,  my 
leanness,  my  leanness.  It  is  now  said  that  there  is  a  great  ingathering  into 
the  fold  of  Christ  in  all  the  country  around  ;  but  according  to  appearances, 
I  am  left  behind.  Well,  let  me,  like  John  the  Baptist,  be  full  of  joy,  that 
others  increase  while  1  decrease.  I  have  had  my  day,  and  must  now  give 
way  to  the  young.  The  unchangeable  God  has  one  class  of  servants  after 
another  to  work  in  his  vineyard. 

July  11. — Why  art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul !  The  morning  cometh  as 
well  as  the  night.  Since  writing  the  above  note,  God  has  graciously  poured 
out  his  spirit  in  Hancock. 

Yesterday  I  baptized  ten,  which,  together  with  three  scattering  ones, 
raises  my  baptismal  list  to  fourteen  hundred  and  eighty-four. 

Baptism  does  not  put  away  the  filth  of  the  flesh  ;  it  is  the  answer  of  a 
good  conscience  towards  God,  and  only  figures  out  the  salvation  of  the  soul ; 
which  is  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead  :  who  died  for 
our  sins  and  rose  again  for  our  justification. 

July  17. — Baptized 4 

"     24.— Baptized 2 

"     31.— Baptized 4 

One  of  those  four  was  eighty-two  years  old.  In  the  winter  of  1800,  I 
baptized  one  who  was  ninety  years  of  age.  The  youngest  that  I  ever  bapti- 
zed was  nine  years  old,  in  178S.  I  have  ever  found  water  a  harmless  ele- 
ment,  and  baptism  a  pleasing  work. 

Aug.  22. — Baptized  1         Oct.  16. — Baptized  3 

Sept.    4. — Baptized  1  "     23. — Baptized  7 

"     18.— -Baptized  2  "     30.— Baptized  3 

Oct.     2. — Baptized  4  *'     Making 1,515 

Nov.  10. — After  living  in  New-Ashford  more  than  sixteen  years,  this  day 
I  removed  into  Cheshire  again.  My  age  and  decays  admonish  me  that  the 
time  of  my  departure  is  not  far  distant.  When  I  die,  I  neither  deserve  nor 
desire  any  funeral  pomp.     If  my  friends  think  best  to  rear  a  little  monument 

over  my  body,  "  Here  lies  the  body  of  JOHN  LELAND,  who  labored * 

to  promote  piety,  and  vindicate  the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  all  men,"  is 
the  sentence  which  I  wish  to  be  engraved  upon  it. 

«  It  is  now  (1831)  57  years. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  39 

May  14, 1S34. — I  am  this  day  fourscore  years  old;  have  just  returned 
from  Chatham,  (30  miles  off,)  where  I  preached  three  times,  at  the  opening 
of  a  new  meeting-house,  and  this  day  at  Cheshire,  to  600  people  by  estima- 
tion. I  have  now  several  little  preachmg  tours  appointed  ;  but  my  Maker 
only  knows  whether  life  and  strength  will  be  given  me  to  fill  them. 

It  is  now  sixty  years  since  I  began  to  preach.  But  ah !  how  little  I  have 
done  !  and  how  imperfect  that  little  ! 

May  15. — Last  night  fell  the  largest  snow  that  I  ever  knew  so  late  in 
the  season. 

Many  changes  in  the  mechanical,  political  and  religious  world  have  ta- 
ken  place  in  the  course  of  my  life.  Most  of  the  changes  among  us  in  fac- 
tories  and  machines  are  trans-Atlantic.  The  steam  machines  are  original 
Americans.  The  plea  for  religious  liberty  has  been  long  and  powerful ; 
but  it  has  been  left  for  the  United  States  to  acknowledge  it  a  right  inhe- 
rent, and  not  a  favor  granted :  to  exclude  religious  opinions  from  the  list 
of  objects  of  legislation.  Sunday  schools  and  missionary  societies  are  of 
long  standing ;  but  camp-meetings  and  protracted  meetings  (in  their  pres- 
ent mode  of  operation)  are  novel.  What  changes  may  hereafter  take  place, 
to  me  is  uncertain.  None,  however,  that  will  change  the  character  of 
God,  destroy  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  or  assure  any  of  heaven  without  re- 
pentance towards  God,  and  faith  towards  the  Lord  Jesus. 

I  have  never  labored  hard  to  support  the  creed  of  any  religious  society ; 
but  have  felt  greatly  interested  that  all  of  them  should  have  their  rights 
secured  to  them  beyond  the  reach  of  tyrants. 

Brevity  is  the  soul  of  wit,  the  nerve  of  argument  and  the  bone  of  good 
sense,  but  loquacity  palsies  attention,  massacres  time,  and  darkens  counsel. 

August  17,  1834. — This  day  I  baptized  five,  which  are  the  first  that  I 
have  baptized  since  I  was  eighty  years  old.  My  baptismal  list  is  now  fif- 
teen hundred  and  twenty-four. 

January  28,  1835. — I  have  been  preaching  sixty  years  to  convince  men 
that  human  powers  were  too  degenerate  to  eflfect  a  change  of  heart  by 
self-exertion ;  and  all  the  revivals  of  religion  that  I  have  seen  have  sub- 
stantially  accorded  with  that  sentiment.  But  now  a  host  of  preachers  and 
people  have  risen  up,  who  ground  salvation  on  the  foundation  that  I  have 
sought  to  demolish.  The  world  is  gone  after  them,  and  their  converts  in- 
crease abundantly.  How  much  error  there  has  been  in  the  doctrine  and 
measures  that  I  have  advocated,  I  cannot  say  ;  no  doubt  some,  for  I  claim 
not  infallible  inspiration.  But  I  have  not  yet  been  convinced  of  any  mis- 
take  so  radical  as  to  justify  a  renunciation  of  what  I  have  believed,  and 
adopt  the  new  measures.  I  am  waiting  to  see  what  the  event  will  be  ;  pray- 
ing for  light ;  open  to  conviction  ;  willing  to  retract,  and  ready  to  confess 
when  convicted. 

July  4, 1835. — It  is  now  fifty-nine  years  since  the  independence  of  the 


40  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

United  States  was  declared.  In  this  length  of  time  the  inhabitants  have 
increased  from  three  to  fourteen  millions.  The  changes  that  have  taken 
place  are  innumerable.  Sixty -five  years  ago  I  was  old  enough  to  observe 
the  face  of  things,  and  see  what  was  going  on  :  had  I  been  in  a  dead  sleep 
the  sixty-five  years,  and  were  now  to  awake,  such  a  change  has  taken 
place  in  the  face  of  the  earth,  in  architecture,  in  all  the  arts,  in  costume 
and  regimen,  and  in  the  forms  of  religion,  that  I  should  doubt  whether  I 
had  awakened  in  the  same  world.  The  love  of  money,  sexual  correspon- 
dence, diseases  and  death,  however,  remain  stationary. 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  41 


FURTHER  SKETCHES 


OF   THE 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   LELAND. 


It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  Mr.  Leland  has  not  left  us  a  more  full 
and  minute  history  of  his  eventful  life.  Rich  as  it  was  in  interesting  and 
instructive  incidents,  he  has  compressed  the  whole  in  the  space  of  a  few 
pages,  remarking,  with  his  characteristic  modesty  and  humility,  that  "  this 
was  all  that  was  worth  preserving;"  while,  had  he  registered  them  all  with 
as  much  minuteness  as  is  usually  found  in  biographies,  the  narrative  must 
have  extended  to  volumes. 

The  difficulty  of  authenticating  incidents,  as  well  as  the  narrow  limits 
to  which  the  further  notices  must  be  confined,  render  it  impossible  to  add 
more  than  a  brief  continuation  of  his  history  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
together  with  slight  sketches  of  some  important  circumstances,  which  he 
has  deemed  proper  entirely  to  omit,  or  slightly  to  mention. 

The  intervening  period,  between  the  year  1835,  (at  which  time  his  narra- 
tive closes)  and  the  death  of  his  wife,  October  5th,  1837,  was  spent  in 
Cheshire,  Massachusetts,  to  which  place  he  had  removed  in  1831.  Here 
he  occupied  the  leisure  left  him  by  his  ministerial  labors,  in  the  care  of 
the  little  spot  of  ground  he  had  chosen,  where  he  probably  expected  to  end 
his  days ;  while  Mrs.  Leland,  who  had  been  emphatically  a  "  helpmate" 
for  him  through  many  years,  attended,  alone,  to  the  management  of  his 
domestic  affairs,  and  gave  considerable  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  a 
small  garden.  Here  they  exercised  that  cordial  hospitality  for  which  they 
were  always  remarkable,  in  the  entertainment  of  the  many  friends  who 
yisited  them  from  time  to  time,  setting  examples  of  piety  and  of  the  Chris, 
tian  virtues  which  will  not  soon  be  forgotten  by  those  whose  good  fortune 
it  was  to  be  their  neighbors. 

The  afflictive  stroke  which  at  length  deprived  him  of  the  companion 
who  had  trodden  with  him  so  great  a  share  of  the  rough  path  of  life,  was 

6 


42  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

rendered  doubly  painful  by  the  nature  of  the  disease,  which  left  to  her 
friends  not  even  the  sad  consolation  of  alleviating  the  distress  they  could 
not  remove.  A  difficulty  in  her  throat,  which  had  been  a  long  time  in- 
creasing, at  length  reached  such  a  height,  that  some  months  before  her 
death,  she  could  swallow  nothing  but  liquids.  The  ability  to  do  even  this, 
continued  to  decrease  from  day  to  day,  her  strength  wasting  for  want  of 
nourishment,  till  life  could  no  longer  retain  its  feeble  hold,  and  she  literally 
starved  to  death. 

A  more  than  passing  notice  is  due  to  the  character  of  this  extraordinary 
woman.  She  was  not  less  remarkable  in  her  sphere,  than  her  husband  in 
his.  Her  eulogy  has  been  written  by  the  pen  of  inspiration.  No  one  who 
knew  her  and  was  acquainted  with  her  history,  can  fail  to  observe  that  in 
the  whole  of  the  admirable  discription  of  the  virtuous  woman,  (Prov.  31.,) 
there  is  scarcely  a  circumstance  named,  that  did  not  meet  in  her,  a  literal 
fulfilment. 

Liberality,  and  kindness  to  the  needy,  formed  a  prominent  feature  in  her 
character  ;  none  that  appealed  to  her  for  aid  that  it  was  in  her  power  to 
bestow,  were  ever  sent  empty  away.  This  libcralality,  joined  with  that 
love  of  independence,  which  was  always  a  predominant  and  cherished  pe- 
culiarity of  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Leland,  forbade  her  ever  forgetting  an  act 
of  kindness  shown  to  herself,  or  failing  to  cancel  the  obligation  by  bestow- 
ing a  much  greater  in  return.  In  strength  of  mind,  firmness  of  purpose, 
courage  and  self  possession  in  danger,  fortitude  in  circumstances  of  trial 
and  suffering,  indeed,  in  all  those  qualities  that  combine  to  produce  energy 
of  character,  she  has  probably  had  few  superiors,  in  any  age ;  yet,  in  the 
exercise  of  these  manly  virtues,  as  they  are  sometimes  called,  she  never 
acquired  that  masculine  bearing  that  is  too  apt  to  accompany  the  posses- 
sion of  these  qualities  in  the  female  sex.  Though  far  removed  from  the 
softness  and  weakness  which  unfits  a  woman  for  enduring  hardship,  priva- 
tion,  and  suffering,  she  was  equally  so  from  the  opposite  extreme ;  sustain- 
ing as  well  the  delicacy  as  the  dignity  of  the  female  sex. 

An  example  of  that  habitual  presence  of  mind  as  well  as  courage,  which 
never  failed  her  in  any  emergency,  is  found  in  the  instance  in  which, 
like  a  guardian  angel,  she  saved  her  husband  from  the  murderer's  sword. 
A  similar  illustration  of  these,  and  other  strongly  marked  traits,  is  pre- 
sented in  the  fact,  that  when  one  of  her  children,  a  little  girl  of  four  years 
old,  had  her  head  crushed  under  the  wheels  of  a  loaded  cart  which  passed 
directly  over  it,  she  sat  through  the  long  hours  of  night  with  the  child  in 
her  arms,  pressing  with  her  fingers  a  divided  artery,  to  prevent  the  effu- 
sion of  blood  which  would  have  caused  immediate  death.  The  child,  al- 
most miraculously  saved,  "  rose  up  to  call  her  blessed,"  and  still  lives  to 
receive  the  same  tribute  of  gratitude  from  a  numerous  posterity. 

Constant,  active  industry  was  a  distinguishing  characteristic  of  Mrs. 


ELDER    JOHN    LEI-AND.  43 

Leland.  From  its  beginning  to  its  close,  her  life  was  one  of  unceasing 
toil.  Even  in  age,  when  necessity  no  longer  required  such  exertion,  the 
habit  of  active  employment  had  become  so  much  a  part  of  her  being,  and 
her  natural  independence  of  feeling  was  so  strong,  that  she  could  not  be 
prevailed  upon  to  desist  from  her  accustomed  round  of  domestic  labors, 
till  her  exhausted  strength  compelled  her  to  relinquish  them  into  other 
hands.  Neither  was  her  industry  of  that  noisy,  bustling  kind,  whose  re- 
sults are  usually  in  inverse  proportion  to  the  amount  of  effort  employed. 
To  her  might  be  applied,  with  peculiar  propriety,  the  encomium  bestowed 
upon  another.     "  Slie  was  always  busy,  and  always  quiet." 

The  guiding  hand  of  Providence  was  never  perhaps  more  evident,  than 
in  directing  Elder  Leland 's  choice  to  so  suitable  a  companion  for  the 
jstormy  times  of  the  revolution.  Her  training  had  been  emphatically  in 
the  school  of  adversity  ;  and  her  history  is  a  striking  exemplification  of 
the  sentiment  which  one  of  her  own  sex  has  no  less  truly  than  beautifully 
expressed. 

Strength  is  born 

111  the  deep  silence  of  long  suffering  hearts  ; 
Not  amidst  joy." 
At  the  age  of  two  years  she  lost  a  fond  and  somewhat  affluent  father, 
and  was  driven  from  a  good  home  by  a  brutal  step-father,  when  a  little 
more  than  four  years  old.  Her  feet  were  partly  frozen  off  by  exposure  ; 
soon  after  the  canker  attacked  her  throat,  eat  out  her  palate,*  and  for  a 
long  time  her  life  was  despaired  of.  At  length,  he,  who  in  the  midst  of 
wrath  even  remembereth  mercy,  bound  up  her  broken  constitution,  and 
gave  her  grace  to  see  how  great  things  she  must  suffer  for  his  name's 
sake.  When  she  recovered  her  health,  she  found  that  others  had  taken 
possession  of  all  the.  property,  and  nothing  lay  before  her  but  a  life  of  de- 
pendence and  servitude.  But  the  God  in  whom  she  trusted  fortified  her 
heart  and  strengthened  her  hands,  and  when  he,  to  whom  her  faith  was 
plighted,  said,  "I  go  to  proclaim  a  Savour's  love  in  a  land  overrun  with 
Brittish  soldiers  and  American  tories,  and  trodden  down  by  a  dominant 
established  clergy,  she  replied  like  Rebecca,  "  I  will  go."  Her  faith  was 
firm  in  him  who  had  said,  "  1  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee." 

The  "  poor  man's  blessings"  were  his.  She  had  a  numerous  family, 
but  scanty  means,  and  through  the  revolution  which  had  begun  when  she 
married,  her  trials  were  many  and  severe.  Often  was  she  left  alone  with 
her  little  ones,  far  from  neighbors,  her  husband  gone,  with  very  little 
prospect  of  pecuniary  reward,  while  runaway  blacks  who  had  neither  cour- 
age to  join  the  British  army,  nor  patriotism  to  join  the  American,  were 
horded  together  around  her  for  plunder  and  sometimes  murder.     Many  a 


*  In  consequence  of  this  misfortune,  her  speech  was  so  much  impaired,  that  through 
life  it  was  difficult  for  persons  not  well  acquainted  with  her,  to  understand  her. 


44  THE   WRITINGS    OP 

long  hour  she  plied  her  needle  by  moonlight,  to  prepare  clothing  for  her 
little  ones,  fearful  lest  the  ray  of  a  lamp  from  her  window  might  attract  a 
bloody  foe.  Often,  too,  the  famished  soldier  came  to  her  for  food  and 
shelter  through  the  stormy  night.  Her  God  had  said,  "  feed  the  hungry," 
and  she  obeyed;  but  when  she  had  given  till  naught  was  left,  the  sleepless 
hours  were  spent  in  watchfulness  and  prayer — for  oh !  if  the  assassin's  knife 
should  be  concealed  beneath  the  soldier's  garb,  she  could  not  fly  and  leave 
her  little  ones  behind.  How  often  she  prayed  that  God  would  preserve 
the  children  he  had  graciously  given,  and  all  were  preserved  to  lament 
the  best  of  mothers. 

This  sketch,  given  by  one  of  her  family,  who  had  often  heard  from  her 
own  lips,  the  story  of  those  "  troublous  times,"  may  serve  to  give  some 
idea  of  the  strength  of  character  and  depth  of  piety  which  sustained  her  in 
the  midst  of  trials  such  as  few  women  are  called  to  endure. 

The  following  circumstance  is  introduced  as  illustrating  her  capability 
of  endurance,  not  only  of  physical,  but  of  mental  suffering.  Incredible  as 
it  may  seem,  and  inexplicable  as  it  certainly  is,  the  fact  itself  is  unques- 
tionable, as  it  rests  on  the  testimony  of  Elder  Leland  himself. 

One  afternoon,  they  were  startled  by  a  sound  somewhat  similar  to  that 
made  by  a  large  fly  when  suddenly  confined,  apparently  proceeding  from 
within  the  wall  of  the  house.  After  an  unsuccessful  effort  to  discover  the 
cause,  he  left  home  and  was  absent  six  weeks  without  thinking  again 
of  the  circumstance.  On  the  evening  of  his  return,  however,  he  was 
reminded  of  it  by  a  groan  so  sudden  and  piercing  as  to  make  him  start 
up  in  amazement ;  his  surprise  was  not  lessened,  when,  upon  inquiry  he 
learned  that  the  same  had  been  heard  every  night  of  his  absence,  recur- 
ring each  night  a  few  minutes  later  than  the  preceding,  and  continuing 
about  ten  minutes  at  a  time.  It  continued  to  be  heard  in  the  same  man- 
ner, eight  months,  becoming  at  every  return  louder  and  more  terrible. 
As  this  was  at  the  period  (spoken  of  in  the  autobiography)  of  an  extensive 
revival  in  York  and  the  adjacent  counties,  he  was,  consequently,  absent  a 
considerable  part  of  the  time,  and  Mrs.  Leland  was  left  alone  with  two 
little  children,  the  eldest  less  than  three  years  old,  who,  when  the  sound 
began  to  be  heard,  would  cling  around  her  in  terror,  exclaiming  "  the 
groaner  has  come."  As  often  as  any  examination  was  made  of  the  spot 
whence  the  noise  seemed  to  issue,  with  the  view  of  discovering  whether 
it  proceeded  from  some  animal  confined  within  the  wall,  it  removed  to 
another  place,  and  thus  defied  all  attempts  at  investigation.  Wearied  at 
length  by  unsuccessful  efforts  to  discover  a  natural  cause.  Elder  Leland 
resolved  to  try  the  effect  of  prayer;  accordingly,  when  in  the  darkness  of 
midnight,  the  dreadful  meanings  again  commenced,  he  betook  himself  to 
the  all-conquering  weapon.  Said  he,  in  relating  it  to  a  friend,  "if  ever  I 
prayed  in  my  life,  it  was  then."     He  prayed,  that  if  it  was  a  messenger 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  45 

of  good,  he  might  be  emboldened  to  speak  to  it,  and  learn  its  errand,  but 
if  it  was  a  spirit  of  evil,  that  it  might  be  commanded  to  depart,  and  suffered 
to  trouble  them  no  more.  During  the  prayer,  the  sound  grew  louder  and 
more  terrific,  till  at  the  conclusion,  in  a  piercing  shriek  it  departed,  and 
never  returned  again.  Those  who  have  heard  Elder  Leland  relate  the 
incident,  describe  the  sound  he  made  in  imitation  of  it,  as  unearthly  and 
frightful  to  the  last  degree.  It  may  be  left  to  the  imagination  of  the  reader 
to  picture  to  itself  the  amount  and  intensity  of  mental  suffering  which  this 
event  alone  must  have  produced. 

It  has  been  remarked  of  Mrs.  Leland,  that  her  faith  was  strong.  In- 
deed, on  some  occasions,  it  seemed  to  rest  on  grounds  that  partook  of  the 
character  of  reve  lations.  An  instance  of  this  kind  occurred  in  the  storm  by 
whicli  they  were  overtaken  on  their  passage  from  Virginia  to  New  England, 
in  1791.  After  twelve  hours  of  incessant  watching  and  agonizing  prayer, 
expecting  momentarily  to  go  to  the  bottom,  she  appeared  to  sink  into  a 
slumber ;  but  presently  turning  to  her  husband,  she  exclaimed,  "  We  shall 
not  be  losC  She  had  received  this  assurance  from  a  figure  in  white  which 
seemed  to  stand  before  her,  measuring  off  piece  after  piece  of  a  long 
white  cord,  and  which  said  to  her,  "  The  vessel  cannot  sink,  I  have  under- 
girded  it." 

In  her  last  illness,  she  exhibited  the  utmost  patience  and  resignation 
under  all  her  sufferings.  She  spoke  with  great  warmth  and  animation  of 
the  Divine  goodness  to  her,  and  especially  found  cause  of  thankfulness  in 
the  circumstance,  that  for  many  weeks  before  her  death,  she  did  not  feel 
the  sensation  of  hunger.  She  had  very  humiliating  views  of  herself;  and 
desires  proportionably  great  to  exalt  and  magnify  the  riches  of  that  grace 
which  had  proved  sufficient  in  every  scene  of  trial  hitherto,  and  which  she 
trusted  would  not  fail  her  in  the  last ;  and  truly  it  did  not ;  for  when  the 
hour  of  release  arrived,  so  gently  did  the  hand  of  death  loosen  the  bonds 
of  her  captivity,  that  not  a  groan  was  heard  by  those  who  stood  around 
her  bed,  and  a  long  life  of  eminent  usefulness  was  crownd  by  a  death  of 
*^  perfect  peace." 

On  the  12th  October,  1837,  a  few  days  after  the  death  of  his  wife, 
Elder  Leland  removed  to  the  house  of  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  James  Greene, 
in  Lanesborough,  where  he  resided  most  of  the  time  until  his  death. 
Thence  he  made  frequent  preaching  excursions  to  the  neighboring  towns, 
and  sometimes  took  journeys  of  considerable  length.  In  the  summer  of 
1838,  he  visited  Utica  and  its  vicinity,  (the  residence  of  his  eldest  son,) 
and  was  absent  several  weeks.  The  following  letter,  to  his  daughter,  was 
written  during  his  absence. 

Augusts,  1838. 
*     *     I  am  now  at  Deerfield,  and  have  made  it  a  call-by  home  for 
about  ten  days  past.     The  crops  of  the  earth,  and  the  heat  of  the  air,  are 


46 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


great  in  all  places  where  I  have  been.  I  have  calls  enough  to  preach, 
and  have  hitherto  had  strength  to  answer  those  calls,  though  in  a  poor, 
imperfect  manner.  My  health  and  appetite  are  as  good  as  common.  All 
is  uncertain  when,  or  whether  ever  I  shall  return  to  Berkshire  again.  My 
life  is  not  in  my  own  hands,  but  I  commit  it,  and  all  that  I  have,  to  the 
care  of  that  Gracious  Being  who  has  fed  and  preserved  me  through  an  un- 
profitable life.  I  hope  you  will  indulge  no  unnecessary  anxiety  about  me  ; 
for  I  deserve  but  small  favors  from  men,  and  less  from  the  Creator.  Fare- 
well, my  Fanny.  Shun  all  the  errors  you  have  seen^in  me  :  be  faithful 
unto  death,  and  you  will  receive  a  crown  of  life. 

John  Leland. 

His  health,  after  his  return,  was  such  as  for  some  days  seriously  to 
alarm  his  friends.     He,  however,  soon  recovered. 

In  the  fall  of  1839,  his  daughter,  with  whom  he  resided,  was  attacked 
by  an  illness,  which,  after  two  years  and  a  half  of  intense  suffering,  re- 
leased her  from  the  world  and  its  cares ;  not,  however,  till  she  had  seen 
her  father,  whose  anxious  solicitude  in  her  behalf  she  fully  reciprocated, 
removed  to  a  better  world.  During  the  winter  of  1840-41,  he  thought 
best,  in  consideration  of  her  health,  and  some  other  circumstances,  to  re- 
move, for  a  few  weeks,  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Chapman,  in  Cheshire.  He 
continued  to  "do  the  work  of  an  evangelist;"  and  at  the  time  of  his  last 
call  at  his  daughter's,  was  on  his  way  to  North  Adams,  where  he  was 
soon  to  end  his  days. 

On  the  evening  of  the  8th  January,  he  preached,  for  the  last  time,  to 
the  people  of  that  village.  It  is  matter  of  regret,  that  this  discourse,  in- 
teresting not  only  in  itself,  but  especially  so  from  the  circumstances  of  its 
delivery,  cannot  be  presented  entire  to  the  public.  But,  as  it  is  well  known 
that  he  never  wrote  even  the  heads  of  his  sermons,  the  memories  of  his 
hearers  are  the  only  source  from  which  we  can  draw,  for  even  these.  A 
friend  has  kindly  furnished  a  sketch  from  recollection,  which  is  here  sub- 
joined. 

"  The  text  was  from  the  20th  and  27th  verses  of  the  2d  chapter  of  the 
First  Epistle  of  John. — *  But  ye  have  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One,  and 
ye  know  all  things.  But  the  annointing  which  ye  have  received  of  him, 
abideth  in  you ;  and  you  need  not  that  any  man  teach  you  ;  but  as  the 
same  anointing  teacheth  you  of  all  things,  and  is  truth,  and  is  no  lie,  and 
even  as  it  hath  taught  you,  ye  shall  abide  in  him.' 

"  He  first  spoke  of  the  nature  and  character  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the 
unction  referred  to,  from  whence  it  came,  &c.,  and  remarked  that  the  same 
that  is  sometimes  compared  to  fire  and  water,  is  here  likened  to  oil.  He 
spoke  of  the  properties  of  oil ;  its  being  used  to  lubricate  the  wheels  of 
machinery  ;  and  when  ignited,  to  give  light  and  heat ;  and  when  applied 
to  an  abraded  surface,  or  painful  limb,  to  mitigate  pain  and  suffering,  and 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  47 

to  heal  the  injury  or  wound  ;  in  all  which  uses  it  resembled  the  unction 
spoken  of  in  the  text.  True  Christians  are  anointed  ones  ;  anointed  with 
gifts  and  spiritual  endowments  by  the  Spirit  of  Grace  which  comes  from 
the  Holy  One,  enlightening  and  strengtheRing  the  eyes  of  the  understand- 
ing, and  enabling  those  who  receive  it,  to  '  know  all  things^  concerning 
Christ  and  his  religion.  Those  who  know  the  truth,  are  by  it  prepared  to 
discern  what  is  contrary  thereto.  It  will  preserve  those  in  whom  it  abides, 
and  teaches  them  to  abide  in  Christ.  He  spoke  of  the  resurection — of  the 
new  birth — said  no  one  could  experience  it  while  believing  in  the  doctrine 
of  universal  salvation.*  He  could  extend  hope  and  charity  to  those  who 
believed  that  sentiment,  after  a  change  of  heart,  but  not  before. 

"  It  is  pleasant  and  mournful  to  my  soul,  at  this  moment,  to  recollect 
with  what  benignity  of  countenance  he  pronounced  his  last  benediction." 

After  the  services  were  closed,  he  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Darling.  A 
number  of  friends  calling,  he  conversed  freely  and  cheerfully,  and  attend- 
ed prayers  before  retiring  to  bed,  which  he  did  at  a  rather  late  hour.     An 
unusual  noise  being  soon  after  heard  in  his  chamber,  Mr.  D.  went  imme- 
diately to  the  room,  where  he  found  him  prostrate  on  the  floor.     Feeling 
unwell,  and  a  disposition  to  vomit,  he  had  attempted  to  rise,  and,  as  he 
said,  "  his  limbs  would  not  obey  him."   He  was  placed  in  bed,  and  means 
used  to  restore  warmth  to  his  stiffened  limbs.     They  were  partially  suc- 
cessful, and  he  obtained  a  little  rest.    He  had  chills,  however,  through  the 
night,  followed  by  heat  and  thirst.     He  arose  and  dressed  himself  in  the 
morning ;  but,  being  very  feeble,  a  medical  friend  in  the  village  was  called 
in.     He  was  pronounced  very  ill ;  and,  when  asked  whether  he  thought 
he  should  recover,  said  "  he  had  not  the  token.'''    In  his  former  illnesses, 
though  he  had  been,  to  human  appearance,  on  the  very  verge  of  the  grave, 
he  had  received  some  token  which  impressed  him  with  the  conviction  that 
he  should  recover.     But  as,  in  this  instance,  he  gained  no  such  evidence, 
he  seemed  to  think  it  useless  to  make  much  effort  for  his  recovery.     "  In 
this,"  says  the  physician  who  attended  him,  "  I  was  not  much  disappoint- 
ed, having  known  before  that  he  had  little  confidence  in  medicine,  unless 
well  mixed  with  prayer.     He   freely  consented,  however,  to  use  whatever 
remedies  I  thought  best  to  administer.     Not  wishing  to  burthen  his  mind 
with  even  the  small  quantity  of  medicine  I  thought  proper  to  give  him,  I 
directed  the  watchers,  during  the  night,  to  mingle  it  with  his  drinks.  This 
plan  succeeded  only  until  the  next  morning,  when  he  said,  '  take  it  away, 
and  give  me  some  clean  water.'     On  the  morning  of  the  10th,  he  was  ap- 

*  He  has  been  heard  to  express  the  same  opinion  on  other  occasions,  drawing  his  con- 
dusions  from  the  fact,  that  persons,  in  being  made  partakers  of  the  grace  of  life,  are 
brought  to  view  themselves  utterly  lost  without  that  grace — a  conviction  which  they  can- 
not feel,  while  they  imagine  themselves  in  no  danger  of  receiving  the  "  wages  of  sin, 
which  is  death."  • 


48  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

parently  better — rather  talkative — related  a  story,  or  drew  a  comparison 
at  every  change  in  the  conversation.  At  evening  he  was  worse.  He  com- 
plained that  he  could  neither  stop  thinking,  nor  direct  his  thoughts.  His 
cough  was  becoming  harder,  and  his  breathing  more  laborious.  He  spoke 
with  difficulty — said  his  tongue  would  not  obey  him.  He  had  now  most 
of  the  distinguishing  symptoms  of^ peripneumonia  notha. 

"  11th.  In  the  morning,  easier — at  evening,  worse  than  the  preceding. 
He  had  so  little  command  of  his  tongue,  that  it  was  difficult  to  understand 
him.  I  continued  the  use  of  some  medicine,  though  I  now  despaired  of 
his  recovery.  On  the  morning  of  the  12lh,  we  thought  him  somewhat 
better.  He  conversed  pleasantly,  and  his  eyes  sparkled  with  much  of 
that  brilliancy  of  intellect  which  they  were  accustomed  to  exhibit  when  in 
health.  In  the  evening,  he  was  again  worse  ;  and  while  I  was  sitting  by 
his  bed,  supposing  him  asleep,  he  said,  (addressing  himself,)  '  well,  I  have 
nothing  more  to  do,  but  die.' 

"  13th.  Failing.  He  suffered  apparently  little,  except  his  laborious 
breathing.  Indeed,  during  his  sickness,  there  was  but  a  solitary  instance 
in  which  he  mentioned  having  any  pain — it  was  in  his  left  side,  and  con- 
tinued but  a  few  minutes.  His  dissolution  was  now  almost  hourly  ex- 
pected. 

"  On  the  14th,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman,  with  whom  he  had  been  boarding 
in  Cheshire,  visited  him.  He  seemed  much  gratified,  and,  to  our  surprise, 
immediately  began  to  make  arrangements  to  return  with  them.  In  this, 
a  little  aberration  of  mind  was  apparent.  With  some  assistance  he 
clothed  himself,  called  for  his  satchel,  into  which  he  put  his  Bible,  then 
for  his  bills  for  board  and  medical  attendance,  all  which  being  adjusted, 
he  expressed  a  desire  to  set  out  for  home.  He  was,  however,  prevailed 
on  to  lie  down  and  rest  a  while  after  the  fatigue  he  had  undergone,  and 
was  assisted  to  the  bed,  from  which  I  do  not  recollect  that  he  ever  again 

rose." 

To  those  members  of  his  family  who  could  not  be  with  him,  it  was  a 
consoling  reflection,  even  in  the  midst  of  their  grief,  that  the  hand  of  Provi- 
dence  had  cast  him  into  a  family  of  kind  friends,  where  nothing  conducive 
to  his  comfort  or  recovery,  would  be  left  untried.  One  daughter  alone 
was  permitted  the  privilege  of  watching  his  pillow  of  sickness,  and  stand- 
ino-  by  his  dying  couch.  Speaking  of  some  of  his  exercises,  and  of  the 
closing  scene,  she  thus  remarks  : — "  In  the  beginning  of  his  sickness  he 
seemed  conscious  of  his  approaching  dissolution — said  he  was  ready  when 
called,  and  calmly  gave  orders  respecting  his  funeral.  The  day  on  which 
he  died,  he  said  to  his  physician — '  Yesterday,  doctor,  a  dark  cloud  came 
over — 1  did  not  know  but  I  should  fail  in  my  expectations  above.'  Choked 
with  the  bitter  remembrance,  he  paused,  but  soon  added — 'It^s  not  so 
io-day.' 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  49 

"  His  thoughts  would  frequently  run  back  to  her  who  had  so  often  bent 
over  his  wasting  form  in  previous  sicknesses,  and  he  would  speak  of  the 
good  things  she  used  to  do  for  him. 

'•  Early  in  the  evening,  a  young  preacher  (Rev.  Mr.  Alden)  came  in, 
and  said  to  him — '  Well,  Father  Leland,  we  are  going  to  hold  a  prayer- 
meeting  this  evening.  Have  you  any  advice  to  give  V  '  If  you  feel  it  in 
your  hearts,  I  am  glad.  Forms  are  nothing.'  These  were  nearly  his  last 
words;  but  his  arm  was  not  paralyzed,  neither  was  his  heart  chilled. 
With  his  own  hand  he  gave  his  own  tobacco  to  his  friends  present,  and  in- 
dicated by  signs  that  they  should  smoke.  About  11  o'clock,  he  beckoned 
me  to  him,  and  tried  to  say  'go  to  bed.'  I  found  his  limbs  were  slifFening, 
and  his  senses  lulling,  and  anxious  to  be  near  him  till  all  was  over,  I  hesi- 
tated, but  finally,  at  the  the  solicitation  of  one  of  the  watchers,  left  the 
room.  The  man  soon  followed,  and  said,  *  you  had  better  come  back.'  I 
came.  Not  a  finger  had  moved.  His  spirit  had  taken  rest  in  the  bosom 
of  its  God." 

Thus  died  John  Leland — a  man  eminent  above  many  for  piety  and 
usefulness,  whose  name  is  connected  with  all  that  is  pure  in  patriotism, 
lovely  in  the  social  and  domestic  virtues,  philanthropic  in  feeling  and  ac- 
tion, arduous,  disinterested,  and  self-denying  in  the  labors  of  the  minis- 
terial calling ;  one  whose  place  in  society,  in  the  church,  and  in  the  ranks 
of  the  ministry,  will  not  soon  be  filled — in  the  hearts  of  those  who  knew 
him — never. 

He  died,  as  he  had  lived,  a  witness  for  the  truth,  testifying,  with  his 
last  breath,  the  value  of  that  religion,  and  that  only,  which  has  its  seat  in 
the  heart.  His  life  had  been  unostentatious;  his  aspirations  after  worldly 
honors,  ever  low  and  feeble  ;  his  humility  and  sense  of  dependence  on 
God,  deep-felt  and  abiding — and  thus  he  died.  "Being  with  him  in  his 
last  illness,"  (Mr.  Alden  remarks  in  his  funeral  sermon,)  "  more  or  less 
every  day,  I  think  I  may  say,  I  never  saw  a  Christian  feel  more  deeply 
his  own  unworthincss.  '  Bury  me,'  said  he,  '  in  an  humble  manner.  I 
want  no  encomiums ;  I  deserve  none.  I  feel  myself  a  poor,  miserable 
sinner,  and  Christ  is  my  only  hope.'  Being  asked,  very  near  his  end, 
what  were  his  views  of  the  future,  he  exclaimed,  with  both  hands  extended 
upward,  and  a  smile  I  can  never  forget,  '  My  prospects  of  heaven  are 
clear.'  He  seemed  already  to  feel  the  everlasting  rest  laying  its  sweet 
influences  over  his  soul,  and  bearing  it  up,  taking  away  the  sting  of  death." 

His  remains  were  conveyed  to  Cheshire  for  interment,  where,  on  the 
17th,  a  funeral  discourse  was  pronounced  over  them  by  Rev.  John  Alden, 
from  Rev.  14th  and  13th.*     The  weather  was  extremely  unpropitious,  yoj 

*  This,  discourse  is  already  before  the  public,  which  circumstance,  together  with  ou 
limited  space,  will  sufficiently  account  for  the  omission  o#any  further  extracts. 

7 


50  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

the  concourse,  assembled  from  that  and  the  adjacent  towns,  was  large,  and 
many  a  tearful  eye  testified  that  no  common  occasion  had  called  them  to- 
gether. Though  but  one  child,  "  according  to  the  flesh,"  was  permitted  to 
follow  his  relics  to  the  grave,  yet  many,  from  the  youth  to  the  gray -haired 
man,  who  mingled  their  tears  over  his  coffin,  felt  that  they  were  gazing 
for  the  last  time  upon  the  countenance  of  a  beloved  "  father  in  the  Lord." 

He  was  laid  beside  his  wife,  and  a  simple  obelisk  of  blue  marble,  com- 
memorative of  both,  marks  their  common  resting-place.  On  its  west 
side  is  inscribed  the  epitaph  prepared  by  himself  some  years  before  his 
death  :  "  Here  lies  the  body  of  the  Rev.  John  Lejland,  of  Cheshire,  who 
labored  67  years  to  promote  piety  and  vindicate  the  civil  and  religious  rights 
of  all  men.  He  died  January,  14,  1841,  aged  83  years  and  8  months." 
On  the  north  side  is  the  following  :  "  Sarah,  consort  of  Rev.  John  Le- 
land.  She  died  October  5,  1537,  aged  84  years."  On  the  south  :  "  This 
monument  was  erected  by  the  children  of  the  deceased,  to  point  out  the 
resting-place  of  their  revered  parents." 

Having  followed  him  to  the  end  of  his  course,  it  remains  for  us  to  glance, 
in  a  brief  retrospect,  at  some  circumstances  which  he  has  omitted.  It  is 
doubtless  the  case  that  many  of  these,  could  they  be  collected,  and  their 
authenticity  proved,  would  add  greatly  to  the  interest  of  the  narrative  ;  but 
the  fact,  that  it  has  been  found  impossible  to  obtain  them,  will  sufficiently 
account  for  the  omission  of  any  that  may  be  deemed  important. 

To  understand  and  appreciate  the  character  of  Elder  Leland,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  read  his  writings,  and  to  trace  the  operation  of  the  principles 
and  sentiments  they  contain,  in  the  actions  of  his  life.  That  his  writings 
were  a  transcript  of  his  mind  and  heart,  none  will  deny,  who  knew  him. 
The  candor  and  openness  with  which  he  ever  avowed  his  sentiments,  even 
■when  they  subjected  him  to  reproach  and  censure,  are  well  known.  Con- 
versing with  a  friend  on  one  occasion,  he  remarked — "  Though  I  have 
secrets  which  I  would  not  reveal  to  you,  or  any  one  else,  I  have  not  a  re- 
ligious secret  in  the  world."  The  same  frankness  marked  the  expression 
of  his  political  opinions.  That  his  independence  of  mind  aided  materially 
in  supporting  this  character,  will  be  evident  when  we  consider  how  many 
individuals  there  are  who  dare  not  be  honest — who  have  not  the  moral 
courage  to  sustain  them  in  a  course  which  they  feel  to  be  right,  and  in  the 
expression  of  sentiments  which  they  inwardly  approve.  A  remark  of 
Elder  Leland,  on  this  subject,  is  suggested  by  these  reflections.  "  Though 
in  a  religious  point  of  view,"  said  he,  "  self-dependence  (by  which  he 
meant  the  opposite  of  the  Christian's  trust  in  God)  is  most  pernicious  and 
fatal  in  its  tendency,  yet,  in  worldly  matters,  it  is  one  of  the  best  qualities 
a  man  can  possess.*' 

Through  a  long  life,  Elder  Leland  sustained,  with  uniform  consistency, 
the  two-fold  character  of  th^  Patriot  and  the  Christian.     For  his  religious 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  51 

creed  he  acknowledged  no  directory  but  the  Bible.  He  loved  the  pure, 
unadulterated  word  of  truth;  and,  as  a  minister  of  that  word,  zealous  and 
faithful,  he  preached  it,  as  far  as  he  was  able,  unmixed  with  the  doctrines 
and  commandments  of  men,  "not  for  filthy  lucre,  but  of  a  ready  mind." 
He  was  clear  in  exposition,  happy  in  illustration,  often  powerful  and  elo- 
quent in  appeals  to  the  conscience  and  heart.  He  insisted,  in  absolute  and 
unqualified  terms,  on  the  great  fundamental  truths  of  the  gospel,  the  ne- 
cessity  of  regeneration,  faith  and  repentance  ;  but,  on  points  not  essential 
to  salvation,  though  his  opinions  were  no  less  firmly  established,  and  he 
never  shrunk  from  advocating  them  on  proper  occasions,  yet  he  did  not  cen- 
sure or  denounce  those  who  differed  from  him,  nor  exclude  from  fellow- 
ship, as  Christians,  any  who  gave  evidence  of  a  gracious  change,  whatever 
might  be  their  peculiar  doctrinal  views.  He  never  engaged  in  controver- 
sy ;  and  when  any  of  his  published  opinions  were  disputed,  or  commented 
upon,  as  was  sometimes  the  case,  with  severity,  he  preferred  to  "  let  the 
matter  rest  a  little,  and  then  give  another  thrust,"  as  he  expressed  it,  to 
the  waste  of  time,  repetitions,  and  tediousness  of  reviews  and  replies. 

His  political  creed  was  based  upon  those  "  sufficient  truths"  of  equality, 
and  of  inherent  and  inalienable  rights,  recognised  by  the  master  spirits  of 
the  revolution  as  the  principles  for  the  support  of  which  they  pledged 
"  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor."  As  a  politician,  he 
was  above  the  influence  of  any  but  sincere  and  patriotic  motives.  He  was  a 
statesman,  rather  than  a  politician.  He  studied  the  fundamental  principles 
of  government,  and  drew  his  conclusions  directly  from  them,  without  any 
intervening  medium  of  self  or  party  interest.  He  judged  men  by  their 
measures,  and  measures  by  their  adaptedness  to  secure  that  result  which 
he  deemed  the  legitimate  object  of  government — the  greatest  good,  of  the 
greatest  number.  In  his  attachment  to  the  administrations  of  Jefferson, 
Madison,  Jackson  and  Van  Buren,  he  felt  that  he  was  contending  for  the 
same  principles  of  democracy  that  nerved  the  arms  and  strengthened  the 
hearts  of  the  whigs  of '76.  His  sentiments,  on  particular  measui'es,  it  is 
unnecessary  to  comment  upon,  as  they  are  clearly  expressed  in  his  wri- 
tings. His  feelings  on  the  subject  of  slavery  may  be  gathered  from  the 
fact  that,  during  his  fourteen  years'  residence  in  Virginia  he  never  owned 
a  slave,  as  well  as  from  his  remarks  in  in  the  Virginia  Chronicle,  and  from 
the  resolution  offered  by  him,  when  a  member  of  the  Baptist  General  Com- 
mittee, and  passed  by  them,  in  1789,  in  the  following  words  : — 

"  Resolved — That  slavery  is  a  violent  deprivation  of  the  rights  of  na- 
ture, and  inconstent  with  a  republican  government ;  and  we,  therefore, 
recommend  it  to  our  brethren,  to  make  use  of  every  legal  measure  to  ex- 
tirpate this  horrid  evil  from  the  land,  and  pray  Almighty  God  that  our 
honorable  legislature  may  have  it  in  their  power  to  proclaim  the  great 
Jubilee,  consistent  with  the  principles  of  good  policy." 


52  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

His  late  writings  on  this  subject,  though  expressing  disapprobation  of 
the  measures  of  aboHlionists,  we  apprehend,  will  not  be  found,  upon  ex- 
amination, materially  different  in  sentiment.  In  all,  while  he  recognizes 
the  supremacy  of  law,  he  pleads  for  individual  right. 

The  great  object,  (next  in  importance  to  his  mission  as  a  preacher  of 
Christ,)  for  which  he  seems  to  have  been  raised  up  by  a  special  Provi- 
dence, was  to  promote  the  establishment  of  religious  liberty  in  the  United 
States.  His  efforts,  perhaps,  contributed  as  much  as  those  of  any  other 
man,  to  the  overthrow  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny  in  Virginia,  the  state  of  his 
adoption,  and  exerted  a  beneficial  influence,  though  less  successful,  to- 
wards the  promotion  of  the  same  end  in  that  of  his  nativity.  In  the  for- 
mer, in  the  years  1786-7-8,  we  find  hi^s  name  in  the  doings  of  the  Baptist 
General  Committee,  with  which  he  stood  connected,  as  messenger  to  the 
General  Assembly,  appointed  to  draft  and  present  memorials  respecting 
the  Incorporating  act,  the  application  of  the  glehe  lands  to  public  use,  etc. 
Though  the  cause  of  religious  freedom  was  the  common  cause  of  all  dis- 
senters, yet  the  Baptists,  as  a  sect,  took  the  lead  in  those  active,  energetic, 
and  persevering  measures,  which  at  length  pervailed  in  its  establishment. 
Many  individuals  of  other  denominations  took  an  active  part,  and  aided 
materially  in  bringing  about  the  glorious  result;*  nay,  that  even  many  of 
the  more  conscientious  and  patriotic  among  the  members  of  the  establish- 
ed church,  made  praiseworthy  exertions  in  its  favor,  is  a  fact  too  honorable 
to  themselves,  and  to  the  state  that  produced  them,  to  be  passed  unnoticed. 
Enrolled  among  the  ardent  champions  of  religious  liberty,  are  the  names 
of  Virginia's  most  illustrious  sons — of  Washington,  Henry,  Jefferson, 
Madison.  To  particularize,  in  regard  to  the  efforts  made,  and  the  good 
accomplished  by  each,  is  unnecessary  in  this  place  ;  the  following  Addressf 
and  Reply,  which  are  inserted  entire,  will  serve  to  exhibit  the  enlarged 
views  and  the  unselfish  spirit  of  the  patriots  of  that  day,  as  well  as  the 
harmony,  one  might  almost  say  identity,  of  sentiment  that  prevailed  among 
them. 

Address  of  the  Committee  of  the  United  Baptist  Churches  of  Virginia, 
assembled  in  the  city  of  Richmond,  8th  August,  1789,  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States  of  America. 

Sir  : — Among  the  many  shouts  of  congratulation  that  you  receive  from 
cities,  societies,  states,  and  the  whole  world,  we  wish  to  take  an  active 
part  in  the  universal  chorus,  in  expressing  our  great  satisfaction  in  your 
appointment  to  the  first  office  in  the  nation.  When  America,  on  a  former 
occasion,  was  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  appealing  to  arms,  to  defend  her 
natural  and  civil  rights,  a  Washington  was  found  fully  adequate  to  the  ex- 

*  See  quotation  from  the  speech  of  a  Presbyterian,  Vol.  — ,  page  — . 
t  Drafted  by  Elder  Leland. 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  53 

igencies  of  the  dangerous  attempt ;  who,  by  the  philanthropy  of  his  heart, 
and  the  prudence  of  his  head,  led  forth  her  untutored  troops  into  the  field 
of  battle,  and  by  the  skilfulness  of  his  hands,  baffled  the  projects  of  the  in- 
suiting  foe,  and  pointed  out  the  road  to  independence,  even  at  a  time  when 
the  energy  of  the  cabinet  was  not  sufficient  to  bring  into  action  the  natural 
aid  of  the  confederation,  from  its  respective  sources. 

The  grand  object  being  obtained,  the  independence  of  the  States  acknow- 
ledged  ;  free  from  ambititon,  devoid  of  sanguine  thirst  of  blood,  our  hero 
returned,  with  those  he  commanded,  and  laid  down  the  sword  at  the  feet 
of  those  who  gave  it  him.  '  Such  an  example  to  the  world  is  new.'  Like 
other  nations,  we  experience  that  it  requires  as  great  valor  and  wisdom  to 
make  an  advantage  of  a  conquest,  as  to  gain  one. 

The  want  of  efficacy  in  the  confederation,  the  redundancy  of  laws,  and 
their  partial  administration  in  the  States,  called  aloud  for  a  new  arrange- 
ment of  our  systems.  The  wisdom  of  the  States,  for  that  purpose,  was 
collected  in  a  grand  convention — over  which,  you,  sir,  had  the  honor  to 
preside.  A  national  government,  in  all  its  parts,  was  recommended,  as 
the  only  preservation  of  the  Union,  which  plan  of  government  is  now  in 
actual  operation. 

When  the  Constitution  first  made  its  appearance  in  Virginia,  we,  as  a 
society,  had  unusual  strugglings  of  mind,  fearing  that  the  liberty  of  con- 
science, dearer  to  us  than  property  or  life,  was  not  sufficiently  secured. 
Perhaps  our  jealousies  were  heightened,  by  the  usage  we  received  in  Vir- 
ginia, under  the  regal  government,  when  mobs,  fines,  bonds  and  prisons 
were  our  frequent  repast. 

Convinced,  on  the  one  hand,  that  without  an  effective  National  Govern- 
ment,  the  Stales  would  fall  into  disunion  and  all  the  consequent  evils  ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  fearing  that  we  should  be  accessary  to  some  religious 
oppression,  should  any  one  society  in  the  Union  preponderate  over  the  rest ; 
yet,  amidst  all  these  inquietudes  of  mind,  our  consolation  arose  from  this 
consideration, — the  plan  must  be  good,  for  it  has  the  signature  of  a  tried, 
trusty  friend,  and  if  religious  liberty  is  rather  insecure  in  the  Constitution, 
*the  Administration  will  certainly  prevent  all  oppression,  for  a  Washing- 
ton will  preside.*  According  to  our  wishes,  the  unanimous  voice  of  the 
Union  has  called  you,  sir,  from  your  beloved  retreat,  to  launch  forth  again 
into  the  faithless  seas  of  human  affairs,  to  guide  the  helm  of  the  States. 
May  that  Divine  munificence,  which  covered  your  head  in  battle,  make  you 
a  yet  greater  blessing  to  your  admiring  country  in  time  of  peace.  Should 
the  horrid  evils  that  have  been  so  pestiferous  in  Asia  and  Europe,  faction, 
ambition,  war,  perfidy,  fraud,  and  persecution  for  conscience  sake,  ever 
approach  the  borders  of  our  happy  nation,  may  the  name  and  adminis- 
tration of  our  beloved  President,  like  the  radiant  source  of  day,  scatter  all 
those  dark  clouds  from  the  American  hemisphere. 


54  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

And  while  we  speak  freely  the  language  of  our  hearts,  we  are  satisfied 
that  we  express  the  sentiments  of  our  brethren,  whom  we  represent.  The 
very  name  of  Washington  is  music  in  our  ears  ;  and  although  the  great 
evil  in  the  States  is  the  want  of  mutual  confidence  between  rulers  and 
people,  yet  we  have  all  the  utmost  confidence  in  the  President  of  the  States  ; 
and  it  is  our  fervent  prayer  to  Almighty  God,  that  the  federal  government, 
and  the  governments  of  the  respective  States,  without  rivalship,  may  so 
co-operate  together,  as  to  make  the  numerous  people  over  whom  you  pre- 
side, the  happiest  nation  on  earth,  and  you,  sir,  the  happiest  man,  in  seeing 
the  people,  whom,  by  the  smiles  of  Providence,  you  saved  from  vassalage 
by  your  valor,  and  made  wise  by  your  maxims,  sitting  securely  under  their 
vines  and  fig-trees,  enjoying  the  perfection  of  human  felicity.  May  God 
long  preserve  your  life  and  health  for  a  blessing  to  the  world  in  general, 
and  the  United  States  in  particular ;  and,  when,  like  the  sun,  you  have 
finished  your  course  of  great  and  unparalleled  services,  and  go  the  way  of 
all  the  earth,  may  the  Divine  Being  who  will  reward  every  man  according 
to  his  works,  grant  unto  you  a  glorious  admission  into  his  everlasting  king, 
dom,  through  Jesus  Christ.  This,  sir,  is  the  prayer  of  your  happy  admi- 
rers. 

By  order  of  the  Committee, 

SAMUEL  HARRISS,  Chairman. 

Reuben  Ford,  Clerk. 


To  the  General  Committee,  representing  the  United  Baptist  Churches  in  Vir- 
ginia. 

Gentlemen, — I  request  that  you  will  accept  my  best  acknowledgments 
for  your  congratulation  on  my  appointment  to  the  first  office  in  the  nation. 
The  kind  manner  in  which  you  mention  my  past  conduct,  equally  claims 
theexpression  of  my  gratitude. 

After  we  had,  by  the  smiles  of  Divine  Providence  on  our  exertions,  ob- 
tained the  object  for  which  we  contended,  I  retired,  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  war,  with  an  idea,  that  my  country  could  have  no  farther  occasion  for 
my  services,  and  with  the  intention  of  never  entering  again  into  public 
life.  But  when  the  exigencies  of  my  country  seemed  to  require  me  once 
more  to  engage  in  public  affairs,  an  honest  conviction  of  duty  superseded 
my  former  resolution,  and  became  my  apology  for  deviating  from  the  happy 
plan  which  I  had  adopted. 

If  I  could  have  entertained  the  slightest  apprehension  that  the  Constitu- 
tion  framed  by  the  Convention  where  I  had  the  honor  to  preside,  might 
possibly  endanger  the  religious  rights  of  any  ecclesiastical  society,  certainly 
I  would  never  have  placed  my  signature  to  it;  and  if  I  could  now  con- 
ceive that  the  general  government  might  even  be  so  administered,  as  to 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND,  55 

tender  the  liberty  of  conscience  insecure,  I  beg  you  will  be  persuaded,  that 
no  one  would  be  more  zealous  than  myself,  to  establish  effectual  barriers 
against  the  horrors  of  spiritual  tyranny,  and  every  species  of  religious 
persecution.  For  you,  doubtless,  remember,  I  have  often  expressed  my 
sentiments,  that  any  man,  conducting  himself  as  a  good  citizen,  and  being 
accountable  to  God  alone  for  his  religious  opinions,  ought  to  be  protected 
in  worshiping  the  Deity  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience. 

While  I  recollect  with  satisfaction,  that  the  religious  society  of  which 
j'ou  are  members,  have  been,  throughout  America,  uniformly,  and  almost 
unanimously  the  firm  friends  to  civil  liberty,  and  the  persevering  promoters 
of  our  glorious  revolution  ;  I  cannot  hesitate  to  believe,  that  they  will  be 
the  faithful  supporters  of  a  free,  yet  efficient  general  government.  Under 
this  pleasing  expectation,  I  rejoice  to  assure  them,  that  they  may  rely  upon 
my  best  wishes  and  endeavors  to  advance  their  prosperity. 

In  the  meantime,  be  assured,  gentlemen,  that  I  entertain  a  proper  sense 
of  your  fervent  supplications  to  God  for  my  temporal  and  eternal  happi- 
ness. I  am,  gentlemen,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

Elder  Leland's  removal  to  New-England  took  place  in  1791.*  As  soon 
as  he  landed  again  on  its  shores,  he  commenced  anew  the  warfare  against 
religious  intolerance,  and  the  defence  of  the  cause  that  had  so  signally  tri- 
umphed  in  Virginia.  During  his  stay  in  New  London,  he  published  his 
"  Rights  of  Conscience  Inalienable,"  and  afterwards,  from  time  to  time, 
other  works  of  the  same  character ;  some  of  which  will  be  found  in  these 
volumes,  and  others  it  has  been  impossible  to  obtain. 

Our  limits  do  not  allow  us  to  enter  upon  the  history  and  progress  of  re- 
ligious  liberty  in  Massachusetts.  This  may  be  found  elsewhere.  It  had 
struggled  for  existence,  and  found  some  advocates  from  the  first  settlement 
of  the  state,  but  was  kept  constantly  shackled  by  certificate  laws,  and  other 
expedients  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny.  At  length,  in  the  beginning  of  1811, 
a  decision  by  Judge  Parsons,  that  no  society,  not  incorporated  by  law,  could 
claim  even  the  pitiful  privilege  of  drawing  back  money,  awakened  the  fears 
of  the  dissenters,  and  a  circular  Address,  accompanied  by  a  petition  to  the 
legislature,  praying  for  a  revision  of  the  laws  respecting  public  worship, 
was  circulated  through  the  state.  At  the  solicitation  of  the  people  of  Chesh- 
ire,  Mr.  Leiand  accepted  a  seat  in  the  legislature,  for  the  special  purpose 
of  aiding  the  measures  petitioned  for.  His  speech,  delivered  during  the 
debate  on  the  subject,  may  be  found  in  another  part  of  this  work. 

*  It  may  be  proper  to  mention,  in  this  place,  that  while  a  member  of  the  General  Com- 
inittee,  he  was  appointed  one  of  a  committee  to  collect  materials  for  a  history  of  the  Bap- 
tists in  Virginia  ;  and  had  made  considerable  progress  towards  it,  when  his  removal  causled 
him  to  relinquish  the  trust  into  other  hands. 


56  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

A  law  was  finally  passed  that  gave  some  relief,  but  not  complete  satis- 
faction. Tiie  "  stump"  of  the  tree  of  ecclesiastical  oppression,  so  care- 
fully preserved  "  with  a  band  of  iron  and  brass,"  continued,  therefore,  to 
furnish  a  subject  for  his  animadversion,  in  various  essays,  addresses,  etc., 
and  he  improved  such  opportunities  as  were  offered  him,  as  a  matter  of  duty, 
and  in  fulfilment  of  the  public  pledge  he  had  given,  that  "as  long  as  he 
could  speak  with  his  tongue,  wield  a  pen,  or  heave  aery  to  heaven,  when- 
ever the  rights  of  men,  the  liberty  of  conscience,  or  the  good  of  his  coun- 
try were  invaded  by  fraud  or  force,  his  feeble  efforts  should  not  lie  dor- 
mant." His  letters,  etc.,  on  the  Sunday  Mail  question,  have  the  same  bear- 
ing,  and  breathe  the  same  spirit.  To  neutralize  the  effect  of  these,  and  to 
destroy  the  confidence  reposed  in  him,  reports  were  industriously  circula- 
ted in  some  newspapers,  that  "  he  had  renounced  the  Christian  faith,  and 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  been  excommunicated  from  the 
church."  The  reader  is  requested  to  turn  to  his  reply  to  a  letter  from  Rev.  O. 
B.  Brown,  on  this  subject,  where  he  will  find  a  sufficient  refutation  of  this 
calumny.  To  show  its  probable  foundation,  however,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  return  to  the  period  of  his  removal  to  Cheshire,  and  give  a  connected 
narrative  of  a  series  of  events,  which  misrepresentation  and  falsehood 
have  so  distorted  to  his  prejudice,  as  to  render  a  true  statement  of  them  an 
•act  of  indispensable  justice  to  his  memory.  As  the  professed  object  of  this 
work  is  to  exhibit  fully  his  character  and  sentiments,  facts  which  have  so 
important  a  bearing  upon  that  object,  cannot,  with  propriety,  be  withheld. 

Soon  after  Elder  Lelandcame  to  reside  in  Berkshire,  the  town  of  Chesh- 
ire was  organized.  There  was,  at  that  time,  within  its  bounds,  a  large  and 
flourishing  church,  called  New  Providence  Grant,  whose  pastor  was  Elder 
Werden.  There  was  also,  another,  called  the  Six  Principle  Church,  ma- 
king the  laying  on  of  hands  a  pre-requisite  to  communion.  The  church, 
•with  which  Elder  Leland  united,  and  of  which  he  continued  a  member  until 
his  death,  had  dissented  from  the  Six  Principle  Church,  and  contained  about 
seventy  members.     This  was  usually  called  the  Second  Baptist  Church. 

Considerable  additions  were  soon  made,  and  in  1793,  it  was  determined 
to  build  a  meeting-house.  Elder  Leland  drafted  a  Constitution  which  was 
unanimously  adopted,  and  the  house  was  built  during  the  succeeding  year. 
The  Constitution  reserved  the  control  of  the  pulpit  to  the  Baptist  church, 
giving  any  proprietor,  not  a  member,  the  liberty  of  inviting  any  man,  •'  in 
character,"  to  occupy  it  his  pastorial  part  of  the  time,  and  if,  at  any  time, 
the  church  should  fall  away,  or  be  unable  to  support  a  meeting,  or  a  min- 
ister, it  secured  the  property  to  the  original  proprietors,  and  their  heirs  at 
law. 

The  inhabitants  of  Cheshire,  were,  at  that  time,  principally  thriving  far- 
mers, who  had  removed  there  when  the  country  was  yet  a  wilderness,  and 
by  untiring  industry  had  cleared  their  lands,  built   comfortable  houses, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  57 

school-houses,  etc.,  and  were  training  up  large  families  of  very  intelligent 
children.  The  wealthier  portion  of  the  church  seemed  ever  ready  to  help 
the  poor,  and  encourage  the  weak.  Their  records  furnish  numerous  in- 
stances of  their  watchfulness  and  promptness  in  providing  for  the  wants  of 
their  needy  members. 

This  church,  with  all  others  in  Berkshire,  belonged  to  the  Shaftsbury 
Association  ;  a  very  respectable  body,  but  containing  a  number  of  talented 
men,  who  were  every  way  aristocratic,  in  their  views  of  the  powers  of 
Associations  over  churches,  and  of  churches  over  their  respective  mem- 
bers.  As  Elder  Leiand,  and  his  brethren  in  Virginia,  had  just  thrown  off 
the  yoke  of  the  established  clergy,  and  built  up  their  institutions  upon  the 
most  liberal  plan,  it  will  not  be  thought  strange  if  his  feelings  and  views 
were  not  relished  by  the  more  narrow-minded,  and  his  increasing  popularity 
looked  upon  with  other  than  friendly  feelings. 

Revivals  of  religion  in  Cheshire,  and  the  adjacent  towns,  for  some  time 
kept  up  large  congregations  in  their  new  meeting-houses,  and  scarcely  a 
covenant-day  passed,  without  the  addition  of  one  or  more  to  their  number. 
Under  date  of  December,  1795,  the  following  entry  is  found  upon  the  re- 
cords :  "  Elder  Leiand  appears  to  stand  in  the  power  and  demonstration  of 
the  spirit  of  God,  in  the  administration  of  the  word  and  ordinances  of  the 
gospel."  But  when  religion  began  to  decline,  and  a  worldly  spirit  crept 
in,  he  was  exceedingly  pained  to  see  leading  members  of  the  church,  (of 
which  he  then  had  the  care,)  indulging  in  harsh  language  towards  each 
other  ;  yet  ever  ready  to  give  a  word  of  exhortation,  to  draw  the  reins  of 
discipline  closely  with  their  neighbors,  and  virtually  to  say,  by  coming  to 
the  communion,  "  we  are  one."  This  became  very  trying  to  his  feelings, 
and  as  he  had  never  enjoyed  the  Lord's  supper,  as  he  had  preaching  and 
baptizing,  he  felt  no  little  embarrassment  in  constantly  administering  it 
under  such  circumstances.  But  as  these  members  were  respectable,  stood 
high  in  church  and  society,  were  warm  friends  to  him,  and  not  complained 
of  by  others,  he  thought  it  more  prudent  to  smother  his  feelings,  and  seeing 
his  own  imperfections  to  be  great,  to  exercise  forbearance  towards  the 
faults  of  others. 

At  length,  however,  he  manifested  his  feelings  to  the  church,  who,  being 
unable  to  remove  them,  consented,  according  to  his  request,  to  "  have  pa- 
tience to  wait  on  him  a  little  longer."  It  is  not  certain  at  what  time  he 
left  the  pastoral  charge,  but  it  is  probable  he  had  not  filled  that  office  for 
some  time  previous  to  1799,  when  he  was  requested  to  resume  it,  but  de- 
clined. He  spent  considerable  portions  of  every  year  in  travelling  and 
preaching  from  place  to  place,  but  when  at  home,  (as  may  be  seen  by  re- 
ference to  the  auto-biography,)  he  was  never  idle. 

In  August,  1799,  the  peaceful  work  of  grace,  called,  by  way  of  emin- 
ence, '•'  the  great  Reformation,"  commenced  in  Cheshire,  and  its  vicinity. 

8 


58  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

His  labors  and  successes  during  that  interesting  season,  are  recorded  by 
his  own  hand.  One  of  the  members  of  the  church,  who  had,  during  the 
ingathering,  not  only  absented  himself  from  public  worship,  and  church- 
meetings,  but  "  spoken  lightly  of  the  work  of  God  among  the  people," 
professed  to  be  aggrieved  that  Elder  Leland  should  not  break  bread  to  the 
church,  "  let  the  embarrassments  be  what  they  might  in  his  own  mind," 
and  also  found  fault  with  the  church  "  for  not  forbidding  him  to  pray  and 
preach,  inasmuch  as  he  had  neglected  a  known  precept."  The  church 
sustained  Elder  Leland  in  his  course,  and  contended  that  they  had  no  right 
to  forbid  him  to  pray  and  preach,  "  inasmuch  as  he  had  been  guilty  of  no 
immoral  conduct."  After  a  series  of  unsuccessful  efforts  to  convince  the 
refractory  member  of  his  errors,  and  to  bring  him  back  to  duty,  the  church 
withdrew  from  him  the  hand  of  fellowship. 

Thus  it  appears,  that  the  church  both  knew  and  respected  his  feelings, 
and  did  not  feel  disposed  to  urge  him  forward  in  the  performance  of  that 
which  he  could  not  look  upon  as  duty,  nor  to  impute  to  him  the  omission, 
as  a  crime  ;  and  it  is  believed,  that,  when  he  removed  to  Dutchess  county, 
he  left  no  enemies  in  Cheshire. 

Not  long  after  his  removal,  Elder  Lemuel  Covell,  a  young,  talented,  and 
highly  esteemed  minister,  passing  through  Cheshire,  preached  so  much  to 
the  edification  of  the  church,  that  they  immediately  appointed  a  committee 
to  visit  him,  with  a  view  to  obtain  his  services  as  pastor.  They  found  him 
rather  disposed  to  come ;  but  as  he  had  been  unfortunate  in  his  outward 
concerns,  had  become  involved,  and  the  church  at  Pittstown  had  paid  the 
demands  against  him,  (amounting  to  nearly  seven  hundred  dollars,)  on  the 
condition,  "that  he  should  never  leave  them  to  become  the  pastor  of  any 
other  people,  unless  that  people  would  refund  the  money  to  them ;  an  ob- 
stacle was  presented  apparently  difficult  to  be  overcome.  The  trial  which 
followed,  would,  but  for  its  consequences,  have  found  no  place  in  these 
pages. 

The  committee,  who  waited  on  Mr.  Covell,  were  disposed  to  engage  him, 
but  on  submitting  it  to  the  church,  a  number  of  the  members  in  good  stand- 
ing, and  somewhat  wealthy,  objected,  and  by  their  arguments,  nearly  dis- 
suaded others.  The  committee  took  the  alarm — insisted  strongly  upon  the 
powers  of  the  church — and,  though  their  reasoning  did  not  convince,  their 
perseverance  conquered — and  perhaps  it  will  not  be  uncharitable  to  say, 
that  Elder  Covell's  debts  were  paid,  and  his  family  removed  to  Cheshire, 
rather  in  a  spirit  of  defiance.  The  terms  of  settlement  were  the  same  as 
at  Pittstown,  with  the  additional  promise,  that  if  the  church  failed  in  af- 
fording  him  a  decent  maintenance,  the  seven  hundred  dollars  were  not  to 
be  refunded,  though  he  should  leave  the  place. 

About  this  time,  a  mortgage  being  closed  on  the  farm  where  Elder  Le- 
lad  resided,  his  friends  in  Cheshire  gave  him  a  pressing  invitation  to  come 


ELDER  ^JOHN    LELAND.  59 

and  reside  with  them  ;  to  preach  whenever  he  felt  disposed,  and  duty  seemed 
to  call  him.  Having  children  residing  there,  and  being  still  a  member  of 
the  church,  he  complied  with  the  solicitation.  He  and  Mr.  Covell  had  al- 
ways been  warm  friends,  and  their  intimacy  continued  uninterrupted  till 
the  lamented  death  of  the  latter,  while  on  a  mission  to  Canada,  October  19, 
1806,  less  than  six  months  from  the  time  of  his  removal  to  Cheshire. 

Mr.  Covell  viewed  the  proceedings  of  the  church  in  the  same  light  with 
the  majority  of  the  people  of  Cheshire,  In  a  conversation  with  Elder  Le- 
land,  he  said,  "had  I  foreseen  the  troubles  that  would  ensue  in  consequence 
of  ray  coming  here,  I  would  sooner  have  begged  my  bread  from  door  to 
door." 

The  shock  produced  by  Mr.  Covell's  death,  was  succeeded  by  a  calm- 
ness, which  lasted  a  considerable  time,  and  gave  the  friends  of  peace,  rea- 
son to  hope  that  the  breach  in  the  church  would  soon  be  healed.  Both 
church  and  society  seemed  seriously  to  regret  the  hurrying  spirit  that  had 
set  them  at  variance.  Not  so  with  a  few  leaders  of  the  opposite  party. 
"  Recantation  or  excommunication,"  were  their  terms,  and  strange  as  it 
may  seem,  acquainted  as  they  were  with  Elder  Leland,  they  applied  to  him 
for  help  to  carry  out  their  plans.  Owing  no  ill  will  to  either  parly,  his 
answer  was  such  as  might  have  been  anticipated.  He  thought  a  little  for- 
bearance, on  their  part,  might  have  saved  all  the  trouble,  and  hinted,  that 
by  some  recantation  from  them,  the  church  might  still  be  kept  together. 

Disappointed  in  their  favorite  plans,  smarting  under  the  loss  of  property, 
their  fond  hopes  in  the  grave,  they  were  not  a  little  chagrined  at  receiv- 
ing a  slight  rebuke  where  they  had  expected  much  assistance.  They  did 
not  however  proceed  immediately  to  extremities,  but,  after  conversing  with 
members  of  the  Shaftsbury  Association,  unfriendly  in  their  views  to  Elder 
Leland,  (of  :whom  mention  has  already  been  made,)  they  determined  to 
apply  to  him  as  friends,  and  pretending  ignorance  on  the  subject,  to  draw 
from  him  an  expression  of  his  views  respecting  church  discipline,  com- 
munion, etc.*  He  freely  made  a  statement,  and  at  their  request  commit- 
ted it  to  writing.  This  paper  has  long  been  before  the  religious  world, 
but  as  there  may  be  many,  who  have  never  seen  it,  and  who  have  but 
vague  and  indefinite,  if  not  incorrect  ideas  of  what  Elder  Leland's  views 
were,  a  copy  of  it  is  here  subjoined,  taken  from  the  original  on  file : 

1.  I  have  no  doubt  about  the  necessity  of  interna!  religion,  nor  of  the 
great  advantage  of  social  worship,  to  preach,  pray,  and  praise. 

2.  Some  doubts  have  ever  been  in  my  mind,  whether  the  advantage  of 
vv^hat  is  called  church  order,  more  than  compensates  for  the  disadvantages. 
It  is  uppermost  in  my  mind,  however,  that  good  church  order  is  scriptural. 

3.  I  lodge  no  complaint  against  communing  with  bread  and  wine,  but 

*  For  the  sake  of  brevity,  details  are  omitted,  and  only  a  sketch  of  the  important  fasts 
given. 


60  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

for  myself,  for  more  than  thirty  years  experiment,  I  have  had  no  evidence 
that  the  bread  and  wine  ever  assisted  my  faith  to  discern  the  Lord's  body. 
I  have  never  felt  guilty  for  not  communing,  but  often  for  doing  it.  I  have 
known  no  instance  that  God  evidently  blessed  the  ordinance  for  the  con- 
version of  sinners,  which  often  attends  preaching,  praying,  singing  and 
baptizing. 

4.  Putting  all  together,  the  best  conclusion  that  I  can  form,  is,  that 
church  labor  and  breaking  bread  is  what  the  Lord  does  not  place  on  me, 
any  more  than  he  did  baptizing  on  Paul. 

5.  If  the  church  can  bear  with  me,  while  I  possess  these  feelings,  and 
let  me  do  what  I  have  faith  and  confidence  in,  (which  will  be  but  a  little 
while,  for  there  is  nothing  left  but  a  stump,)  I  shall  be  glad.  Whenever  I 
think  I  can  do  good,  or  get  good,  I  will  attend  church-meeting,  and  when- 
ever the  doubts  of  my  mind  are  removed,  I  will  commune. 

6.  If  the  church  cannot  bear  thus  with  me,  I  wish  them  to  give  me  a 
letter  of  dismission — such  a  letter  as  they  can. 

7.  If  such  a  letter  cannot  be  given,  consistently  with  the  order  and  dig- 
nity of  the  church,  I  suppose  excommunication  must  follow  of  course. 

John  Leland. 
Cheshire,  August  22,  1811. 

This  is  a  compendium  of  what  I  stated  last  church-meeting,  and  is  here 
written  on  your  request.  Let  no  man  follow  me  where  I  do  not  follow 
Christ.  J.  L. 

It  will  probably  appear  evident  to  all,  that  more  of  the  cunning  of  the 
serpent  than  of  the  harmlessness  of  the  dove  was  displayed  in  this  manoeu- 
vre of  false  friends.  Most  of  the  church  agreed  to  forbear  according  to 
his  request.  A  motion  (made  at  the  same  meeting)  to  call  a  council,  was 
negatived.     A  similar  attempt  at  a  subsequent  meeting  also  failed. 

They  therefore  called  OlH  ex  parte  council;  but  being  defeated  in  this 
attempt,  by  the  refusal  of  the  church  to  attend,  etc.,  they  applied  to  the  As- 
sociation for  aid.  A  committe  of  fifteen  were  appointed,  who  came  and 
made  an  effort  to  convince  the  people  of  their  error,  in  holding  in  fellow- 
ship a  man  who  entertained  sentiments  so  heretical.  The  committee  met 
with  no  better  success  than  the  council. 

Previous  to  the  sitting  of  the  committee,  Elder  Hull,  of  Berlin,  had  en- 
deavored to  mediate  a  peace  between  the  parties,  and  a  vote  had  been 
passed  mutually  "to  bury  all  passed  difficulties,  never  again  to  call  them 
up."  As  subsequent  events  showed  this  to  be  a  false  peace,  and  it  became 
evident  to  all,  that  real  and  permanent  harmony  could  not  now  be  restored, 
the  ten  dissenting  members  at  length  consented  to  accept  letters  of  dis- 
mission, of  which  the  following  is  a  copy :  "  Whereas,  there  has  been  a 
difficulty  subsisting  among  the  members  of  this  church,  and  a  general 
agreement  cannot  as  yet  be  obtained,  we  have  thought  it  advisable  to  part. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  61 

Accordingly,  the  ten  dissenting  members  are  dismissed  from  us,  and  we 
will  not  now  fellowship  any  church  that  may  receive  them  into  their 
communion."* 

The  result  of  another  council,  convened  about  a  year  after,  to  which 
the  church  deputed  a  committee,  and  submitted  a  written  statement  of  facts, 
may  be  sufficiently  gathered  from  the  following  allegory,  written  by  Elder 
Leland : 

NAVAL   ENGAGEMENT. 

In  the  year  1811,  a  small,  diminutive  vessel,  with  American  colors,  was 
seen  sailing  on  the  coast  near  the  place,  supposed  to  have  on  board  con- 
traband goods.  A  number  of  gun-boats  called  "  Aggrieved  Brethren,'' 
formed  a  line  and  bore  down  upon  the  little  vessel  to  sink  her;  but  as  the 
wind  shifted  they  could  not  succeed.  Their  failure  only  fired  them  with 
resolution. 

Some  of  the  inhabitants  provided  a  number  of  armed  schooners  called 

a  Party  Council,  commanded  by  Captain  H ,  and  made  a  second  attack 

upon  the  little  vessel,  in  March,  1812,  but  could  not  bring  her  to  action. 

They  next  obtained  two  brigs,  M and  T ,  to  join  the  squadron, 

and  in  May,  following,  attacked  the  little  vessel  with  all  their  force ;  but 
when  they  had  spent  all  their  powder  in  raking  her,  they  retreated  without 
sinking  the  worthless  vessel.     They  then  applied  to  my  Lord  Shaftsbury 

for  a  squadron  of  armed  brigs  called  a  Committee,  with  Admiral  W the 

commander ;  but  before  this  squadron  arrived,  there  came  a  Hull  of  a 
vessel  from  Berlin,  with  a  white  flag,  and  the  captain,  in  behalf  of  his  gov- 
ernment, tendered  his  services  to  mediate  a  peace  between  the  enraged 
inhabitants  and  the  little  vessel :  but  did  not  effect  his  wish.  The  July 
following,  the  line  of  armed  brigs  arrived ;  but  with  all  their  manoeuvring 
they  could  not  bring  the  little  vessel  to  action,  nor  get  near  enough  to  cut 
down  the  rigging.  The  inhabitants  again  applied  to  Lord  Shaftsbury  for 
a  squadron  of  frigates  to  blow  the  little  vessel  from  the  ocean.  His  Lord- 
ship granted  them  five  more  frigates,  to  be  commanded  by  the  bold  Ad- 
miral W ,  which  formidable  force  hove  in  sight  August  25th,  1813. 

The  little  vessel  came  up  to  the  fleet,  and  showed  her  papers,  colors,  and 
cargo,  at  sight  of  which  the  squadron  divided.  Two  of  the  frigates  veered 
off,  and  said  the  little  vessel  was  not  a  picaroon,  but  was  pursuing  lawful 
commerce,  and  there  were  not  contraband  goods  on  board  sufficient  to 
condemn  her  according  to  the  law  of  nations.  The  other  frigates  said 
they  had  no  orders  from  Lord  Shaftsbury  as  yet  to  sink  her  to  the  bottom  ; 
but  unless  the  inhabitants  would  join  and  destroy  the  little  vessel,  they 
would  inform  his  Lordship  of  it  next  June,  who  would  send  a  force  that 
would  distroy  every  individual  that  gave  aid  to  the  little  vessel,  or  allowed 
her  to  sail  on  the  face  of  the  deep. 

*  This  was  done  at  the  July  meeting,  1812. 


62  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Early  in  1814,  a  vote  was  passed  that  the  dismissed  members  should 
have  the  use  of  the  meeting-house  so  much  of  the  time  as  they  were  en- 
titled to  it,  by  the  share  they  held  in  the  property,  and  they  were  request- 
ed to  appoint  their  days  of  worship.* 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Shaftsbury  Association  in  June,  1817,  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  messengers  of  the  church,  they  were  dropped  from  their  con- 
nection with  the  Association.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  on  which 
this  was  done,  "  A  certain  schedule  of  articles  of  belief,  dated  at  Cheshire, 
August  22,  1811,  signed  John  Leland,  being  presented  by  the  messengers 
of  the  Leyden  Association,  who  desired  to  know  if  we  held  in  our  fellow- 
ship a  public  character  or  church  that  embraced  such  sentiments  : 

Voted,  unanimously,  that  this  Association  hold  fellowship  with  no  man 
or  church,  embracing,  or  countenancing  such  sentiments  as  contained  in 
the  paper  then  presented.''^ 

Possessed  of  that  charity  which  "  hopeth  and  endureth  all  things,"  and 
neither  wishes  nor  works  ill  to  its  neighbor.  Elder  Leland  was  employed, 
during  this  long  period  of  persecution,  in  the  pursuit  of  his  domestic  con- 
cerns, and  the  duties  of  his  calling.  His  friends,  surprised  at  the  extra- 
ordinory  and  unconstitutional  proceedings  of  the  "  aggrieved  party, "^ 
sought,  by  every  means,  for  many  years,  to  set  the  party  and  the  public 
right.  On  the  other  hand,  the  wicked,  seeing  themselves  backed  by  so 
many  zealous  professors,  and  ever  ready  to  take  advantage  of  such  dis- 
sensions, spared  no  pains  to  invent  and  circulate  the  most  unblushing  false- 
hoods  respecting  his  opinions  and  practices.  No  good  ever  resulted  from 
the  whole  course  of  proceeding ;  nothing  was  gained  by  any  one  ;  but  a 
bad  impression  was  left  upon  the  minds  of  the  people  generally,  who  seem- 
ed to  doubt  the  purity  of  purpose  that  actuated  to  such  a  course  of  conduct 
as  had  been  pursued,  nor  could  ever  be  brought  to  see  how  any  blame 
could  justly  fall  upon  Elder  Leland. 

Years  passed  on,  the  particular  circumstances  of  which  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  detail.  At  length,  in  1824,  a  new  church  was  formed,  consisting, 
in  part,  of  the  surviving  members  of  the  aggrieved  party,  and  partly  of 
such  as  withdrew  at  that  time  from  the  Second  Church,  or  had  never 
united  with  any.  Each  church  occupied  the  meeting-house  half  the  time. 
A  revival  in  1827,  produced  some  accessions  to  both,  and  also  to  a 
Methodist  society  which  had  been  constituted  in  1823. 

As  many  of  the  dissenting  members  had,  in  years  previous  to  church 

*  Soon  after  this,  Elder  Leland  removed  to  New  Ashford.  See  autobiography  for 
circumstances.     He  continued  to  preach  from  time  to  time  in  Cheshire. 

t  See  minutes  for  that  year. 

t  Though  only  a  small  minority,  they  had  at  one  time  assumed  to  be  the  church,  and 
as  such,  had  sent  a  letter  and  messengers  to  the  Association,  in  addition  to  that  sent  reg- 
ularly by  the  churcL 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  63 

difficulties,  been  warmly  attached  to  Elder  Leiand,  none  but  his  God  and 
nearest  friends  knew  how  trying  to  his  heart  was  the  loss  of  their  society 
and  friendship.     At  the  darkest  hour  of  the  contest,  no  uncharitable  ex- 
pression escaped  his  lips,  nor  could  he  ever  be  induced  to  occupy  the  desk, 
when  he  thought  it  belonged,  of  right  to  them. 

In  1831,  another  revival  occurred.  Numbers  were  baptized,  and  united 
with  the  churches  to  which  their  friends  respectively  belonged.  Others  were 
deterred  from  uniting  with  either,  by  the  consideration  that  the  existence  of 
two  churches  of  the  same  faith  and  order,  in  one  place,  necessarily  involved 
the  certainty  that  a  wrong  existed  somewhere  ;  and,  as  they  could  not  de- 
termine satisfactorily  to  themselves  where  it  existed,  they  judged  it  better 
to  remain  neutral.  Indeed,  for  the  most  part,  the  younger  portion  of  the 
community  knew  not  why  they  should  stand  aloof  from  their  neighbors  in 
religious  concerns,  when  they  were  all  of  one  faith,  and  friendly  in  every 
other  respect.  The  lapse  of  years  had  thinned  the  number  of  those  whose 
grievances  had  first  occasioned  the  division,  and  those  living,  seemed 
to  feel  deeply  their  estrangement  from  their  brethren,  and  manifested, 
by  suitable  acknowledgments  to  Elder  Leiand  and  others,  or  by  their 
friendly  conduct,  that  they  retained  no  longer  any  hostile  feeling.  Time 
had  smothered  the  disputes  that  had  once  risen  like  mountains  between 
them  and  their  brethren,  and  the  Holy  Spirit's  influence,  which,  as  has 
justly  been  remarked,  "  can  accomplish  more  in  one  hour,  in  bring- 
ing Christians  together,  than  years  spent  in  disputes  and  discipline," 
was  doing  its  perfect  work,  and  fostering  a  growing  spirit  of  charity 
in  all  hearts. 

In  the  winter  and  spring  of  1833-4,  Elder  Leiand  and  his  wife  had 
some  rather  unusual  exercises  of  mind  respecting  the  churches,  which 
left  upon  them  the  impression  that  a  union  might  be  effected.  Prompt 
in  executing  what  his  feelings  of  duty  led  him  to  undertake,  he  imme- 
diately visited  several  members  of  his  own  church,  told  his  feelings  and 
wishes,  and  proposed,  if  possible,  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation,  by 
meeting  their  brethren  of  the  other  church,  on  the  broad  basis  of  uni- 
versal forgiveness,  and  mutual  oblivion  of  the  past.  Some  did  not  readily 
concur :  but  he  presented  to  their  minds  the  powerful  motives  on  which 
their  common  Master  had  urged  the  duty  of  forgiveness,  and  reminded 
them  that  every  Christian  must  have  a  forgiving  spirit.  At  length  their 
scruples  gave  way  to  the  reflection,  that  if  he,  who  had  suffered  most, 
could  heartily  forgive,  they  ought  to  throw  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
the  accomplishment  of  his  wishes. 

A  meeting  was  accordingly  appointed,  and  the  churches  came  together. 
Many  spectators  were  also  present;  some,  no  doubt,  drawn  by  curiosity, 
and  expecting  to  hear  the  grounds  of  the  long  trouble  laid  open  and  dis- 
cussed ;  and  others,  truly  rejoicing  at  the  prospect  of  a  speedy  end  of  those 


64  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

troubles.  The  plan  proposed  by  Elder  Leland  was  characteristically  lib- 
eral. The  following  is  a  copy  of  it,  as  written  by  him  on  the  first  page  of 
the  "  new  church-book." 

Cheshire,  March  6,  1834. 

This  day  the  Second  and  Third  Baptist  Churches  in  Cheshire  united 
together,  to  be  called  hereafter  the  Second  Church,  upon  the  following  plan 
of  agreement,  viz.  ; — 

All  former  differences  shall  be  buried  in  the  sea  of  universal  forgive- 
ness ;  and  all  the  members  of  both  churches,  whether  present  or  absent, 
shall  be  considered  in  the  union,  under  the  following  provisions  : — 

Any  member  here  present,  who,  from  local  situation,  or  any  other 
cause,  may  decline  the  union,  shall  be  subject  to  no  censure  therefor. 
Those  members  who  are  not  present,  shall  have  the  same  indulgence, 
when  they  make  their  requests  known.  In  both  cases,  the  non-unionists 
shall  be  under  no  obligation  to  tell  their  reasons  why. 

A  clerk  shall  be  chosen,  in  whose  office  the  books  and  papers  of  both 
the  former  churches  shall  be  deposited,  merely  for  imformation,  but  shall 
not  be  appealed  to  for  rules  of  proceeding. 

A  new  book  shall  be  procured,  in  which  the  proceedings  of  the  church 
hereafter  shall  be  registered. 

As  soon  as  the  plan  was  laid  before  the  meeting,  a  spirit  of  union  seem- 
ed to  run  from  heart  to  heart ;  and,  to  the  great  joy  of  all  present,  not  an 
opposing  voice  was  raised.  The  union  was  effected  without  a  discussion 
of  difficulties,  without  a  surrender  of  private  judgment — upon  the  only 
ground  on  which  it  is  believed  it  could  ever  have  taken  place.  It  was  a 
source  of  great  consolation  to  Elder  Leland,  to  have  his  early  friends  take 
him  so  cordially  by  the  hand  ;  and  from  this  time  until  his  death,  it  is  be- 
lieved  no  member  of  either  church  bore  him  any  ill  will ;  such,  at  least, 
was  the  appearance.  The  approving  smile  of  Heaven  seemed  to  ratify 
the  act ;  for  though  but  few  additions  to  their  number  have  since  taken 
place,  a  spirit  of  harmony  has  prevailed  in  all  their  deliberations,  and  bro- 
therly love  has  continued  uninterrupted  among  the  members  of  the  united 
church. 

In  this  brief  sketch  of  events,  we  have  endeavored  to  perform  with  can- 
dor the  task  which  duty  imposed.  Its  object  has  been,  not  to  call  up  pain- 
ful  remembrances  from  the  oblivion  where  they  were  buried,  but  to  do  jus- 
tice to  the  memory  of  the  man  to  whose  prejudice  those  events  have  been 
perverted,  and  to  exhibit  his  character,  course,  and  principles  in  their  true 
light.  No  apology  is,  therefore,  deemed  necessary  for  an  act  so  clearly 
and  imperatively  demanded  by  truth  and  justice.  That  which  goes  down 
to  later  generations  as  matter  of  history,  should  be  sober  fact,  divested  of 
all  the  false  coloring  which  prejudice,  ignorance,  or  party  spirit  may  have 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  65 

thrown  around  it.  Such,  it  is  hoped,  this  narrative  may  be  found.  Great 
care  has  been  taken  to  ascertain  truth,  and  few  assertions  have  been  made 
that  are  not  sustained  by  documentary  evidence  of  undoubted  authenticity. 
A  few  observations  of  a  miscellaneous  character,  will  close  these  sketches. 
The  following  extract,  from  Sernple's  Virginia  Baptists,  published  in 
1810,  will  serve  to  show  the  estimation  in  which  Mr.  Leland  was  held  in 
that  state. 

"  Mr.  Leland,  as  a  preacher,  was  probably  the  most  popular  of  any  that 
ever  resided  in  this  state.  He  is,  unquestionably,  a  man  of  fertile  genius. 
His  opportunities  for  school  learning  were  not  great ;  but  the  enegetic 
vigor  of  his  mind  quickly  surmounted  this  deficiency.  His  memory  was 
so  retentive,  that  by  a  single  reading  he  stored  up  more  of  the  contents  of 
a  book,  than  many  would  by  a  dozen  careful  perusals.  It  is  probable  that 
his  knowledge,  derived  from  books,  at  this  day,  taken  in  the  aggregate,  is 
surpassed  by  few.  His  preaching,  though  immethodical  and  eccentric,  is 
generally  wise,  warm  and  evangelical.  There  are  not  many  preachers, 
who  have  so  great  command  of  the  attention  and  of  the  feelings  of  theix* 
auditory.  In  effecting  this,  his  manner  has  been  thought,  by  some,  to  ap- 
proach too  near  to  the  theatrical.     Cowper,  the  poet,  says : 

'  He  that  negotiates  between  God  and  man, 
A3  God's  ambassador,  the  grand  concerns 
Of  judgment  and  of  mercy,  must  beware 
Of  lightness  in  his  speech.' 

"  Here  Mr.  Leland  and  the  poet  are  at  variance  ;  he  does,  sometimes, 
and,  indeed,  not  unfrequenlly, 

'  Court  the  skittish  fancy  with  facetious  tales.' 

"  If  Cowper  says,  '  So  did  not  Paul,'  Leland  can  say.  So  did  George 
Whitfield,  Rowland  Hill,  etc.,  and  they  have  been  the  most  successful  of 
modern  preachers.  Mr.  Leland's  free  and  jocund  manners  have  excited 
the  suspicions  of  some,  that  he  wanted  serious  piety.  His  intimate  friends 
are  confident  that  these  are  groundless  suspicions.  They  believe  that, 
among  his  other  singularities,  he  is  singularly  pious." 

It  is  true,  there  was  nothing  of  superstitious  austerity  in  the  tone  of  his 
piety ;  it  corresponded  with  his  own  description  of  the  feelings  of  the 
heaven-born  soul — "  lively  as  angels,  yet  solemn  as  the  grave."  Deep 
solemnity  characterized  his  public  ministrations.  In  prayer,  he  seemed 
to  have  an  overwhelming  sense  of  the  perfections  of  the  Being  he  address- 
ed ;  and  his  manner,  his  words,  and  the  tones  of  his  voice,  were  expressive 
of  the  most  reverential  awe,  the  deepest  self-abasement,  and  the  humblest 
adoration.     He  was  in  the  habit  of  confessing  the  immense  distance  of 

9 


66  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

men,  as  creatures,  below  the  infinite  Jehovah,  and  the  immeasurable  in- 
crease of  that  distance  by  reason  of  sin.  "  Supremely  great,  infinitely 
glorious,  highly  exalted,  everywhere  present,  all-wise  and  eternal  God," 
was  often,  either  wholly,  or  in  part,  the  introduction  of  his  prayer.  His 
audience  felt  themselves  carried  directly  into  the  presence  of  Him  who  is 
"  fearful  in  praises,"  and  it  was  impossible  to  listen  with  an  irreverent  or 
trifling  spirit.  In  the  administration  of  the  sacrament,  few,  if  any,  were 
ever  more  deeply  solemn  and  impressive.  In  his  preaching,  he  sometimes, 
by  a  single  sentence,  presented  before  the  mind  a  view  of  etei*nal  things, 
which  left  an  indelible  impression  on  the  memory.  Such  was  the  manner 
in  which  he  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  death.  "  It  is,"  he  would  say,  "a 
solemn  thing  to  die ;  to  go — we  know  not  where  ;  to  be — we  know  not 
what."  His  manner,  however,  was  far  from  being  affected  or  theatrical ; 
and  he  did  not  deem  it  inconsistent,  either  with  real  solemnity,  or  with  the 
spirit  of  true  piety,  to  mingle,  not  only  in  his  writings  and  conversation, 
but  in  his  preaching,  occasional  strokes  of  humor  or  of  satire.  But  the 
"  facetious  tales"  had  always  a  higher  object  in  view  than  to  excite  a 
smile,  or  "  court  the  skittish  fancy."  They  were  brought  in  illustration 
of  some  important  truth,  which  he  wished  to  exhibit  in  the  clearest  light, 
and  to  impress  forcibly  upon  the  mind ;  effects  which  their  aptness  was 
well  calculated  to  produce.  The  shafts  of  satire,  too,  pointed  though  they 
might  be,  were  not  dipped  in  the  gall  of  malice  or  ill  will,  nor  aimed  at 
anything  which  he  esteemed  valuable  or  sacred.  Instances  illustrative  of 
this  part  of  his  character  may  be  found  among  his  writings,  and  will  be 
recollected  by  all  who  ever  heard  him  preach  or  converse.  The  follow- 
ing is  one  example,  and  will  serve  to  show  his  manner  of  treating  those 
circumstances,  which,  to  many  persons  of  different  temperament,  or  of  less 
elevated  views  and  aims,  would  seem  to  afford  sufficient  ground  for  re- 
sentment, and  which  not  unfrequently  result  in  irreconcilable  animosity. 


THE   CHESHIRE   KACES."^ 

As  the  annual  races  of  Cheshire  drew  nigh,  about  the  first  of  April,  1823, 
the  hippodrome  was  prepared  for  the  contest.  As  the  speed,  wind,  and 
bottom  of  the  horses  were  to  be  tested,  the  hippodrome  included  hills,  levels, 
lanes  and  hedges,  reaching  from  Savoy  to  Hancock.  The  prize  to  be  run 
for,  was 

»  To  those  acquainted  with  the  circumstances,  any  attempt  at  an  explanation  of  this 
allegory  would  be  superfluous ;  to  others,  perhaps,  impossible,  as  well  as  unprofitable.  It 
will  be  sufficient  to  remind  the  reader  that  a  revival  occurred  in  1823 — that  the  same 
year  a  Reformed  Methodist  Society  was  formed  in  Cheshire,  and  early  in  1824,  the  Tliird 
Baptist  Church  was  constituted.  Among  the  ministers  represented  by  three  horses,  no 
one,  it  is  presumed,  can  fail  to  recognize  the  features  of  "  Old  Dray." 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  '    67 

MEETING-HOUSE    AND    MAJORITY. 

The  horses  brought  on  the  ground  were,  first,  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  ; 
a  fine,  high-bred  horse,  in  fine  style  ;  supposed  by  some,  who  judge  of  horses, 
to  be  the  best  racer  ever  seen  on  Cheshire  race  ground.  The  second,  was 
Little  Jolly,  sired  by  the  imported  Jolly  Rogers,  the  famous  courser.  Lit- 
tle Jolly  had  never  run  but  a  few  races  ;  but  his  make,  nimbleness  and 
wind,  raised  the  confidence  of  many.  The  third  horse,  was  Old  Dray,  the 
sight  of  whom  made  some  laugh,  and  others  sneer.  Old  Dray  had  often 
been  on  the  ground  ;  but  was  never  formed  for  speed,  and  rarely  won  the 
prize ;  had  now  grown  old,  and  unfit  to  contend  with  young  steeds  in  high 
perfection ;  in  short,  he  had  nothing  to  commend  him,  except  his  being  of 
the  fear-not  blood.  On  this  condition  alone  could  he  be  admitted,  that  he 
should  carry  an  extra  burden  of  a  plough  and  pitchfork  on  his  back,  during 
the  race. 

The  distance  stake  was  stuck  forty  feet  short  of  the  goal,  and  all  things 
were  made  ready  for  the  start.  At  the  beat  of  the  drum,  the  halters  were 
slipped,  and,  by  some  unknown  cause.  Old  Dray  got  four  feet  in  front ; 
but  this  advance  was  very  short,  for  the  Marlborough  came  up,  and  went 
by  him,  with  great  facility ;  and,  had  it  not  been  for  two  causes,  there  was 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  Marlborough  would  have  distanced  all  the 
rest.  The  first  cause  was,  he  made  a  violent  kick  and  bite  at  Old  Dray, 
and  some  affirm  that  he  spake,  (like  the  beast  that  Balaam  rode,)  and  said, 
"  If  Old  Dray  can  be  kicked  out  of  the  path,  it  will  be  the  most  glorious 
race  that  ever  was  run,"  which  rather  crippled  him  in  the  stifle  joint.  His 
friends,  however,  say  that  there  was  neither  kick  nor  bite  ;  that  although 
he  is  all  activity  to  run  the  race,  yet  he  has  no  venom  in  him.  The  se- 
cond cause  was,  that  when  he  came  to  Savoy  Heights,  far  ahead,  there  was 
a  certain  berry  on  the  hills,  called  Woodberry,  which  had  so  strong  a 
scent,  that  it  rather  paralyzed  his  limbs. 

Little  Jolly  started  with  great  alertness,  and  the  bets  in  his  favor  were 
greater  than  for  any  of  the  horses  on  the  ground  ;  but,  making  a  bite  at 
Old  Dray,  he  incautiously  stepped  over  the  line,  and  crossed  the  path,  in 
doing  which  he  received  a  wound  ;  but  his  friends  produced  a  medicine, 
made  of  fabrication,  and  administered  by  offset,  which  proved  a  catholicon. 
They  said  that  Old  Dray  had  done  as  bad  as  Jolly,  and  one  must  be  off*set 
against  the  other.  This  medicine  they  had  tried  on  a  former  occasion, 
and  knew  its  efficacy.  This  treaty,  made  with  their  consciences,  healed 
the  wound  of  Jolly,  and  they  declared  him  to  be  the  soundest  and  swiftest 
horse  in  the  race.  And  truly,  in  that  part  of  the  race  ground  called  lanes 
and  hedges,  he  performed  wonders.  Being  acquainted  with  such  kind  of 
ground,  he  jumped  with  all  the  agility  of  a  rabbit.  In  going  over  the  flat 
ground  of  Hancock,  Old  Dray  made  considerable  advances  on  Marlborough, 


68 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


but  could  not  come  up  with  him.  In  coming  out  at  the  goal,  the  Marlbo 
rough  was  seventeen  feet  in  advance  of  Old  Dray,  and  Old  Dray  seven- 
teen feet  before  the  Jolly.  The  judges  seemed  somewhat  divided  ;  but 
the  decision  was,  that  the  Marlborough  should  have  the  majority,  the  Little 
Jolly  have  the  meeting-house,  and  that  Old  Dray  should  carry  the  plough 
and  pitchfork  upon  his  back  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  never  be  allowed  to 
enter  the  race  ground  again. 

It  will  be  admitted,  perhaps,  by  all  whose  freedom  from  educational  bias, 
and  habits  of  close  and  independent  thought,  prepared  them  fully  to  appre- 
ciate the  preaching  of  Elder  Leland,  that  he  was  more  than  usually  suc- 
cessful in  reconciling  those  apparently  conflicting  portions  of  the  system 
of  gospel  truth,  which  have  been  the  theme  of  so  much  controversy  in  all 
ages  of  the  Church.  This  was  mainly  owing  to  the  care  he  took,  never 
to  "  mix  laxo  and  grace  together;"  or,  in  other  words,  never  to  confound 
the  "system  of  God's  moral  government,"  with  the  "scheme  of  grace 
through  a  Mediator."  He  viewed  the  line  of  distinction,  as  commencing 
at  the  "  covenant  of  peace,"  formed  in  the  counsels  of  eternity,  and  con- 
tinuing for  ever.  He  did  not,  therefore,  apply  to  the  unregenerate,  the 
promises  and  precepts  addressed  to  the  penitent  and  believer,  nor  hold 
forth  the  terrors  of  the  law  to  "  them  who  are  in  Chirst  Jesus."  Yet  that 
he  did  not  pretend  to  understand  the  whole  mystery  of  the  gospel,  may  be 
distinctly  seen  in  the  following  detached  paragraphs,  from  which,  with 
other  of  his  writings,  may  be  gathered  the  fundamental  points  of  his  belief. 

"  The  gospel  is  so  internally  profound,  and  the  minds  of  men  so  limited, 
the  obstructions  to  science  so  many  and  great,  that  it  is  but  a  little  of  the 
gospel  that  men  understand  ;  and  yet,  no  scheme,  fraught  with  fewer  in- 
comprehcnsibles,  could  have  brought  relief  to  fallen  man.  The  unsearch- 
able riches  of  Christ,  which  pass  knowledge,  will  be  continually  unfolding 
themselves  to  the  saints  in  light." 

"  To  reconcile  the  eternal  designs  of  God  with  \hefreed07n  of  the  human 
will,  is  a  question  that  puzzles  all  men.  That  both  are  true,  admits  of  no 
reasonable  doubt ;  but  there  is  a  great  doubt  whether  the  mind  of  man  is 
large  enough  to  reconcile  the  question :  if  it  is,  why  is  not  the  matter 
settled  long  ago  ?  It  appears  to  be  one  of  the  deep  things  of  God,  which 
we  are  to  believe  without  comprehension.  Should  the  Lord  use  ever  so 
many  words  to  elucidate  the  subject,  still,  the  mind  of  man  is  so  limited, 
that  the  matter  would  remain  in  the  profound.  That  God  is  good,  and 
that  men  are  rebellious;  that  salvation  is  of  the  Lord,  and  damnation  of 
ourselves,  are  truths  revealed  as  plain  as  a  sunbeam," 

"  The  preceptive  part  of  the  gospel  addresses  men  as  alle  to  do,  and 
commands  them  to  do ;  but  the  gracious  part  considers  men  as  weak  and 
polluted,  and  reveals  what  God  does  for  them.  The  former  shows  holy 
authority,  the  latter  gracious  benevolence." 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  69 

"  Repentance  for  bad  works,  and  the  practice  of  good  works,  I  strive  to 
preach  ;  but,  as  repentance  will  not  expiate  crinnes,  and  the  deeds  of  the 
law  will  not  justify,  redemption  by  Christ  is  essential.  The  salvation  of 
God  includes  three  things :  first,  something  done  for  us,  without  us ; 
second,  something  done  for  us,  within  us ;  third,  something  done  hy  us." 

"  The  moral  insolvency  of  man,  has  not  destroyed  the  equity  of  God's 
law,  nor  cancelled  the  demand." 

"  The  sinner,  until  he  is  changed  by  grace,  never  feels  guilty  because 
he  has  not  the  holy  unction,  but  for  the  sins  he  has  committed.  The 
prayer  of  his  heart  is  not  for  internal  holiness,  but  for  deliverance  from 
punishment." 

"  Adam,  in  innocency,  with  his  life  of  natural  purity,  was  happy  on  earth, 
but  not  fit  for  heaven.  Had  he  never  sinned,  he  must,  nevertheless,  have 
been  born  of  the  Spirit,  (received  the  holy  unction,)  to  have  prepared  him 
for  heaven." 

"  Grace  and  effort.  Some  preachers  fix  their  eyes  so  steadfastly  upon 
the  unchangeable  nature  of  God,  his  immutable  decrees,  his  personal  and 
unconditional  election  of  some  unto  eternal  life,  that  they  leave  themselves 
but  little  liberty  to  preach,  '  Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand' 
— '  Repent,  and  believe  the  gospel' — *  Repent,  and  be  converted,  that  your 
sins  may  be  blotted  out' — '  Labor  not  for  the  meat  that  pcrisheth,  but  for 
that  which  endureth  unto  eternal  life' — '  While  ye  have  light,  believe  in 
the  light,  that  ye  may  be  children  of  the  light,'  etc.  Others  place  their 
minds  on  the  rebellion  of  man,  the  necessity  of  repentance,  and  the  wil- 
lingness of  Christ  to  save  sinners,  so  strongly,  that  they  overlook  such 
passages  as  these  :  '  As  many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life,  believed' — 
'  The  election  hath  obtained  it,  and  the  rest  were  blinded' — *  No  man  can 
come  unto  me,  except  the  Father  draw  him' — '  Thou  hast  hidden  these 
things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  revealed  them  unto  babes' — '  Then 
shall  ye  seek  me  and  shall  not  find  me' — '  Not  according  to  our  own 
righteousness,  but  according  to  his  own  mercy  he  saved  us,'  etc." 

Though  his  sermons,  conversation  and  writings,  were  characterized  by 
perspicuity  and  simplicity,  it  must  be  supposed  that  he  was  sometimes  mis- 
understood ;  for  he  was  claimed,  by  some  sectarians,  as  the  advocate  of 
doctrines  which  he  considered  fundamentally  opposed  to  the  truth.  He 
incurred,  also,  the  censure  of  many,  by  carrying  farther  than  they  thought 
necessary  the  Protestant  sentiment,  of  the  sufficiency  of  the  Scriptures  as 
a  guide  to  Christian  faith  and  practice,  and  by  questioning  the  propriety  of 
measures  for  which  Scripture  authority  could  not  be  adduced.  Some  of 
this  class  of  individuals,  however,  while  they  could  not  but  acknowledge 
the  sincerity  of  his  desires  to  be  "  made  right,"  and  of  his  fervent  prayers 
to  be  enabled  to  discern  the  truth,  sought  for  other  motives  than  love  of 
truth,  to  which  they  might  attribute  his  dissent  from  their  own  views. 


70 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


This  was  entirely  uncalled  for ;  for  if  ever  there  was  a  man,  who,  in  his 
search  after  truth,  was  honest,  unbiassed  by  sectarian  partialities,  un- 
shackled by  previously  formed  opinions,  uninfluenced  by  any  selfish  con- 
siderations,  none  who  knew  him  well,  will  hesitate  to  aver,  that  John 
Leland  was  that  man.  There  is  evidently  a  wide  difference  between 
searching  the  Scriptures  io  find  a  system  of  truth,  and  searching  them  for 
evidence  to  support  one  already  adopted.  That  the  latter  was  not  the 
course  pursued  by  him,  the  candor  evinced  in  all  his  researches  fully 
proves.  His  object  being  not  so  much  to  convince  others,  as  to  discover 
truth  for  himself,  he  avoided  those  sophistical  methods  of  reasoning  which 
too  many  employ  to  bring  the  unwary  and  unreflecting  to  their  own  views, 
nor  did  he  resort  to  denunciation  and  fiory  zeal,  or  to  quibbling  and  eva- 
sion,  to  cover  the  weak  part  of  an  argument.  He  did  not  undervalue  the 
importance  of  the  objections  that  might  be  urged  against  his  opinions ;  but 
giving  them  their  full  weight,  he  advanced  his  own  arguments  to  meet 
them ;  following,  in  this  respect,  the  example  of  Madison,  whom  he  often 
quoted  as  a  model  of  candor  and  fairness  in  debate. 

With  regard  to  his  writings,  it  may  be  well  to  remark,  that  he  never  re- 
wrote his  pieces ;  whatever  they  are,  they  were  in  the  original  draught. 
Tins  consideration,  while  it  accounts  for  many  inaccuracies  in  language, 
both  historical  and  grammatical,  shows,  at  the  same  time,  the  systematic 
order  in  which  his  thoughts  naturally  arranged  themselves,  following  one 
upon  another  with  such  method,  that  it  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible, 
to  find  an  instance  where  any  important  proposition  was  assumed  without 
proof,  or  a  succeeding  one  in  a  series  taken  as  proof  of  a  preceding. 

His  views,  in  relation  to  the  office  and  work  of  the  ministry,  are  con- 
tained in  various  parts  of  his  writings.  It  was  never  either  his  principle 
or  practice  to  set  a  price  upon  his  labors,  nor  to  demand  or  receive  a  fixed 
salary.  But  though  he  never  solicited,  or  made  money  a  condition  of 
preaching,  he  never  refused  what  any  chose  to  give  him ;  and  he  received 
it,  not  as  alms,  but  as  a  gospel  debt.  It  was  his  counsel  to  one  who  was 
about  to  engage  in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  never  to  make  any  depend, 
ence  upon  what  he  expected  to  receive  for  preaching;  "if  you  get  any- 
thing," said  he,  "you  can  work  it  in  afterwards."  Such  was  his  own 
practice.  His  own  hands,  and  those  of  his  family,  who  were  all  trained 
to  habits  of  active  industry,  supplied  their  wants,  and  he  had  the  pleasure 
of  knowing  that  whatever  he  did  receive,  was  given,  "not  grudgingly,  but 
with  free  will,  and  of  a  ready  mind." 

His  practice  with  regard  to  baptism  was  in  accordance  with  the  views 

expressed  in  the  letter  found  on  page of  volume .  He  considered 

baptism  a  duty  plainly  enjoined  on  all  the  followers  of  Christ,  by  an  ex- 
press command ;  but  connection  with  a  church  to  be  a  matter  of  choice 
and  expediency.     Accordingly  he  always  baptized  such  as  gave  evidence 


ELDER   JOHN    LELAND.  71 

of  piety,  if  they  desired  it,  and  left  them  to  connect  themselves  with  what- 
ever church  they  pleased,  or  with  none,  if  such  was  their  preference.  He 
thought  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter,  to  the  "  strangers  scattered"  through 
various  places,  was,  probably,  addressed  to  such  as,  from  local  situation, 
or  other  causes,  were  not  numbered  with  any  of  the  churches. 

His  preaching,  in  latter  years  of  his  life,  was  almost  entirely  of  the  ex- 
pository kind.  He  would  frequently,  after  naming  his  text,  go  back  a 
number  of  verses,  or  to  the  beginning  of  the  chapter,  and  comment  upon 
each  clause  in  succession,  and  sometimes  the  close  of  the  sermon  would 
come  without  his  having  reached  his  text  at  all.  But  "  it  is  no  matter,"  he 
would  say,  "  so  long  as  I  keep  within  the  lids  of  the  Bible.  Indeed,  it  makes 
but  little  difference  what  text  I  take,  I  must  come  to  the  third  of  John  before 
I  close.  If  I  take  an  Old  Testament  text,  I  must  preach  a  New  Testament 
sermon. 

It  was  equally  true  of  him  as  of  Mr.  Haynes,  that  "  though  he  seldom 
held  a  congregation  long  without  exciting  a  smile,  yet  the  predominant  in- 
fluence of  his  preaching  was  to  produce  solemnity  of  feeling,  and  deep 
conviction  of  truth.  His  eccentricities  would  have  been  faults  in  any  other 
man,  but  in  him  they  were  so  inherent  and  essential  to  his  character,  and 
his  wit  was  so  spontaneous,  and  came,  as.  it  were,  without  his  bidding, 
that  they  neither  interrupted  the  current  of  his  own  piety,  nor  often  weak- 
ened the  religious  influence  of  his  discourses  upon  others."* 

Many  anecdotes  and  amusing  incidents  have  been  related  of  him,  some, 
probably,  without  foundation  in  truth.  Want  of  space  forbids  the  intro- 
duction of  more  than  two  or  three  in  this  place.  The  following,  cut  from 
a  newspaper,  is  judged  to  be  authentic,  from  the  fact  that  it  is  character- 
istic of  him.  Riding  one  day  in  company  with  Elder  Hull,  they  were 
overtaken  by  a  slight  shower.  Elder  Leland  was  for  seeking  a  shelter, 
but  the  other  remarked,  "  Brother,  I  am  ashamed  of  you — a  Baptist  min- 
ister,  and  afraid  of  a  little  water !"  "  Ah  !  Brother  Hull,"  replied  he,  "  I 
never  like  these  sprinklings.^^ 

Calling  one  day  on  a  Baptist  minister,  to  whom  he  was  not  personally 
known,  said  the  latter,  after  the  first  salutations,  "  by  what  name  shall  I 
call  you  ?"  He  replied,  "  Why  askest  thou  thus  after  my  name,  seeing 
it  is  secret  ?"  "  Well,"  said  the  other,  "  is  this  all  the  answer  I  am  to 
have  ?"  "  It  is  the  answer  of  an  angel,  what  better  can  you  wish  for  ?" 
"  If  you  are  an  angel,  doubtless  you  are  a  fallen  one." 

On  another  and  similar  occasion,  being  asked  the  same  question,  he  re- 
plied, "  call  me  Leland."  "  Ah  !"  replied  the  minister,  "  there  are  many 
who  come  along,  wishing  to  be  called  by  that  name.  I  have  been  tricked 
in  that  way  several  times."  But  after  looking  steadily  at  him  a  few  mo- 
ments, his  doubts  seemed  to  yield  to  the  conviction  that  he  was  indeed  no 

*  Reminiscences  of  Rev.  Samuel  Haynes. 


73  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

Other  than  he  pretended,  and  he  exclaimed,  "  Is  it  possible  that  the  Al- 
mighty has  placed  such  a  soul  as  Leland's  in  such  an  insignificant  body  !" 

Should  this  expression  convey  the  idea  that  he  was  small  of  stature,  the 
impression  will  be  incorrect.  His  height  was  not  far  from  six  feet,  though 
as  he  advanced  in  years,  his  form  became  more  stooping,  and  his  stature, 
consequently,  somewhat  less.  In  flesh,  he  was  rather  thin  and  spare.  Of 
his  personal  appearance,  generally,  the  accompanying  portrait  will  furnish 
a  more  correct  and  definite  idea  than  any  language  can  convey. 

Perhaps  these  sketches  cannot  be  more  appropriately  closed,  than  by 
the  following  brief  extracts  from  the  concluding  part  of  the  funeral  sermon  : 
"  Great  and  good  man,  he  is  gone !  The  tender  and  effectionate  father, 
the  kind  husband — the  wise  counsellor — emphatically  the  peace-maker — 
the  social,  warm-hearted  friend — the  sage — patriot — the  lover  of  sound 
doctrine — the  eloquent  and  unusually  successful  minister  of  Christ,  is  no 
more  !  Is  no  more  ?  He  still  lives,  we  doubt  not,  where  his  intellect  has 
found  congenial  spirits,  and  a  wider  range  in  the  upper  empire  of  Jehovah. 
He  lives  below  in  the  affections  of  thousands,  and  'his  works  do  follow  him.'  " 
"  To  live  live  like  him,  is  to  mourn  over  the  sins  of  earth,  and  hold  up 
God's  everlasting  truth  to  a  dying  world.  To  die  like  him,  is  to  stand  on 
the  confines  of  earth,  looking  off  into  eternity,  and  depart  with  the  'pros- 
pect of  heaven  clear.'  To  rest,  at  last,  like  him,  is,  we  doubt  not,  to  rest 
forever  in  the  Paradise  of  God." 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAXD.  73 


THE  BXSTORY  OF  JACH  NZPS. 


I  CANNOT  say  that  my  father  was  a  Hittite,  and  my  mother  an  Amorite, 
but  my  father  was  a  Presbyterian,  and  my  mother  a  high-flying,  separate 
new-iight.  I  was  as  far  from  being  a  new-light  myself,  as  men's  hearts 
are  from  their  mouths,  or  as  old  darkness  is  from  new  light ;  but  when  my 
school-fellows  got  mad  at  me,  they  would  call  me  a  new-light,  and  if  I  asked 
them  what  a  new-light  was,  they  would  be  as  confused  in  their  answers  as 
if  they  did  not  know  B  from  a  bull's  foot.  Sometimes,  when  I  was  read- 
ing, they  would  laugh  at  me  for  my  new-light  tone  ;  once,  in  particular,  as 
I  was  reciting  a  lesson,  to  a  Latin  master,  he  told  me  "  not  to  preach  like 
a  new-light,  but  to  speak  like  a  scholar."  This  put  me  upon  a  search  into 
the  nature  of  tones,  and  I  was  soon  convinced  that  a  holy  tone  did  not 
make  a  holy  man,  for  some  who  had  the  tone,  would  be  as  hypocritical  as 
Lucifer  himself;  but  the  same  persons  who  laughed  at  me  for  my  tone,  had 
a  disagreeable  tone  of  lying,  swearing,  and  sneering  at  all  good  sense  and 
religion,  yet  there  was  no  harm  in  that  tone,  because  it  was  polite. 

Like  other  boys,  I  wished  to  be  in  fashion,  and  as  the  Presbyterians 
were  the  most  fashionable,  I  applied  myself  to  the  study  of  their  books,  but 
was  not  a  little  puzzled  to  reconcile  their  writings  with  my  boyish  thoughts. 
I  could  not,  for  my  gizzard,  understand  their  orthography,  until  I  was  more 
than  sixteen.  They  would  spell  thus  :  c-i-r,  cir,  c-u-m,  cum,  c-i,  ci,  s-e-d, 
baptism.  This,  I  say,  puzzled  me  greatly  :  and  if  I  asked  any  body  how 
they  reconciled  it,  they  would  tell  me  that  "  great,  learned,  and  good  men 
said  it  was  right,  and  it  would  be  presumption  in  me  to  call  it  in  question." 
I  further  observed  that  sometimes  those  authors  would  put  the  cart  before 
the  horse  ;  as  for  instance,  where  it  said,  "  he  that  believeth  and  is  baptized 
shall  be  saved,"  they  would  have  it,  "  he  that  is  iaplized  and  believeth,  shall 
be  saved."  Surely,  said  I,  this  is  a  Presbyterian  tone  ;  for  I  did  not  then 
know  that  there  was  a  Papist,  a  Russian,  or  an  Episcopalian  in  the  world. 

Another  thing  also  confounded  my  youthful  thoughts.  Men  and  women 
would  bring  their  childen  to  the  minister  to  be  baptized,  if  but  one  of  them 
was  a  believer,  and  it  was  supposed  that  the  faith  of  one  parent  was  suffi- 
cient to  initiate  the  child  ;  but  my  thoughts  would  be  running  thus :  "  is 
the  soul  of  that  child  made  by  God,  and  infused  into  the  body  while  in  the 
womb,  or  it  is  begotten  by  the  parents  ?    If  it  is  made  and  infused  by  God, 

10 


74  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

then  the  children  of  wicked  parents  bring  as  good  souls  into  the  world  as 
the  children  of  good  parents  do.  But  if  souls  are  begotten  in  ordinary 
generation,  then  regenerate  men  will  beget  regenerate  souls,  and  wicked 
men  will  beget  wicked  souls ;  and  if  Adam  was  regenerate  before  he  be- 
gat any  of  his  children,  by  succession  down  to  this  day,  we  are  all  regen- 
erate." But  as  this  was  to  me  uncertain,  I  was  casting  my  eyes  and  thoughts 
on  my  neighbors.  Uncle  Benson  had  married  aunt  Nancy,  by  whom  he 
had  a  son  whose  name  was  Peter.  Uncle  was  a  believer,  but  aunt  was 
not.  Here  I  had  a  great  query  in  my  mind,  to  find  from  which  parent  the 
soul  proceeded.  Aristotle  informed  me,  that  the  child,  in  animalcula,  came 
originally  from  the  mother.  Surely,  then,  said  I  to  myself,  cousin  Peter 
has  no  right  to  baptism,  for  his  mother  is  an  infidel.  But  the  European 
philosophers  said  that  the  animalcula  that  formed  the  fcetus,  came  from 
the  father.  If  so,  said  I,  again,  then  Peter  is  a  Christian.  But  here  I  was 
perplexed  again  :  if  Peter  came  into  the  world  a  Christian,  how  can  he  be 
made  a  Christian  by  water  ?  Can  a  priest  and  water  make  him  what  he 
was  before  he  was  born  ?  Uncle  Sam  said,  Peter  came  into  the  world  a 
Christian,  and  therefore  had  a  right  to  baptism  ;  but  uncle  Ned  insisted  upon 
it,  that  it  was  his  baptism  that  made  him  a  Christian,  and  confirmed  his 
sentiment  by  observing,  that  the  name  given  him  in  baptism,  was  his  Chris- 
tian name  ;  that  is,  a  name  given  him  when  he  was  made  a  Christian  ;  but 
others  declared  that  the  child  came  half  from  each  parent ;  then,  said  I, 
Peter  ought  to  have  but  half  his  face  sprinkled,  for  half  of  it  came  from 
his  heathen  mother. 

While  I  was  thus  as  full  of  thought  as  Don  Quixote  was  of  projects,  I 
went  to  meeting  :  and  how  was  I  surprised  to  see  a  man  and  his  wife  stand 
in  the  broad  aisle,  owning  the  baptismal  covenant,  as  they  called  it.  I  had 
read  of  baptism  being  a  command — a  fulfilling  of  righteousness — the  an- 
swer  of  a  good  conscience  ;  but  never  heard  it  called  a  covenant  before. 
What  wind  next  1  said  I  within  myself.  But  here  I  soon  found  that  nei- 
ther the  man  nor  his  wife  were  believers  ;  that  they  had  never  given  them- 
selves to  God,  and  yet  were  offering  their  child  to  him.  This  made  me 
think  of  uncle  Tim,  who  would  never  give  any  of  his  own  interest  to  any 
body,  but  when  he  was  at  another  man's  house,  he  would  be  as  liberal  as 
a  prince,  in  giving  to  every  one  that  came  in.  If  these  people,  said  I, 
loved  their  child  as  well  as  they  do  themselves,  they'd  never  trust  it  where 
they  durst  not  trust  themselves.  But  after  the  priest  had  read  what  he  had 
written  for  them,  and  they  had  consented  by  a  bow  and  courtesy,  he  de- 
clared that  they  had  a  right  to  all  the  privileges  of  the  church  except  the 
Lord's  supper. 

The  thought  that  arose  in  my  mind  was  this  :  they  may  have  a  right  to 
the  privileges  of  that  church,  but  have  they  a  right  to  all,  or  any,  of  the 
privileges  of  Christ's  church  ?     If,  from  the  innocency  of  the  children — 


ELDER    JOHN  LEL AND.  75 

the  confession  of  the  parents,  or  the  faith  of  one  or  both  of  thenn,  they  have 
a  right  to  baptism,  why  not  to  the  eucharist  ?  Here  I  remennbered  to  have 
read  an  account  of  Cyprian,  the  African  bishop,  who,  in  the  middle  of  the 
third  century,  first  introduced  infant  baptism,  and,  to  be  consistent  with 
himself,  introduced  infant  communion  at  the  same  time. 

I  could  not  but  observe  what  force  and  violence  were  used  on  the  occa- 
sion. The  little  candidate,  who  never  proposed  himself,  nor,  indeed,  had 
sense  enough  to  know  anything  that  was  going  on,  was  taken  by  force, 
and,  notwithstanding  all  his  struggles  and  screams,  had  the  name  of  the 
Trinity  called  over  him,  and  was,  somehow  or  other,  shut  up  in  the  pales 
of  the  church.  Is  this  Christian  liberty  ?  thought  I,  more  than  a  hundred 
times. 

About  this  time,  my  father,  schoolmaster,  and  minister,  took  much  pains 
to  teach  me  the  catechism,  where  it  is  observed  that  baptism  is  not  to  be 
administered  to  any  who  are  out  of  the  visible  church,  till  they  profess  their 
faith  in  Christ,  and  obedience  to  his  revealed  will.  What,  in  the  world  of 
wonders,  thought  I,  do  these  people  mean  ?  The  man  and  hie  wife,  now 
in  the  broad  aisle,  do  not  profess  to  be  believers,  and  yet  they  claim  bap- 
tism for  their  child,  contrary  to  that  oracular  catechism,  composed  by  so 
many  D.  D.'s,  and  M.  A.'s.  Here  my  zeal  broke  over  all  bounds,  and 
turning  to  old  neighbor  Turnpie,  said  I,  "  do  these  people  hold  to  the  West- 
minister catechism  ?"  "  Yes,"  said  he,  "  but,  they  are  constantly  gaining 
more  light,  and,  therefore,  altering  their  modes  ;  but  still  they  are  the  same 
people."  This  made  me  think  of  the  Irishman's  knife  which  he  kept  for 
antiquity's  sake,  which  had  been  his  grand-father's,  his  father's,  and  his 
own ;  and,  although  it  had  worn  out  two  or  three  blades,  and  three  or  four 
handles,  yet  it  was  the  very  knife  that  his  grandfather  first  bought. 

After  pausing  awhile,  I  remembered  that  the  article  concluded  thus :  "  but 
the  infants  of  those  who  are  enemies  of  the  visible  church,  are  to  be  bap- 
tized." You  lie,  reverend  sirs,  said  I.  What !  first  tell  us  that  baptism  is 
not  to  be  administered  to  any  out  of  the  church,  and  then  tell  us  it  is,  and 
think  boys  and  men  too  will  believe  your  contradictions  ?  Here  I  should 
have  proceeded,  but  a  man  in  the  seats  not  only  began  to  knock  his  black 
staff,  but  really  came  and  took  me  by  the  hand.  "  What  now  ?"  said  I. 
He  replied,  "  I  am  a  tything-man  to  keep  order."  Here  a  thousand 
thoughts  rushed  into  my  mind,  some  of  which  were  as  follows  :  did  Jesus, 
or  his  apostles,  ever  appoint  tything-men  to  keep  boys  or  men  in  order? 
Did  they  ever  give  orders  to  civil  rulers  to  make  laws  to  force  people  to  go 
to  meeting  once  a  month,  or  pay  a  fine  ?  Did  they  ever  institute  black 
staves  and  stocks  to  prevent  disorder  in  religious  worship  ?  Have  those 
people  New  Testament  authority  to  establish  creeds  for  others,  and  go  con- 
trary to  them,  themselves,  and  punish  others  if  they  cannot  receive  their 
glaring  inconsistencies  and  absurdities  ?     Some  say  that  the  laws  of  men 


76  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

are  the  sinews  of  the  gospel :  but  are  they  not  rather  the  sinner's  gospel  ? 
Is  not  every  kind  of  cruelty  and  oppression  executed  under  the  pretext  of 
civil  law  ?  Have  not  the  majority  in  every  part  of  the  world  christened 
all  their  madness  and  self-will  by  the  names  of  civil  law  and  good  order? 
These  things  are  so,  said  I,  in  my  heart,  but  durst  not  speak,  for  the  tyth- 
ing-man  held  me  by  the  hand.  After  meeting  was  over,  and  I  had  esca- 
ped from  the  black  staff,  I  returned  home,  resolving  to  read  for  myself. 

Carefully  reading  the  New  Testament,  I  found  that  the  word  baptize, 
with  its  various  declensions,  occurred  about  one  hundred  times  ;  but  in  none 
of  these  places  did  it  countenance  baby  baptism,  and  as  I  had  made  some 
proficiency  in  Greek,  I  searched  the  Greek  Testament  and  lexicon,  where 
I  found  that  baptism  came  from  the  word  baptizo,  and  that  the  word  sprin- 
kle, came  from  the  Greek  rantis,  so  that  sprinkling  could  not  be  baptizing. 

The  Greek  baptizo,  in  a  few  places,  is  translated  wash  ;  but  as  bodies, 
cups,  and  platters  cannot  be  washed  well,  by  sprinkling  a  {&\v  drops  of  water 
upon  them,  I  concluded  that  all  who  undertook  to  baptize,  by  sprinkling, 
were  religious  sluts. 

About  this  time,  my  father  was  often  telling  me  that  he  designed  me  for 
the  gown ;  that  I  was  of  a  weakly  constitution,  not  able  to  get  a  living  out 
of  the  ground,  and  if  1  could  furnish  my  mind  with  letter  and  theological 
knowledge,  I  might  be  inducted  into  a  parish  where  I  might  receive  a  good 
benefice.  But  here  my  foolish  heart  kept  running  thus  :  my  father  intends 
me  for  a  minister,  but  does  God  ?  Those  who  are  sent  by  men  to  preach, 
must  look  to  men  for  their  pay ;  but  those  that  are  sent  by  God,  must  de- 
pend on  him. 

If  I  have  but  a  weakly  constitution,  why  should  a  runt,  of  a  family,  be 
imposed  on  a  parish  to  eat  more  than  he  can  work  ?  If  a  benefice  tempts 
me  to  preach,  I  shall  preach  for  filthy  lucre,  and  not  out  of  love  to  God 
and  souls.  If  I  learn  to  preach  by  rule,  I  shall  fall  upon  the  plan  of  others, 
of  long  prayers  and  short  sermons,  to  save  the  trouble  of  writing  much. 
And  when  I  have  my  sermons  all  penned  down,  I  shall  have  to  pray,  not 
for  God's  assistance,  but  for  good  eye-sight. 

Upon  the  whole,  I  concluded  that  the  religion  I  had  been  acquainted 
with,  was  little  more  than  a  state  trick  of  court  intrigue,  and  was  there- 
fore resolved  to  study  politics.  By  this  time,  I  had  gained  my  twenty- 
second  year ;  and  being  fired  with  ambition  to  know  what  other  men  did, 
I  first  purchased  a  book  containing  the  several  constitutions  of  government 
adopted  in  the  different  states.  Now,  thought  I,  I  shall  be  a  wise  man. 
I  had  such  profound  reverence  for  the  men  who  framed  these  constitutions, 
that  I  concluded  that  it  would  be  presumption,  and  almost  blasphemy,  to 
call  in  question  a  single  word  :  but,  attending  to  their  strictures,  I  found 
there  were  not  two  of  them  agreed.  What,  said  I,  do  great  men  differ  ? 
boys,  women,  and  little  souls  do  \  but  can  learned,  wise  patriots  disagree 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  77 

SO  much  in  judgment  ?  If  so,  they  cannot  all  be  right,  but  they  may  all 
be  wrong,  and  therefore,  Jack  Nips  for  himself.  What  encouraged  me  to 
search  and  judge  for  myself,  was  this  :  when  I  was  a  small  boy,  I  fancied 
that  I  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  world,  and  that  the  earth  extended  no  fur- 
ther  than  my  eye-sight  explored :  but  people  told  me  that  I  was  wrong  in 
my  judgment ;  but  after  a  few  years  study,  I  found  I  was  half  right.  That 
the  earth  exceeded  my  eye-sight,  I  soon  found  by  experience  ;  herein  I  was 
wrong.  But  that  I  am  always  on  the  centre  spot  of  the  surface  of  the 
globe,  is  an  undeniable  truth.  And  as  mature  experience  convinced  me 
that  my  boyish  thoughts  were  some  of  them  right,  I  concluded  it  might  be 
so  with  my  study  in  politics. 

The  above  is  the  only  portion  of  this  piece  that  could  be  obtained  ;  as 
every  effort  to  find  an  unmutulated  copy  of  it  has  proved  unsuccessful. 


78  THE    WHITINGS    OP 


TBS    BXBI.E    BAPTIST.* 


Discordant  sentiments  agree 

To  make  the  sons  of  Adam  free. 


EXTRACT  FROM  THE  PREFACE. 

Truth  needs  no  apology,  and  error  deserves  none.  Prefatory  lies  have 
often  atoned  for  ignorance  and  ill-will  in  the  Eastern  and  European  worlds  ; 
but  let  the  sons  of  America  be  free.  It  is  more  essential  to  learn  how  to 
believe,  than  to  learn  what  to  believe. 

The  doctrine  and  spirit  of  the  following  remarks,  are  left  for  the  reader 
to  judge  of  for  himself.  Truth  is  in  the  least  danger  of  being  lost,  when 
free  examination  is  allowed.     ***** 


BIBLE    BAPTIST 


Christian  writers  generally  agree  to  reproach  the  Jews,  for  treating  the 
Rabbles  with  as  much  respect  as  they  did  the  Prophets  ;  giving  as  great 
credit  to  their  traditions  as  they  did  to  the  sacred  volume.  But  many 
Christian  writers  are  guilty  of  the  same  absurdity.  It  is  not  more  insig- 
nificant for  Jews  to  quote  the  Talmud  or  the  Targum,  to  prove  a  Mosaic 
rite,  than  it  is  for  Christians  to  depend  on  TertuUian,  Cyprian,  Origen, 
and  the  other  fathers  of  the  church,  for  a  gospel  ordinance.  In  the  follow- 
ing remarks,  no  attempts  will  be  made  to  mend  our  translation  of  the  Bible, 
and  equal  credit  will  not  be  given  to  any  other  writings. 

The  word  haplism,  is  not  to  bo  found  in  the  Old  Testament ;  and  if  it 
were  a  thousand  times,  would  be  no  precept  for  a  New  Testament  sacra- 
ment. Nor  is  there  but  one  place  in  the  New  Testament,f  where  the 
word  refers  to  a  transaction  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament :  1st  Cor.  x., 
2,  "  and  were  all  baptized  unto  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea,"  refer- 

^    *  Published  in  Virginia  before  the  year  1790 ;  the  precise  year  is  not  known. 

+  No  notice  is  taken  of  Ileb.  vi.,  2,  because,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  word  refers  to 
the  Levitical  customs  of  washings,  or  to  the  practice  of  Christians.  The  same  Greek 
word  is  found  elsewhere,  but  differently  translated  in  our  version. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  79 

ring  to  Ex.  xiv.,  19.  "  When  Israel  passed  through  the  sea,  the  waters 
were  a  wall  to  them  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,"  see  verse  22.  The 
cloud  returned  and  stood  behind  them,  covering  them  over  in  an  arched 
form,  1st  Cor.  x.,  1.  Now  as  the  waters  were  a  wall  to  them  on  the  right 
and  left,  and  the  cloud  over  them,  they  were  covered  or  buried  in  the  cloud 
or  in  the  sea ;  which  is  what  Paul,  in  the  above  quoted  text,  calls  baptism. 
Some  have  feigned  that  the  cloud  at  this  time  sprinkled  down  a  shower 
of  rain  upon  the  Israelites,  and  a  very  vain  fancy  it  is,  for  it  is  certain  they 
all  passed  over  dry-shod,  which  they  could  not  have  done  had  there  been 
a  shower  of  rain  ;  Ex.  xiv.,  21,  29.  Others  have  quoted  this  passage  to 
prove  household  baptism  ;  but  it  would  be  more  natural  to  apply  it  to 
national  baptism  ;  for  all  the  nation  of  Israel,  and  a  mixed  multitude  besides, 
were  there  baptized  to  Moses :  but  if  this  is  a  proof  for  household  or  na- 
tional baptism,  in  gospel  times,  it  must  be  an  equal  proof  for  the  baptism 
of  quadrupeds.  It  is  certain  that  their  flociis  and  herds,  even  very  much 
cattle  went  with  them,  not  a  hoof  was  left  behind,  and  were  all  baptized : 
Ex.  x.,  26 — xii.,  38.  If  this  wondrous  miracle  is  a  precedent  for  New 
Testament  baptism,  it  requires  us  all  to  have  our  cattle  baptized  as  well 
as  our  children. 

The  New  Testament  is  introduced  with  the  history  of  a  famous  Baptist 
preacher  and  his  order  of  baptizing.  John,  the  forerunner  of  Jesus,  is 
called  a  Baptist  fifteen  times  in  the  four  Evangelists.  Is  it  ignorance  or 
ill  will,  that  so  often  reproaches  the  Baptists  with  novelty  ?  Is  it  not  cer- 
tain that  the  first  preacher  spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament  was  a  Bap- 
tist  ?  Why  should  they  be  called  a  new  sect,  when  they  can  name  their 
founders  antecedent  to  the  founders  of  any  other  society  ?  Did  not  Jesus 
submit  to  John's  baptism,  to  fulfil  all  righteousness  ?  Was  not  Jesus, 
therefore,  a  Baptist  ?  These  things  are  so.  Baptism  is  no  strange  word 
in  the  New  Testament.  The  noun,  with  its  relative  verb  and  participle, 
occurs  one  hundred  times  ;  which  may  be  found  in  the  following  places  : 
Mat.  iii.,  G,  7,  11,  13,  14,  16.— xx.,  22,  23.— xxi.,  25.— xxviii.,  19.  Mark 
i.,  4,  5,  8,  9,  10.— x.,  38,  39. — xi.,  30. — xvi.,  16.  Luke  iii.,  3,  7, 12,  16, 
21.— vii.,  29,  30.— xii.,  50.— xx.,  4.  John  i.,  25,  26,  28,  31,  33.— iii., 
22,  23,  26,  4,  1,  2.  Acts  i.,  5,  22.~ii.,  38,  41.— viii.,  12,  13,  16,  39,  38. 
ix.,  18.— X.,  37,  40,  47,  48.— xi.,  16. — xiii.,  24 — xvi.,  15,  33.— xviii.,  8, 
25.— xix.,  3,  4,  5.— xxii.,  16.  Rom.  vi.,  3,  4.  1st  Cor.  i.,  13,  14,  15,  16, 
17.~x.,  2.— xii.,  13.— XV.,  29.  Gal.  iii.,  27.  Eph.  iv.,  5.  Col.  ii.,  12. 
Heb.  vi.,  2.     1st  Pet.,  iii.  21. 

As  John  the  Baptist  was  the  first  who  baptized  with  water  by  divine  au- 
thority, it  appears  necessary  to  make  a  few  strictures  on  his  baptism.  The 
place  of  his  preaching  was  the  wilderness  of  Judea,  Matt,  iii.,  1.  His 
doctrine  was  repentance  for  sin,  faith  in  the  Messiah  among  them,  and 
good  works.    See  Mat.  iii.,  2,  11,  12.     John  i.,.  26,  34.     Luke  iii.  7,  15. 


80  •  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

The  places  where  he  baptized,  were  the  rivers  Jordan  and  Enon,  where 
there  was  much  water :  Mat.  iii.,  6,  16 — John  iii.,  23.  What  he  required 
of  his  subjects  was  confession  of  sins,  and  good  fruits,  Mat.  iii.,  7,  10. 
Mark  i.,  5.,  and  he  would  not  admit  the  multitude  of  the  Pharisees  and 
Saducees  to  his  baptism,  without  confession  and  reformation,  although  they 
were  the  children  of  Abraham  :  Mat.  iii.,  7,  10.  Luke  iii.,  7,  8.  What 
words  soever  John  used  when  he  baptized,  whether  the  same  that  the  apos- 
tles were  taught  to  use  at  the  ascension  of  our  Lord,  or  a  set  of  words  tell- 
ing his  subjects  to  believe  in  him  who  should  come  after  him,  or  any  other 
words,  is  to  me  unknown ;  but  he  certainly  received  his  commission  from 
heaven,  and  Jesus,  the  head  of  the  church,  submitted  to  his  baptism. 

Whoever  carefully  considers  the  texts  quoted  under  the  above  head,  to- 
gether with  corresponding  texts  respecting  the  ministry  of  John,  will  find 
that  John  baptized  none  but  those  who  are  old  enough  and  good  enough 
to  make  confession  of  sin,  which  babies  cannot  do ;  that  parental  virtue 
was  not  a  sufficient  recommendation,  without  "  fruits  meet  for  repentance," 
and  that  he  baptized  in  the  river  Jordan  and  the  waters  of  Enon.  Not 
a  word  about  infant  sprinkling  in  the  whole  history  of  John,  nor  anything 
that  looks  like  it. 

In  John  iii.,  22,  and  4,  1,  it  looks  as  if  Jesus  himself  baptized ;  which 
he  did  in  the  same  mannner  that  Solomon  built  the  temple  ;  that  is,  it  was 
done  by  his  orders,  as  John  iv.,  2,  explains  it.  "  Though  Jesus  himself 
baptized  not,  but  his  disciples."  As  Jesus  never  baptized  any  with  water, 
consequently  the  children  brought  to  him  were  not  brought  for  baptism. 
The  passages  referred  to  are  Mat.  xix.,  13,  10.  Mark  x.,  13,  17.  Luke 
xviii.,  15,  18,  These  children  were  brought  to  Jesus,  that  he  should  put 
his  hands  upon  them  and  pray;  and  the  disciples  forbade  them.  Had  it 
been  a  usual  thing  for  them  to  be  brought  to  Jesus,  for  baptism  or  any 
thing  else,  it  is  not  likely  that  the  disciples  would  have  forbidden  them. 
Parents  are  generally  too  negligent  about  bringing  their  offspring  to  Jesus  ; 
but  these,  like  the  mother  of  James  and  John,  seemed  anxious  for  the  good 
of  their  infants,  and  brought  them  to  Jesus  that  he  might  bless  them,  which 
in  great  mercy  he  did,  and  said  "  Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
From  this,  it  is  certain  that  some,  if  not  all  children  are  meet  for  the  king- 
dom of  God  ;  and  indeed,  whoever  is  thus  blessed  by  Jesus,  whether  young 
or  old,  is  graciously  prepared  for  that  holy  place.  There  is  no  account 
that  he  ever  did  this  but  once,  and  not  the  least  hint  that  he  ever  enjoined 
it  upon  his  disciples ;  and  with  what  propriety  could  he  enjoin  a  work 
upon  them,  which  none  but  God  could  do  ;  that  is,  bless  children. 

From  the  passage  under  consideration,  I  have  heard  the  following  ar- 
gument drawn,  viz.,  "  that  if  Jesus  received  children,  ministers  should; 
and  that  if  he  declared  them  meet  for  heaven,  they  have  a  right  to  all  the 
ordinances  of  the  church  below."     If  this  argument  has  any  weight  in  it, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  81 

it  equally  pleads  for  the  Lord's  supper;  and  truly,  if  a  child  has  a  right 
to  baptism,  he  has  the  same  claim  to  the  communion.  As  the  face  of  the 
child  can  bear  a  few  drops  of  water,  while  in  the  arms  of  the  pereacher 
or  father,  so  the  mouth  of  the  child  can  receive  a  crumb  of  bread  and  a 
drop  of  wine  while  in  the  arms  of  the  nurse  or  mother.  But  what  man 
in  his  senses  will  quote  these  passages  to  prove  infant  sprinkling,  when 
there  is  not  a  syllable  in  them  about  water  sprinkling  or  dipping  ?  If  there 
is,  let  it  be  named,  and  I  will  take  conviction- 
Infant  sprinkling  can  be  no  proof  of  obedience  in  a  child,  who  is  ignorant 
of  the  meaning,  and  passive  in  the  action.  If  any  virtue,  therefore,  attend 
it,  it  must  be  either  in  the  parents,  gossips,  or  priest.  A  virtue  in  the 
parents  it  is  not,  unless  they  can  prove  from  scripture  that  God  has  com- 
manded it.  This  proof  I  have  not  yet  seen,  and  am  inclined  to  believe 
I  never  shall,  while  the  Bible  remains  as  it  is. 

A  virtue  in  the  gossips  it  cannot  be,  without  religious  lying  is  a  virtue. 
They  promise,  before  God  and  the  congregation,  to  renounce  the  world, 
the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  for  the  child,  and  keep  God's  holy  law  as  long  as 
life  lasts  ;  which  an  angel  could  not  do,  and  which  they  take  no  pains  to 
do.  This,  they  promise,  not  only  for  the  children  of  their  neighbors,  but 
for  many  that  they  never  see  afterwards ;  and  priest,  clerk,  parents  and 
gossips,  all  timnk  God  that  he  has  blessed  the  water  to  the  mystical  wash- 
ing  away  of  sin. 

How  inconsistently  men  talk!  First,  they  say  that  children  come  into 
the  world  innocent,  free  from  sin,  fit  for  heaven ;  and  next  inform  us  that 
water,  in  baptism,  washes  away  sin.  If  they  are  clear  of  guilt  and  cor- 
ruption, how  can  water  wash  them  away  ?  If  ihe)^  are  unclean,  what  can 
cleanse  them  but  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  ?  In  one  breath,  we  are  informed 
that  none  have  a  right  to  baptism  until  they  repent,  believe,  and  are  in 
the  visible  church ;  in  the  next,  we  are  told  that  baptism  is  an  initiating 
ordinance.  While  men  speak  so  inconsistantly,  who  can  believe  them? 
Can  we  think  that  they  believe  their  own  testimonies? 

A  virtue  in  the  priest  it  is  not,  because  he  has  no  New  Testament  com- 
mission for  it ;  and  what  is  not  virtuous  must  be  vicious,  and  everything 
vicious  should  be  abandoned. 

After  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord,  just  as  he  was  going  to  heaven,  to  leave 
his  apostles,  he  renewed  their  commission,  made  some  enlargements  and 
additions  thereto,  and  more  fully  described  their  work ;  which  Mat.  xxviii., 
19,  expresses  thus:  "Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Mark,  in  xvi.,  1.5  16,  has  it — "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth,  and  is  baptized,  shall  be 
saved  ;  but  he  that  believeth  not,  shall  be  damned."  Matthew  seems  to 
speak  most  on  the  work  of  the  preacher,  and  Mark  on  the  character  of  the 

11 


82  THK   WRITINGS    OP 

disciple.  Tiiis  enlargement  of  the  commission  authorized  them  to  go  and 
preach  among  the  Gentiles,  as  well  as  the  scattered  Jews.  Wherever 
they  went,  they  were  to  preach,  and  those  who  were  taught  and  believed, 
were  to  be  baptized  ;  and  those  who  were  taught,  believed,  and  were  bap- 
tized, had  the  promise  of  salvation. 

Those  who  practise  infant  sprinkling,  often  have  recourse  to  this  com- 
mission of  the  apostles,  as  a  foundation  for  their  practice.  It  is  altogether 
likely  that  the  apostles  understood  their  own  commission,  and  acted  ac- 
cordingly. The  surest  way,  therefore,  to  get  a  true  understanding  of  the 
nature  of  the  commission,  is  carefully  to  consider  their  conduct.  Let 
Peter  take  the  lead.  In  Acts  xi.,  14,  37,  Peter  lifted  up  his  voice,  and 
preached  a  very  pointed  sermon  ;  and  when  the  people  heard  his  doctrine, 
*'  they  were  pricked  in  their  hearts,  and  said  to  Peter  and  to  the  rest  of 
the  apostles,  men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ?  Then  Peter  said  unto 
them,  repent  and  be  baptized,  every  one  of  you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  for  the  promise  is  uuto  you  and  to  your  children,  and  to  all  that 
are  afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call.  Then  they 
who  gladly  received  his  word,  were  baptized  ;  and  the  same  day  there 
were  added  unto  them  about  three  thousand  souls.  And  they  continued 
steadfast  in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread, 
and  in  prayers." — 37,  42.  From  this  passage,  we  find  that  Peter  preached 
according  to  his  orders  ;  the  people  heard,  which  was  their  duty  ;  the  Holy 
Ghost  applied  the  truth  to  their  hearts.  Filled  with  godly  sorrow  for  sin, 
they  cried  out,  "  what  shall  we  do  ?"  which  is  the  language  of  grace  in  its 
first  operation  ;  Peter  had  an  answer  ready,  and  said,  "  repent,"  (this  lit- 
tle word  is  always  a  prerequisite  to  baptism,)  "and  be  baptized,  every 
one  of  you."  He  does  not  say,  be  baptized  if  you  feel  the  weight  of  it 
upon  you,  but  enjoins  it  upon  every  one  of  them,  that  they  might  receive 
remission  of  sins  ;  and,  to  encourage  them  in  their  godly  sorrow  for  their 
sins,  in  general,  and  crucifying  the  Lord,  in  particular,  he  adds  :  "  For  the 
promise  (of  the  remission  of  sins  and  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost)  is  to  you, 
(fathers,)  and  unto  your  children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  off,  (both  scat- 
tered Jews  apd  Gentiles,)  even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call." 

The  promise  here  does  not  intend  baptism,  which  is  never  viewed  in  the 
light  of  a  promise,  but  always  as  a  command.  Here,  observe,  none  were 
baptized,  but  such  as  asked  what  they  should  do  ?  who  did  repent,  gladly 
receive  the  word,  continue  steadfast  in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fellow- 
ship, in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  prayers  ;  all  of  which  things  infants  can 
not  do. 

The  objection  raised  here,  that  three  thousand  couJd  not  be  baptized  by 
immersion  in  one  day,  equally  militates  against  sprinkling,  which  takes  as 
long  a  time.    The  twelve  apostles,  and  seventy  disciples,  could  soon  do  it. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  83 

Three  thousand,  divided  among  eighty-two,  would  be  about  thirty-six  or 
thirty-seven  for  each,  who  could  easily  be  baptized  in  less  time  than  an 
hour.  It  is  no  novelty  in  Virginia,  for  a  Baptist  minister  to  baptize  more 
than  thirty-seven  in  a  small  part  of  a  day. 

The  next  account  of  Peter's  baptizing,  is  in  Acts  x.  Cornelius  was 
warned  of  God  by  a  holy  angel,  and  Peter  was  called  by  a  vision  to  go  to 
Cornelius.  When  he  came  to  his  house,  and  preached  to  him  and  his 
neighbors,  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all  those  who  heard.  "  Then  answered 
Peter,  can  any  man  forbid  water,  that  these  should  not  be  baptized,  who 
have  received  the  Holy  Ghost  as  well  as  we?  And  he  commanded  them 
to  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  No  account  that  he  went  to 
baptizing  before  they  were  converted,  but  as  soon  as  they  received  the 
Holy  Ghost,  he  commanded  them,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  to  be  baptized. 
And  these  were  persons  who  heard  Peter,  spake  with  tongues,  and  magni- 
fied  God. 

What  Peter  thought  baptism  figured  out,  appears  from  his  First  Epistle, 
iii.,  21.  *'  The  like  figure  whereunto  even  baptism  doth  also  now  save  us, 
(not  the  putting  away  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer  of  a  good  con- 
science towards  God,)  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ."  Here  observe, 
that  baptism  does  not  remove  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  figures  out  the  way 
in  which  we  are  saved  :  viz.,  by  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ. 
When  we  are  plunged  beneath  the  wave,  we  figure  out  the  death  and 
burial  of  Jesus ;  and  when  we  rise  from  beneath  the  wave,  we  figure  out 
the  resurrection  of  the  Saviour;  in  doing  which,  we  have  a  good  con- 
science. 

From  the  history  of  Peter,  then,  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  that 
he  understood  his  commmission  in  such  a  manner  as  did  not  entitle  him  to 
baptize  any  but  penitent  believers. 

The  next  baptizer  to  be  taken  notice  of,  is  Philip.  Whether  this  was 
Philip  of  Bethsaida,  one  of  the  twelve,  or  Philip  the  deacon,  who  was 
an  evangelist,  or  another  man  of  the  same  name,  is  not  certain  ;  but  Phi- 
lip went  down  to  Samaria,  and  preached  Christ  unto  them.  Acts  viii.,  5. 
"  And  when  they  believed  Philip,  preaching  concerning  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  they  were  baptized,  both  men  and  wo- 
men." See  verse  12.  They  were  not  baptized  until  they  believed,  and 
yet  were  baptized  before  they  received  the  Holy  Ghost  in  its  great  effu- 
sion ;  which  proves  that  faith  should  be  antecedent  to  baptism,  and  that 
the  receiving  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  this  sort,  is  something  distinct  from  that 
grace  which  makes  men  saints. 

In  this  same  chapter,  from  verse  26,  to  the  end,  we  have  another  ac- 
count of  baptism  by  Philip.  A  certain  eunuch  of  Ethiopia  had  been  up  to 
Jerusalem,  to  worship  the  God  of  Israel ;  and,  as  he  was  returning  home- 
ward in  his  chariot,  was  reading  the  53d  of  Isaiah ;  from  which  it  appears 


84  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

that  he  was  a  Jewish  proselyte,  and,  no  doubt  to  me,  a  real  saint,  who  had 
not  yet  been  taught  a  risen  Saviour.  Philip  was  commanded  by  the  Spirit 
to  go  and  join  himself  to  the  chariot,  which  he  did,  and  began  at  the  same 
scripture  which  the  eunuch  was  reading,  and  preached  unto  him  Jesus. 
And  as  they  came  to  a  certain  water,  the  eunuch  said,  "  See,  here  is  wa- 
ter, what  doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized  ?" 

How  the  eunuch  came  to  the  knowledge  of  his  duty,  in  this  ordinance, 
is  not  certain.  Whether  he  had  learned  at  Jerusalem,  or  some  other 
place,  that  such  was  the  practice  of  the  Christians  ;  or  had  some  impres- 
sions of  the  Spirit  upon  him,  teaching  him  his  duty  ;  or  whether  Philip 
taught  it  to  him,  I  cannot  say  ;  but  he  certainly  requested  baptism  of  Phi- 
lip. "  And  Philip  said  unto  him,  if  thou  believest  with  all  thine  heart, 
thou  mayest.  And  he  said,  I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God. 
And  they  went  down  both  into  the  water,  both  Philip  and  the  eunuch,  and 
he  baptized  him.  And  when  they  came  up  out  of  the  water,"  &c.  What 
can  be  plainer?  Philip  preached  Jesus;  the  eunuch  believed  in  him; 
they  came  to  a  certain  water ;  they  went  down  both  into  it,  both  the  ad- 
ministrator and  the  subject ;  baptism  was  administered ;  and  then  they 
came  up  out  of  the  water. 

The  next  baptizer  in  course,  is  Ananias.  When  Saul  was  struck  to  the 
earth  by  the  power  of  God,  and  led  blind  to  Damascus,  the  Lord  sent  A.n- 
anias  unto  him,  who  went  and  laid  his  hands  on  him,  and  he  received  his 
sight.  Then  said  Ananias  unto  him,  why  tarriest  thou  ?  Arise,  and  be 
baptized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins,  calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And 
he  arose,  and  was  baptized.     Acts  ix.,  1,  19 — xxii.,  16. 

Paul,  the  chief  apostle  of  the  Gc-ntiles,  comes  next  before  us.  The  first 
place  where  he  baptized  any,  that  we  have  an  account  of,  was  in  Mace- 
donia. (Acts  xvi.,  14.)  He  was  called  by  a  vision  to  go  to  Macedonia; 
and  when  he  came  to  that  part  of  it  called  Philippi,  "  Upon  the  Sabbath 
day  went  out  of  the  city  by  a  river's  side,  where  prayer  was  wont  to  be 
made  ;  and  he  sat  down,  and  spake  unto  the  women  who  resorted  thither ; 
and  a  certain  woman,  named  Lydia,  a  seller  of  purple,  of  the  city  of  Thy- 
atira,  who  worshipped  God,  heard  him,  whose  heart  the  Lord  opened,  that 
she  attended  unto  the  things  that  were  spoken  of  Paul.  And  when  she 
was  baptized,  and  her  household,  she  besought  Paul,  and  his  companions, 
saying :  If  ye  have  judged  me  to  be  faithful  to  the  Lord,  come  into  my 
house." 

This  woman  came  from  Thyatira  to  Philippi,  trading  in  purple  :  she 
was  a  female  merchant,  and,  perhaps,  a  manufacturer,  who  first  made  her 
purple,  and  then  sold  it.  She  employed  either  her  own  children  or  jour- 
neymen to  assist  her  in  her  trade.  She  was  a  worshipper  of  God,  heard 
the  gospel,  had  her  heart  opened,  attended  to  the  thiHgs  spoken  by  Paul> 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  85 

and  was  judged  to  be  faithful  to  the  Lord,  and,  therefore,  a  proper  subject 
for  baptism. 

The  character  of  her  household  is  not  given  in  this  place ;  but,  in  the 
last  verse  of  the  chapter,  they  are  called  brethren,  and  were  comforted  by- 
Paul  ;  which  could  with  no  propriety  be  said  of  children  or  unbelievers. 

In  the  33d  verse  of  the  same  chapter,  an  account  is  given  of  the  baptism 
of  a  certain  man,  and  his  household.  The  jailer  being  alarmed  by  the 
earthquake,  and  the  open  doors  of  the  prison,  drew  out  his  sword,  and 
would  have  killed  himself,  supposing  that  the  prisoners  had  made  their 
escape  ;  rather,  therefore,  than  be  tried,  condemned,  and  executed  for  his 
neglect,  he  would  have  been  his  own  judge,  jury,  and  executioner.  "  Which 
Paul  perceiving,  cried  out:  do  thyself  no  harm,  for  we  are  all  here.  Then 
he  called  for  a  light,  and  sprang  in,  and  came  trembling,  and  fell  down 
before  Paul  and  Silas,  and  brought  them  out,  and  said,  sirs,  what  must  I 
do  to  be  saved  ?  And  they  said  :  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
thou  shalt  bo  saved,  and  thy  house.  And  he  took  them,  the  same  hour  of 
the  night,  and  washed  their  stripes,  and  was  baptized,  he  and  all  his, 
straightway.  And  when  he  had  brought  them  into  his  house,  he  sat  meat 
before  them,  and  rejoiced,  believing  in  God,  with  all  his  house." 

Here  note,  the  word  all  is  mentioned  three  times.  The  jailer  and  all 
his  household  heard  the  word  of  the  Lord  ;  he  and  all  his  house  believed 
and  rejoiced  in  God  ;  he  and  all  his  house  were  baptized.  Let  his  house- 
hold be  young  or  old,  they  all  heard,  believed,  rejoiced  in  God,  and  were 
baptized.  Now  it  is  well  known  that  infants  can  neither  hear,  (so  as  to 
understand,)  believe,  nor  rejoice  in  God,  and,  therefore,  are  not  fit  subjects 
for  baptism.  Next,  observe,  the  jailer  brought  them  out  of  prison  into  his 
house  ;  and  as  he  brought  them  again  into  the  house  to  eat,  after  he  was 
baptized,  it  is  altogether  likely  that  they  were  baptized  out  of  any  house. 

The  next  instance  of  Paul's  baptizing,  is.  Acts,  xviii.,  8  :  "  And  Crispus, 
the  chief  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  believed  on  the  Lord  with  all  his  house; 
a*id  many  of  the  Corinthians,  hearing,  believed,  and  were  baptized."  Cris- 
pus,  Gaius,  and  the  household  of  Stephanas,  were  baptized  by  Paul :  Cor.  i., 
14,  16.  The  rest  of  them,  to  complete  the  many,  very  likely,  were  bap. 
tized  by  Silas  and  Timotheus,  who  were  Paul's  companions  at  Corinth, 
verse  5.  Paul  was  a  wise  master-builder,  among  the  Corinthians,  who  laid 
the  foundation,  and  left  Silas  and  Timotheus  to  build  thereon :  1  Cor.  iii., 
10.  It  is  not  certain  that  the  household  of  Crispus  were  baptized,  but  it 
is  certain  that  they  all  believed,  and  very  likely  that  they,  with  the  other 
Corinthians,  that  heard  and  believed,  were  baptized.  The  character  of 
Stephanas  andhis  household  is  given,  1  Cor.,  xvi.  15,  where  they  are  said 
to  be  the  first  fruits  of  Achaia,  and  they  addicted  themselves  to  the  minis- 
try of  the  saints,  which  is  a  work  too  masculine  for  infants. 

The  family  and  neighbors  of  Cornelius,  were  baptized,  even  those  who 


86 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


heard  and  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  magnified  God.  The  household 
of  Lydia,  were  baptized,  who  are  called  brethren,  and  were  comforted  by 
Paul.  The  household  of  the  jailer,  were  baptized  ;  such  as  heard,  believ- 
ed, and  rejoiced  in  God.  The  household  of  Stephanas  were  baptized,  who 
were  the  first  fruits  of  Achaia,  and  ministered  to  the  saints.  And,  if  the 
household  of  Crispus  were  baptized,  they  believed  in  God,  as  well  as  Oris- 
pus  himself. 

Now,  if  there  is  any  account  of  any  one  household  beside,  that  were 
baptized  upon  the  faith  of  their  father,  or  promises  of  their  gossips,  I  should 
be  glad  to  see  it.  I  confess  I  have  not  yet  found  it  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

Some  have  quoted  1  Cor.  vii.,  14,  to  prove  the  right  of  household  bap- 
tism— "  For  the  unbelieving  husband  is  sanctified  by  the  wife,  and  the  un- 
believing wife  is  sanctified  by  the  husband ;  else  were  your  children  un- 
clean, but  now  are  they  holy."  If  this  sanctity,  or  holiness,  is  truly  gra- 
cious, we  are  all  in  a  safe  slate.  Noah,  the  father  of  the  new  world,  was 
a  strong  believer,  if  his  wife  was  not ;  before  he  married  her,  she  was  sac- 
tified  on  the  wedding  day ;  their  children,  consequently,  were  holy,  Ham 
among  the  rest ;  and  so,  by  succession,  down  to  this  day,  all  are  sanctified ; 
which  is  a  doctrine  that  good  Pedobaptists  do  not  believe,  any  more  than 
we  do.  The  word,  therefore,  must  have  a  qualified  signification,  and  if 
we  attend  to  the  context,  we  shall  easily  find  their  quality.  Read  the  first 
part  of  the  chapter.  So  many  of  the  Corinthian  church  were  connected 
with  unbelievers,  (who  were  idolaters,)  in  marriage,  that  they  wrote  a  let- 
ter to  Paul,  to  know  whether  they  had  not  better  part  believers  and  unbe- 
lievers, that  were  joined  together  in  wedlock  ;  which  Paul  did  not  consent 
to.  The  text  under  consideration,  is  a  part  of  his  answer  to  their  letter, 
and  which,  according  to  our  common  dialect  reads  thus  :  "  For  the  unbe- 
lieving husband  ia  legally  bound  to  his  wife,  and  the  unbelieving  wife  is 
legally  bound  to  her  husband  ;  else  were  your  children  bastards,  but  now 
are  they  a  lawful  offspring."  This  text  has  no  more  relation  to  baptism, 
than  the  first  verse  of  Genesis. 

But  one  place  more  remains  to  be  considered  concerning  Paul's  bapti- 
zing :  Acts,  xix.,  1,  8.  These  twelve  men  believed,  and  were  baptized 
unto  John's  baptism,  I  suppose  by  apostles,  who  had  not  been  taught  a  risen 
Saviour,  nor  received  the  Holy  Ghost  in  its  great  effusion.  Whether  Paul 
baptized  them  again,  or  only  explained  John's  baptism  to  them,  is  not  so 
certain.  When  John  taught  his  disciples,  he  charged  them  to  believe  in 
one  who  stood  among  them,  and  when  they  heard  it,  they  were  baptized 
in  the  name  of  Jesus.  But  if  it  is  true,  that  John's  baptism  is  done  away, 
and  that  the  baptism  instituted  by  Jesus,  and  practiced  by  the  apostles,  is 
radically  different  from  that  of  John,  and  so  these  twelve  men  were  bap- 
tized again  by  Paul,  it  is  no  proof  at  all  for  the  baptism  of  infants  or  unbe- 


ELDER   JOHN    LELAND.  87 

Hevera.  If  these  men  were  baptized  by  Paul,  they  believed  first,  as  the 
text  is  plain  ;  and  although  they  had  been  baptized  by  John,  or  more  likely 
by  apostles,  (one  of  John's  order,)  they  were  not  baptized  until  they 
brought  forth  the  fruits  of  repentance. 

The  opinion  of  Paul  concerning  baptism,  may  be  seen  in  Rom.  vi.,  3, 4 — 
1  Cor.  xii.,  13,  Col.  ii.,  12,  where  baptism  is  called  a  burial ;  that  it  repre- 
sents  the  death  of  Christ,  and  a  putting  on  of  Christ.  Now,  I  appeal  to 
common  reason,  whether  believers,  baptism,  by  immersion,  upon  confession 
of  sin,  and  an  annunciation  of  a  life  of  obedience  to  Christ,  or  infant 
sprinkling,  comes  nearest  to  the  sense  of  these  expressions. 

I  have  proved,  and  can  prove,  that  persons  were  forbidden  baptism  on 
the  claim  of  parental  holiness,  because  they  did  not  bring  the  fruits  of  re- 
pentance with  them  ;  that  others  were  not  suffered,  until  they  gave  satis- 
faction of  faith  in  Christ ;  that  when  they  were  baptized,  they  went  down 
into  the  water  ;  that  they  were  baptized  before  they  came  out  of  the  water ; 
that  baptism  is  a  burial  of  the  body  ;  and  that,  after  baptism,  they  came 
up  out  of  the  water.  And,  now,  if  any  man  can  prove  from  scripture,  that 
infants  were  ever  baptized  upon  the  faith  of  their  parents,  or  promises  of 
their  gossips,  in  private  houses,  or  meeting-houses,  by  sprinkling  water  in 
the  face,  I  will  own  that  they  have  an  equal  authority  with  us  for  what  they 
do :  otherwise,  we  shall  triumph  and  say,  that  we  act  according  to  the 
scripture,  and  they  according  to  human  tradition. 

Some  have  run  into  a  gross  error  respecting  the  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  thinking  that  nothing  more  is  meant  thereby  than  regeneration. 
The  phrase  occurs  six  times  in  the  New  Testament,  and  is  implied  in  other 
places,  but  always  intends  something  extraordinary.  Zachariah  and  Eliza- 
beth were  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  prophesied,  but  not  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  be  called  a  baptism,  and  to  speak  with  tongues.  The  disciplea 
never  received  this  blessing,  while  Jesus  was  with  them  on  earth ;  he  al- 
ways spoke  of  it  as  something  to  come  ;  and  after  his  resurrection,  he  told  his 
disciples  plainly,  that  they  should  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  fire 
in  a  few  days  ;  which  was  fulfilled,  first  at  the  day  of  Penticost,  and  after- 
wards at  particular  times,  in  a  wonderful  manner.  Some  were  not  bapti- 
zed until  they  had  thus  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  others  were  before  ; 
but  though  many  were  baptized  before  they  were  thus  overwhelmed  with 
the  spirit,  yet  none  were  until  they  had  repentance  and  faith,  or  at  least 
made  profession  of  them. 

It  is  said  by  some,  that  baptism,  by  immersion,  before  a  large  congrega- 
tion, especially  of  the  female  sex,  is  very  indecent.  This  objection  may 
have  weight  with  those  who  are  too  delicate  to  obey  God  rather  than  man ; 
but  will  have  no  effect  with  those  who  simply  regard  the  Bible.  Circum- 
cision was  performed,  not  only  on  children,  but  on  old  Abraham,  and  upon 
more  than  six  hundred  thousand  men  at  Gilgal ;  and  the  reader  may  judge 


88  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

for  himself,  which  of  the  two  is  more  indecent.  If  circumcision,  there- 
fore, was  an  institution  of  heaven,  no  man  can  object  to  baptism  upon  the 
principle  of  modesty. 

Others  observe,  that,  although  the  scripture  says  that  Jesus  was  baptized 
by  John  in  Jordan,  and  that  Philip,  and  the  eunuch,  went  down  into  the 
water,  and  came  up  out  of  the  water  ;  that  nothing  more  is  meant  than 
that  they  went  down  to  the  water.  Although  this  objection  is  void  of  good 
sense,  yet  I  wish  to  make  a  few  remarks  upon  it.  If  the  observation  be 
true,  it  is  not  complied  with  by  any  but  the  Baptists  ;  other  societies  never 
go  nigh  the  water  to  baptize.  I  have  never  known  of  an  instance  of  a 
man,  whose  faith,  in  this  sense,  carried  him  to  the  water-side,  but  it  also 
led  him  into  the  watery  tomb. 

The  law  of  nature,  is  one  criterion  to  explain  scripture  by.  When  it 
is  said  that  Jesus  went  up  into  the  mountain,  nature  says,  that  he  went  into, 
or  among  the  trees,  or  whatever  grew  upon  the  mountain  ;  for  into  the 
earth  he  could  not  go,  without  miraculous  power,  which  we  have  no  reason 
to  think  he  exercised  at  that  time :  that  he  went  further  than  the  foot  of 
the  mountain,  is  certain,  for  he  went  up.  Where  it  is  said  that  Philip  and 
the  eunuch  went  down  into  the  water,  by  the  law  of  nature,  the  argument 
turns.  A  man  can  no  more  walk  upon  the  water  without  sinking,  than  he 
can  walk  into  the  earth.  This  objection  is  no  good  criticism,  it  is  mean 
pedantry  :  a  desperate  subterfuge,  to  shelter  in,  for  want  of  plain  truth. 
Can  any  man  believe  it,  who  is  not  blinded  by  tradition,  prejudice,  or  sys- 
tematical mists?  If  he  can,  he  will  then  believe,  that  when  the  hogs  ran 
down  into  the  sea,  and  were  choked,  they  only  ran  to  the  sea-side,  and 
were  choked  in  the  sand. 

A  like  observation  is  made  on  Mark  xvi.,  16.  "  He  that  believeth  and 
is  baptized,  shall  be  saved."  The  argument  is  formed  thus  :  that  the  aux- 
iliary, is,  and  the  participle,  baptized,  determine  the  sentence  in  the  past 
tense.  Why  not  then  written,  "  He  that  believeth,  and  has  been  baptized, 
shall  be  saved  ?" 

It  is  not  certain  that  the  Jews  ever  baptized  their  children  ;  and  if  they 
did,  it  was  one  of  their  vain  traditions,  for  they  had  no  divine  command  to 
do  so ;  and  I  wish  to  know  who  had  been  in  the  Gentile  world  to  baptize 
before  the  apostles  went  thither  ?  Matthew  records  the  same  commission: 
"  Go  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them,"  &c.  ;  and  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  it  would  puzzle  the  greatest  scholar  in  Virginia,  to  prove  that  the  verb, 
teach,  and  participle,  baptizing,  place  the  sentence  in  the  past  time. 

I  confess  I  am  presumptuous  enough  to  say  that,  let  other  Christians 
have  ever  so  many  promises  made  to  them,  yet  the  promise  in  Mark  xvi., 
16,  is  made  to  none  but  Baptists ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  Acts  ii.,  38. 

But  the  most  serious  and  weighty  objection  against  believers'  baptism, 
that  I  have  seen  or  heard  of,  is  this :  *'  That  many  great  reformers,  and 


ELDER   JOHN    LELAND.  89 

very  successful  preachers,  in  past  ages,  have  believed  in,  and  practised  in- 
fant sprinkling ;  and  if  this  was  an  error,  would  not  God  have  convinced 
them  of  it,  when  he  was  with  them,  in  so  great  a  degree?"  As  this  ob- 
jection appears  judicious,  I  shall  endeavor  to  give  it  a  candid  answer. 

If  our  inquiries  extend  as  far  back  as  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  im- 
mediately after  the  close  of  inspiration,  we  shall  find  ourselves  upon  dis- 
puted ground.  Some  say  that  infants  were  never  sprinkled,  upon  the  faith 
of  their  parents,  until  the  third  century  ;  others  say  they  were,  in  the 
first ;  and,  if  we  consider  the  carelessness  of  transcribers,  and  the  partiali- 
ty  of  translators,  it  will  not  be  wondered  at.  My  argument  is,  that  if  they 
were  sprinkled  the  first  day  after  John  finished  his  Revelations,  they  had 
no  order  from  Jesus,  or  his  apostles,  to  do  so  ;  and,  therefore,  it  was  no 
way  valid  or  exemplary.  The  mystery  of  iniquity  began  to  work,  and  the 
man  of  sin  to  show  his  power,  before  the  apostles  were  dead ;  and,  by  lit- 
tle and  little,  prevailed  over  all  Christendom,  and  sunk  the  church  into 
the  greatest  labyrinth  of  darkness,  as  all  Protestants  confess,  which  lasted 
a  number  of  centuries.  But  in  these  last  ages  of  the  world,  God  has  raised 
up  men  of  renown,  to  reform  his  people,  who  have  been  successful  in  their 
work ;  and  these  have,  for  the  most  part,  believed  in,  and  practised  infant 
sprinkling. 

If  we  consider  the  principles  of  the  great  reformers,  from  Luther  to  the 
present  day,  we  shall  find  no  entire  uniformity  in  sentiments ;  which  proves 
them  fallible,  uninspired  men.  A  number  of  the  real,  or  supposed  errors 
of  one  reformation,  have  been  always  opposed  in  the  next.  That  Luther, 
Calvin,  Truinglius,  Knox,  and  the  English  reformers,  did  much  for  God, 
we  do  not  deny  ;  but  what  enlightened  American  would  make  any  of  them 
his  complete  pattern  ?  If  God  never  blessed  a  man,  while  holding  some 
error,  he  could  never  have  blessed  but  one  of  them,  for  no  two  of  them 
agreed  in  all  things.  If  the  men  of  one  reformation  improve  upon  the 
doctrine  and  forms  of  a  prior  reformation,  we  cannot  think  it  a  piece  of  ar- 
rogance to  say  that,  in  point  of  baptism,  all  the  Pedobaptist  reformers 
were  in  an  error. 

The  feast  of  tabernacles  was  instituted  in  the  days  of  Moses.  Lev. 
xxiii.,  38-43.  Deut.  xvi.,  13.  At  this  feast,  the  children  of  Israel  were 
to  dwell  in  booths ;  but  from  the  days  of  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun,  to  the 
days  of  Nehemiah,  this  rite  was  never  observed,  (Neh.  viii.,  13-18,)  which 
was  more  than  a  thousand  years  ;  in  which  time,  all  the  good  kings  of 
Israel,  and  many  prophets  of  high  rank,  lived.  It  is,  then,  not  sophistry, 
but  honest  reasoning,  to  say,  that  if  there  had  not  been  a  Baptist  in  the 
world,  since  John  the  Divine,  it  would  be  no  sufficient  objection  against 
believers'  baptism  by  immersion  now. 

I  have  human  testimony  to  prove  that  a  number  of  the  reformers  were 
Baptists,  and,  particularly,  John  WicklifF,  the  great  reformer  in  England 

12 


90  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

called,  by  way  of  eminence,  the  Morning  Starj  but  if  there  never  had 
been  one,  from  the  days  of  Constantine  to  the  present  day,  the  Scripture 
is  full  of  proof,  that  all  were  of  that  order,  in  the  days  of  Christ  and  the 
apostles ;  at  least,  no  account  is  given  of  any  other  way  of  baptizing,  save 
only  by  immersion,  upon  profession  of  repentance  and  faith. 

The  argument,  to  prove  infant  sprinkling  from  circumcision,  I  have  said 
nothing  about.  Consequences  upon  consequences,  drawn  from  false  pre- 
mises, are  used  so  much  in  the  argument,  that  it  appears  foolish  to  an  ac- 
curate mind,  and  inconclusive  to  the  vulgar.  If  its  advocates  can  produce 
a  single  text,  where  the  last  is  a  substitute  for  the  first,  it  will  be  worth 
regarding ;  otherwise,  infant  sprinkling  may  as  well  be  proved  from  the 
Hebrew  servant's  ear,  that  was  bored  through  with  an  awl. 


TBE  VZAGINZA  CBRONICLR 


PREFACE. 

I  have  neither  his  Lordship,  his  Grace,  nor  his  Highness,  to  dedi- 
cate this  Httle  Chronicle  unto,  for  patronage ;  but,  hke  its  author,  it 
must  stand  upon  its  own  merits,  and  like  him,  it  has  many  imper- 
fections. 

The  piece  will  in  no  wise  answer  its  title,  save  only  in  giving  an 
account  of  the  different  religious  sects  in  the  state :  and,  even  in 
this  particular,  the  account  is  general,  without  descending  to  minute 
circumstances.  To  make  the  pamphlet  small,  where  I  have  quo- 
ted the  words  of  others,  or  taken  passages  out  of  histories,  I  have 
given  the  authors  no  credit.  If  I  have  bourne  too  hard  upon  the 
Episcopalians,  it  is  because  they  only  have  been  established  by  law, 
and  I  am  no  great  admirer  of  legal  religion.  And  even  in  this 
point,  I  hope  the  note,  under  the  twelfth  head,  will  sufficiently  palli- 
ate. In  the  description  of  the  Baptist  principles,  I  have  sometimes 
used  the  plural  pronoun,  we,  us,  etc.,  but  if  I  have  inadvertently 
misrepresented  the  general  opinion,  and  only  written  my  own,  I 
I  should  be  glad  to  be  corrected.  A  particular  narration  how  the 
Baptist  religion  broke  out  and  spread,  and  by  what  means,  and 
marvellous  ways  God  wrought,  is  likely  to  be  offered  to  the  world, 
in  a  History  now  preparing  by  the  General  Committee.  Although 
I  have  presumed  to  appear  in  pubhc,  yet  I  will  by  no  means  recall 
a  former  observation : 

Some  books  are  written  in  ambition, 
Others  to  change  a  low  condition  ; 
Some  are  th'  effect  of  pride  and  spite, 
And  some,  perhaps,  are  \vTitten  right ; 
But  should  the  gospel  clearly  shine, 
How  many  books,  now  call'd  divine^ 
Would  be  committed  to  the  flames, 
And  authors  lose  their  mighty  names. 


92 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


THE  VIRGINIA  CHRONICLE.* 

Truth  is  as  essential  to  history  as  the  soul  is  to  the  body. — Frkdebick. 
In  omnibus  rebus  magis  ofiendit  nimium  quam  flarum. 

A  DESCRIPTION  OF  VIRGINIA. 

This  state,  from  the  Virgin  Queen,  (Elizabeth,)  is  called  Virginia. 
Bounded  on  the  north,  by  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  etc.  ;  on  the  west,  by 
the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi ;  on  the  south,  by  Carolina,  and  on  the  east, 
by  the  Atlantic.  From  east  to  west,  the  state  is  about  seven  hundred  and 
fifty-eight  miles  ;  but  from  north  to  south,  it  is  very  unequal,  being  much 
wider  at  the  west  than  at  the  east.  According  to  the  best  calculation  of 
the  boundary  lines,  it  includes  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  thousand,  five 
hundred  and  twenty-five  square  miles,  or,  seventy-seven  million,  seven  hun- 
dred and  seventy-six  thousand  acres.  The  state  is  divided  by  several  ridges 
of  mountains :  the  Blue  Ridge,  the  North  Mountain,  and  the  Alleghany, 
are  the  most  notable.  Though  some  mountains  are  of  a  greater  altitude 
from  their  bases  in  the  two  first  ridges  mentioned,  yet  the  Alleghany  is 
the  ridge-pole  of  the  state.  All  the  waters,  east  of  that  mountain,  fall  into 
the  Atlantic ;  and  all  west  of  it,  fall  into  the  Mississippi,  and  empty  them- 
selves into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  state,  at  present,  is  divided  into 
ninety  counties,  each  of  which,  is  entitled  to  send  two  delegates  to  the 
General  Assembly.  There  are  also,  in  the  state,  about  one  hundred  parishes. 

In  England,  there  are  nine  thousand  three  hundred  and  forty-eight  par- 
ishes ;  in  Scotland,  nine  hundred  and  thirty-eight ;  in  Ireland,  fifteen  hun- 
dred and  eighty-six ;  in  all,  eleven  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two. 
In  some  counties,  there  are  not  more  than  one  parish  ;  in  others,  there  are 
as  many  as  four  ;  in  rare  instances,  parishes  include  parts  of  two  counties. 
Those  counties  that  have  been  established  since  the  revolution,  have  no 
parishes  in  them.  Under  the  regal  government,  parish-officers  provided 
for  the  poor,  as  well  as  the  preachers ;  but  now,  the  poor  are  otherwise 
provided  for,  and  preachers  are  not  supported  by  legal  force  ;  and  was  it 
not  for  the  preservation  of  parish  property,  viz.,  glebes,  churches,  etc., 
there  would  be  no  need  of  parish  bounds  in  the  state. 

•  Published  in  Virginia,  1790. 


ELDER   JOHN    LELAND.  93 

NUMBER   OF    INHABITANTS. 

In  the  year,  1584,  Queen  Elizabeth,  by  her  letters  patent,  licensed  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  to  search  for  remote  heathen  lands,  not  inhabited  by 
Christian  people,  and  sent  out  two  ships,  which  visited  Wococon  Island,  in 
North-Carolina ;  and  the  next  year  he  sent  one  hundred  and  seven  men, 
who  settled  Roanoke  Island.  And,  in  the  year,  1586,  he  sent  fifty  men 
more,  and  in  1587,  one  hundred  and  fifty  more,  with  a  governor  and  twelve 
assistants,  who  landed  at  Hatteras.  Sir  Walter  being  attainted  at  home, 
could  take  no  more  care  of  his  new  colonists ;  and  what  became  of  them, 
whether  they  were  devoured  by  hunger,  or  wild  beasts — destroyed  by  sa- 
vages, or  incorporated  among  them,  no  mortal  man  can  tell. 

But,  in  1607,  King  James  executed  a  new  grant  of  Virginia,  to  Sir  Tho- 
mas Gates,  and  others,  which  was  superseded,  1609,  to  the  Earl  of  Salis- 
bury,  and  others. 

The  first  settlement  they  made,  was  at  Jamestown,  few  in  number,  and 
surrounded  almost  by  savage  nations ;  but,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  the 
little  one  is  become  a  strong  nation.  Mr.  Jeflferson  says,  that  in  1782, 
there  were  in  this  state,  five  hundred  and  sixty-seven  thousand  six  hundred 
and  fourteen  inhabitants,  of  every  age,  sex,  and  condition.  Of  which, 
two  hundred  and  ninety-six  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-two,  were  free, 
and  two  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-two,  were 
slaves ;  which  makes  the  proportion  of  slaves  to  the  free,  nearly  as  ten  to 
eleven.  Mr.  Randolph,  in  1788,  stated  the  round  numbers,  thus :  three 
hundred  and  fifty-two  thousand  whites,  and  two  hundred  and  thirty-six 
thousand  blacks  ;  in  all,  five  hundred  and  eighty-eight  thousand.  Accord, 
ing  to  Mr.  Randolph's  statement,  from  1782,  to  1788,  the  whites  had  in- 
creased above  fifty-five  thousand,  but  the  blacks  had  decreased  about  thirty- 
four  thousand.  These  gentlemen  had  both  official  accounts,  being  both 
governors  of  Virginia,  but  the  returns  from  the  counties  are  imperfect,  and 
from  some  counties,  no  returns  at  all  are  made  to  the  Executive.  Accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Randolph's  account,  the  proportion  of  blacks  to  the  whites,  is 
nearly  as  two  is  to  three.  To  do  honor  to  both  these  great  characters, 
and  to  make  allowance  for  population,  and  emigration  in  the  west  part  of 
the  state,  since  1788,  I  conclude  that  the  number  of  six  hundred  thousand 
inhabitants,  is  not  far  from  truth.  And  to  form  a  compromise  between 
their  proportions,  ten  to  eleven,  and  two  to  three,  we  may  suppose  that  the 
number  of  blacks,  compared  to  that  of  whites,  is  like  six  to  seven.  By 
this  rule,  there  are  in  Virginia,  three  hundred  and  twenty-three  thousand 
and  seventy-seven  whites,  and  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  twenty-three  blacks.  It  has  been  observed,  that  the  number 
of  acres  in  Virginia,  is  seventy-seven  million  seven  hundred  and  seventy- 
six  thousand,  which,  equally  divided  among  the  inhabitants,  would  be  more 


94  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

than  one  hundred  and  eleven  acres  for  each  soul ;  which  is  above  thirty 
times  as  much  as  the  nation  of  Israel  had,  when  they  took  possession  of 
the  promised  land,  according  to  Richard  Tyron,  Esq. 

OF  THE  QUAKERS. 

The  first  settlers  in  this  state,  were  emigrants  from  England,  of  the 
English  church,  just  at  a  point  of  time  when  the  Episcopalians  were  flushed 
with  complete  victory  over  all  other  religious  persuasions ;  and  having 
power  in  their  hands,  they  soon  discovered  a  degree  of  intolerance  towards 
others.  The  oppressed  Quakers,  flying  from  persecution  in  England,  cast 
their  eyes  on  these  colonies,  as  asylums  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  but 
found  them  free  for  none  but  the  reigning  sects.  Several  acts  of  the  Vir- 
ginia Assembly,  of  1659,  1662,  1693,  made  it  penal  in  parents,  to  refuse 
to  baptize  their  children  ;  prohibited  the  unlawful  assembling  of  Quakers, 
and  made  it  penal  for  any  master  of  a  vessel  to  bring  a  Quaker  into  the 
colony ;  ordered  those  already  here,  and  those  who  should  come  thereafter? 
to  be  imprisoned  till  they  should  abjure  the  country ;  provided  a  milder 
punishment  for  their  first  and  second  return,  but  death  for  the  third  ;  for- 
bid all  persons  from  suffering  Quaker  meetings  in,  or  near  their  houses, 
entertaining  them  individually,  or  disposing  of  books  that  supported  their 
tenets.  It  is  a  satirical  saying,  that  every  sect  will  oppress,  when  they 
have  the  power  in  possession,  and  the  saying  is  too  serious  as  well  as  sa- 
tirical. 

When  we  read  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Quakers,  or  any  other  society, 
we  can  hardly  believe  that  those  oppressed  innocents,  would  ever  retaliate, 
if  it  was  in  their  power ;  much  less,  that  they  would  ever  oppress  those 
who  had  not  oppressed  them  ;  but  stubborn  fact  declares  the  contrary.  I 
have  pretty  good  authority,  that  the  Penn  Quakers,  in  Pennsylvania,  im- 
prisoned and  fined  the  Keitbian  Quakers,  in  1692,  on  account  of  some  reli- 
gious disputes.  What  contributes  greatly  towards  this  kind  of  oppression, 
is  the  erroneous  scheme  of  receiving  all  the  natural  offspring  into  the  pales 
of  the  church  :  by  this  method,  in  general,  a  great  majority  of  the  church 
will  be  ignorant  of  the  new  birth,  and  consequently  of  the  nature  of  the 
gospel ;  and  therefore,  of  course,  appeal  to  the  civil  law,  for  protection, 
which  naturally  brings  on  oppression  upon  all  nonconformists. 

Notwithstanding  the  laws  of  Virginia  were  so  severe  against  the  Qua- 
kers, yet  there  is  no  account  that  any  of  them  were  put  to  death  ;  and  a  rem- 
nant of  them  have  continued  in  Virginia,  down  to  this  day,  holding  the  same 
principles,  and  pursuing  the  same  manners,  of  their  brethren  in  the  north- 
ern states,  and  those  in  Europe. 

OF  the  slaves. 
The  horrid  work  of  bartering  spirituous  liquor  for  human  souls,  plun- 
dering the  African  coast,  and  kidnapping  the  people,  brought  the  poor 


BLDER    JOHN    LELAND.  95 

slaves  into  this  state ;  and,  notwithstanding  their  usage  is  much  better  here 
than  in  the  West  Indies,  yet  human  nature,  unbiased  by  education,  shud- 
ders at  the  sight.  They  populate  as  fast  as  the  whites  do,  and  are  rather 
more  healthy. 

The  first  republican  assembly  ever  holden  in  Virginia,  passed  an  act,  ut- 
terly prohibiting  the  importation  of  any  of  them  into  the  state.  In  some 
things,  they  are  viewed  as  human  creatures,  and  in  others,  only  as  property ; 
their  true  state  then,  is  that  of  human  property.  The  laws  of  Virginia, 
protect  their  lives  and  limbs,  but  do  not  protect  their  skin  and  flesh.  The 
marriage  of  slaves,  is  a  subject,  not  known  in  our  code  of  laws.  What 
promises  soever  they  make,  their  masters  may  and  do  part  them  at  plea- 
sure. If  their  marriages  are  as  sacred  as  the  marriages  of  freemen,  the 
slaves  are  guilty  of  adultery,  when  they  part  voluntarily,  and  the  masters 
are  guilty  of  a  sin  as  great,  when  they  part  them  involuntarily  ;  and  yet, 
while  they  are  property,  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  masters  to  prevent 
their  being  forced  apart,  in  numberless  instances. 

The  marriage  of  a  Hebrew  servant,  with  a  Canaanitish  slave,  could  be 
dispensed  with,  at  the  servant's  option,  without  sin.  From  this,  we  should 
imagine,  that  there  was  little  or  no  validity  in  the  marriage  of  two  slaves ; 
but,  if  it  is  maintained  that  their  marriages  are  equally  binding  with 
the  marriages  of  the  free-born,  the  inevitable  parting  of  married  slaves, 
holds  forth  the  idea  of  slavery  in  a  still  more  aggravated  point  of  view. 
Liberty  of  conscience,  in  matters  of  religion,  is  the  right  of  slaves, 
beyond  contradiction  ;  and  yet,  many  masters  and  overseers  will  whip 
and  torture  the  poor  creatures  for  going  to  meeting,  even  at  night,  when 
the  labor  of  the  day  is  over.  No  longer  ago  than  November,  1788, 
Mr.  '  made  a  motion  in  the  assembly,  for   leave  to  bring  in  a 

bill,  not  only  to  prevent  the  assembling  of  slaves  together,  but  to  fine 
the  masters  for  allowing  it;  but,  to  his  great  mortification,  it  was  re- 
jected with  contempt. 

No  change  is  yet  discernible  among  the  negroes  in  Virginia,  in  point 
of  color ;  but  the  children  of  the  third  and  fourth  generations  retain 
as  much  of  the  jet,  as  their  ancestors  did,  who  were  imported  from 
Africa.  The  difference  of  climate,  therefore,  cannot  be  the  cause  of  the 
difference  of  colors  ;  and,  as  they  live  upon  the  same  kind  of  food  that 
the  whites  do,  their  diet  cannot  be  the  cause  of  a  diversity  of  color,  hair 
or  shape. 

Letters  were  not  much  used,  if  any  at  all,  before  the  days  of  Moses ; 
consequently,  2,500  years  elapsed  without  registers,  which  answers  for 
our  ignorance  of  the  cause  of  the  many  colors,  different  shapes,  and  di- 
versity of  hues  among  the  sons  of  grandfather  Adam,  and  father  Noah ; 
and  also  apologizes  for  our  uncertainty,  how  the  many  islands  and  con- 


96  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

tinents  were  peopled,  at  first,  with  those  animals  that  the  ark  unladed 
upon  the  mountains  of  Ararat. 

From  the  blacks,  in  Virginia,  there  have  been  few  Albinos  born. 
These  Albinos  proceed  from  black  parents,  but  are  in  color  like  the 
tawny  plastering  of  a  wall,  without  any  seams  in  their  flesh,  or  much 
Cornelian.  Their  hair,  in  length  and  curl,  is  like  that  of  blacks,  but 
of  a  white  color;  their  shape  like  blacks.  Their  eyes  are  sharp  and 
tremulous,  and  cannot  endure  the  light  of  the  sun  as  well  as  others,  but 
see  better  in  the  night.  Some  of  their  children  are  black,  and  others 
are  Albino.     I  have  seen  a  few  of  them,  and  heard  of  others. 

Romulus,  the  first  king  of  Rome,  placed  the  patricians  in  the  senate, 
and  divided  the  plebians  into  tribes,  but  as  for  the  slaves,  they  were  not 
considered  at  all,  which  is  true  of  the  slaves  in  Virginia,  as  far  as  it  re- 
spects incorporation,  but  not  in  every  respect.  Among  us,  they  are  tried 
before  magistrates  and  courts,  and  their  evidences  are  as  valid,  one  against 
another,  as  the  testimonies  of  the  free-born  are  ;  but  the  concurring  testi- 
mony  of  a  thousand  blacks  against  a  white  man,  is  but  a  cypher  in  law. 
If  a  slave  is  ever  so  much  abused  by  his  master,  or  overseer,  with  unmer- 
ciful tasks,  barbarous  chastisement,  etc.,  if  his  life  and  limbs  are  secure, 
nothing  is  done  to  the  abuser.  The  slave  has  none  to  apply  to  for  re- 
dress. 

In  our  federal  government,  the  slaves  are  treated  with  some  more  re- 
spect than  they  are  in  the  state  government.  Although  they  have  no  vote 
in  the  choice  of  representatives  to  Congress,  yet,  according  to  the  census 
established  in  the  federal  constitution,  five  of  them  number  equal  to  three 
whites,  which  amounts  to  this,  that  a  slave  is  possessed  of  three-fifths  of  a 
man,  and  two-fifths  of  a  brute. 

The  state  of  slaves  is  truly  pitiable,  and  that  of  the  master,  in  some 
things,  more  so.  Slaves  drudge  and  toil  for  others,  and  but  seldom  please 
them.  Men  seldom  please  themselves,  and  others  are  almost  sure  to  dis- 
please. When  the  mind  is  out  of  humor,  it  always  seeks  an  object  to  ac- 
cuse  with  the  cause  of  its  trouble :  so  Adam  blamed  Eve,  and  Eve  the  devil. 
Overseers  commonly  scold  at  Slaves,  let  them  do  ill  or  well,  from  the  gene- 
rally received  opinion,  that  negroes  will  not  bear  good  usage  ;  the  slave  grows 
heartless,  and  sinks  in  despair,  and,  knowing  that  he  labors  for  another, 
has  nothing  to  stimulate  him.  The  master  finds  that,  without  force,  no- 
thing will  be  done ;  and,  therefore,  without  rage  and  lightning  in  his  eyes, 
and  a  lash  in  his  hand,  can  make  him  happy,  he  is  sure  to  be  miserable. 
If  a  hard  hand  and  a  meek  heart,  are  preferable  to  a  soft  hand  and  a  tur- 
bulent, fretted,  disappointed  heart,  the  master  would  be  better  without  them 
than  with  them. 

The  whole  scene  of  slavery  is  pregnant  with  enormous  evils.  On  the 
master's  side,  pride,  haughtiness,  domination,  cruelty,  deceit  and  indolence ; 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  97 

and  on  the  side  of  the  slave,  ignorance,  servility,  fraud,  perfidy  and  despair. 
If  these,  and  many  other  evils,  attend  it,  why  not  liberate  them  at  once? 
Would  to  Heaven  this  were  done !  The  sweets  of  rural  and  social  life 
will  never  be  well  enjoyed,  until  it  is  the  case.  But  the  voice  of  reason, 
(or  perhaps  the  voice  of  covetousness,)  says,  it  is  not  the  work  of  a  day ; 
time  is  necessary  to  accomplish  the  important  work  :  a  political  evil  re- 
quires political  measures  to  reform.  Insurmountable  difficulties  arise  to 
prevent  their  freedom.  Can  government  free  them  ?  The  laws  have  de- 
clared them  property;  as  such,  men  have  bought  and  enjoyed  them.  Is 
it  not  unconstitutional  for  government  to  take  away  the  property  of  indi- 
viduals  ?  Can  government  ransom  them  ?  Their  number  is  276,923  ;  if 
they  should  be  valued  at  £30  in  average,  the  sum  would  be  £8,307,690, 
infinitely  beyond  what  the  commonwealth  could  pay  to  the  holders  of 
slaves,  for  their  ransom,  unless  they  should  be  made  to  ransom  themselves 
in  discount ;  which  would  cast  an  intolerable  burthen  upon  those  who, 
through  conscience  or  poverty,  have  none  of  them  in  possession. 

Some  men  have  almost  all  their  estates  in  slaves,  while  the  estates  of 
others  are  in  lands  ;  should  the  legislature,  therefore,  force  one  part  of 
the  community  to  give  up  their  property,  and  leave  the  other  part  in  full 
possession  of  all,  would  they  not  be  justly  accused  of  injustice  ? 

Others,  there  are,  who  owe  great  sums  of  money ;  they  were  credited 
upon  the  value  of  their  slaves  ;  should  their  slaves  be  now  emancipated  by 
law,  the  creditors  would  lose  their  just  dues. 

The  custom  of  the  country  is  such,  that,  without  slaves,  a  man's  chil- 
dren stand  but  a  poor  chance  to  marry  in  reputation.  As  futile  as  this 
may  appear  to  a  foreigner,  I  am  well  convinced,  that  7ioio  it  is  one  of  the 
great  difficulties  that  prevent  liberation  of  slaves  among  the  common  sort. 
To  this  I  would  add,  that  bad  custom  has  so  far  prevailed,  that  it  is  looked 
upon  rather  mean  for  a  free  man  to  be  employed  in  drudgery.  Were 
they  freed  from  their  masters,  without  being  eligible  to  any  post  of  honor 
and  profit,  it  would  only  be  another  name  for  slavery;  and,  if  they  were 
eligible,  it  is  not  easy  to  say  what  governors,  legislatures,  and  judges  we 
should  have.  If  they  were  walking  at  liberty,  in  every  respect,  I  know 
not  what  past  injuries  might  prompt  them  to  do.  And  how  much  mixing 
of  colors  in  marriage,  and  how  many  forcible  debauches  there  might  be, 
no  mortal  man  can  foretell.*  But  one  thing  is  pretty  certain,  that  fancy 
can  hardly  point  out,  how  they  could  serve  the  whites  worse  than  the 
whites  now  serve  them.     Something  must  be  done  !     May  Heaven  point 

*  If  we  were  slaves  in  Africa,  how  should  we  reprobate  such  reasoning  as  would  rob 
us  of  our  liberty.  It  is  a  question,  whether  men  had  not  better  lose  all  their  property, 
than  deprive  an  individual  of  his  birth-right  blessing— /ree(iom.  If  a  political  system  is 
such,  that  common  justice  cannot  be  administered  without  innovation,  the  sooner  such  a 
system  is  destroyed,  the  better  for  the  people. 

13 


98  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

out  that  something,  and  may  the  people  be  obedient.  If  they  are  not 
brought  out  of  bondage,  in  mercy,  with  the  consent  of  their  masters,  I 
think  that  they  will  be,  by  judgment,  against  their  consent. 

It  is  the  peculiarity  of  God,  to  bring  light  out  of  darkness,  good  out  of 
evil,  order  out  of  confusion,  and  make  the  wrath  of  man  praise  him.  The 
poor  slaves,  under  all  their  hardships,  discover  as  great  inclination  for  re- 
ligion as  the  free-born  do.  When  they  engage  in  the  service  of  God, 
they  spare  no  pains.  It  is  nothing  strange  for  them  to  walk  twenty  miles 
on  Sunday  morning  to  meeting,  and  back  again  at  night.  They  are  re- 
markable  for  learning  a  tune  soon,  and  have  very  melodious  voices. 

They  cannot  read,  and  therefore,  are  more  exposed  to  delusion  than  the 
whites  are  ;  but  many  of  them  give  clear,  rational  accounts  of  a  work  of 
grace  in  their  hearts,  and  evidence  the  same  by  their  lives.  When  religion 
is  lively,  they  are  remarkably  fond  of  meeting  together,  to  sing,  pray,  and 
exhort,  and  sometimes  preach,  and  seem  to  be  unwearied  in  the  exercises. 
They  seem,  in  general,  to  put  more  confidence  in  their  own  color,  than  they 
do  in  the  whites.  When  they  attempt  to  preach,  they  seldom  fail  of  being 
very  zealous  ;  their  language  is  broken,  but  they  understand  each  other, 
and  the  whites  may  gain  their  ideas.  A  few  of  them  have  undertaken  to 
administer  baptism,  but  it  generally  ends  in  confusion.  They  commonly 
are  more  noisy,  in  time  of  preaching,  than  the  whites,  and  are  more  sub- 
ject to  bodily  exercise,  and  if  they  meet  with  any  encouragement  in  these 
things,  they  often  grow  extravagant. 

THE  UNIFORMITY  OF  RELIGION  FOR  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTY  YEARS. 

Under  the  regal  government,  the  Episcopal  form  of  worship  was  estab- 
lished by  law  in  Virginia.  The  ministers  of  that  order,  solemnly  affirmed, 
that  they  gave  their  unfeigned  assent  and  consent  to  the  thirty-nine  articlesj 
and  book  of  common  prayer,  and  declared  that  they  were  inwardly  moved, 
by  the  Holy-Ghost,  to  enter  upon  the  work  of  the  ministry;  this  they 
avowed  at  their  ordination,  and  being  consecrated  by  a  spiritual  lord  in 
England,  they  were  proper  subjects  to  fill  the  vacant,  or  new  created  pa- 
rishes in  Virginia.  If  it  cou.ld  be  supposed,  that  they  were  avaricious  sala- 
ry-hunters, they  surely  had  a  tempting  bait  before  them  ;  like  the  people 
of  old,  who  said,  "  put  me,  I  pray  thee,  into  the  priest's  office,  that  I  may 
have  bread  to  eat."  But,  as  it  is  not  my  wish  to  inculcate  slander,  or  raise 
a  mean  jealousy  in  the  minds  of  any,  I  shall  attend  to  matter  of  fact. 
When  an  incumbent  was  inducted  into  a  parish,  he  was  entitled  to  a  wealthy 
glebe,  having  all  necessary  houses  built  upon  it,  at  the  expense  of  the  parish, 
which  he  held  during  good  behaviour.  His  fixed  salary  was  sixteen  thou- 
sand pounds  of  tobacco,  which  was  stated  at  16s  and  8d  per  hundred,  which 
made  the  sum  of  £133  6s  Bd,  Virginia  currency.    He  was  also  entitled  to 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  99 

205,  for  every  marriage  that  he  solemnized  in  the  mode  of  a  license,  and 
5*  for  every  one  by  publication.  He  had  a  further  perquisite  of  40s 
for  every  funeral  sermon  that  he  preached.  His  parishioners,  were  under 
no  legal  bonds  to  have  a  funeral  sermon  preached  for  their  deceased  friends, 
but  custom  led  all  persons  of  reputation,  to  request  it.  Whether  it  vi'as 
owing  to  their  superabundant  virtue,  or  the  indolence  of  the  people,  or  any 
other  cause,  it  seldom  so  happened  that  they  were  dismissed  from  their 
parishes,  after  they  were  once  inducted  into  them. 

The  king  of  Britain  was  the  head  of  that  church ;  every  child  that  was 
baptized  was  a  member  of  it,  and  no  discipline  was  executed  among  them 
but  the  civil  law.  The  Quakers  were  few  and  peaceable,  and,  as  there 
wei*e  none  to  oppose  Episcopacy,  it  may  be  said,  that  they  enjoyed  the  full 
possession  of  the  state,  until  about  1740,  without  having  any  to  call  in  ques- 
tion their  doctrine  and  forms  of  worship. 

OF    THE    PRESBYTERIANS. 

That  part  of  Virginia,  between  the  Blue  Ridge  and  the  Alleghany,  is 
peopled  in  part  by  emigrants  from  Pennsylvania,  of  Irish  extraction,  and 
Presbyterian  profession,  who,  before  the  middle  of  this  century,  set  up 
their  form  of  worship  ;  but,  being  in  the  then  frontiers  of  the  state,  were 
not  troubled  by  government;  but  the  rise  and  treatment  of  the  Presbyteri- 
ans, below  the  Blue-Ridge,  was  as  follows :  A  number  of  persons  in  the 
county  of  Hanover,  grew  very  uneasy  in  the  state  they  were  in ;  could 
not  find  that  satisfaction,  under  the  preaching  of  Episcopal  ministers,  which 
they  desired,  and  had  no  opportunity  of  hearing  any  others ;  but,  in  the 
year  1743,  a  young  gentleman  from  Scotland,  got  a  book  of  Mr.  Whitfield's 
sermons,  and  one  Mr.  Samuel  Morris  read  it,  and  received  great  benefit 
therefrom.  He  next  invited  his  neighbours  to  come  and  hear  the  book 
read,  and  as  the  truth  had  great  effect  upon  them,  Mr.  Morris  was  invited 
to  meet  the  people  at  various  places,  and  read  to  them,  which  was  much 
owned  and  blessed  of  God  ;  but,  for  absenting  from  the  church,  they  were 
cited  to  appear  before  the  court,  to  assign  their  reasons,  and  declare  what 
denomination  they  were  of.  As  they  were  not  acquainted  with  any  dissent- 
ers but  the  Quakers ;  and  as  they  had  heard  and  read  of  Luther,  the  Re- 
former,  they  declared  themselves,  Lutherans.  About  this  time,  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Robinson,  from  a  northern  Presbytery,  travelled  thi'ough  the  back 
parts  of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina.  On  his 
return,  he  founded  a  Presbyterian  congregation  in  the  county  of  Lunen- 
burg, Virginia,  and  preached,  with  great  success,  in  Amelia.  The  people 
in  Hanover,  hearing  of  him,  sent  a  messenger,  desiring  him  to  come  into 
their  Macedonia,  and  help  them.  Accordingly,  on  July  6th,  1743,  he 
came  and  preached  among  them  four  days,  with  remarkable  success,  and 
directed  them  to  pray  and  sing,  at  their  meetings,  as  well  as  read.     After 


100  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

him,  came  Mr.  Roan,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Newcastle,  who  was  instru- 
mental in  spreading  the  work  further  around ;  but,  for  speaking  a  little 
freely  of  the  degeneracy  of  the  Episcopal  clergy  in  Virginia,  he  was  ac- 
cused of  speaking  blasphemy.  A  vile  wretch,  (like  Jezebel's  witnesses,) 
deposed  that  he  blasphemed  God  and  the  clergy,  whereupon  an  indictment 
was  drawn  up ;  but  he  was  returning  to  the  northward,  when  the  trial  came 
on,  no  witnesses  appeared  against  him,  so  that  the  indictment  fell  through. 
The  people  in  Hanover,  then  sent  to  the  Synod  of  New  York,  in  1745 ; 
the  Synod  drew  an  address  to  Sir  William  Gooch,  governor  of  Virginia, 
and  sent  it  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Tennant  and  Finley.  The  governor  re- 
ceived them  very  politely,  and  gave  them  license  to  preach.  After  they 
left  Virginia,  Mr.  Morris  was  several  times  presented  to  the  court,  and 
fined,  for  neglecting  the  church.  Soon  after,  came  Messrs.  William  Ten- 
rant,  and  Samuel  Blair,  and  after  them,  Mr.  Whitfield,  and  preached 
among  them  four  or  five  days.  In  the  spring  of  the  year,  1747,  came 
Mr.  Samuel  Davies,  in  a  time  of  great  need.  A  proclamation  was  set 
up  at  their  meeting-house,  obliging  all  the  magistrates  to  suppress  all  itine- 
rant preachers ;  but,  Mr.  Davies  went  to  the  governor  and  obtained  a  li- 
cense to  preach  at  four  meeting-houses.  He  moved  into  Virginia,  in  1748, 
and  preached  there  eleven  years ;  he  had  seven  meeting-houses,  three  of 
them  were  in  Hanover,  and  four  in  the  counties  of  Henrico,  Caroline, 
Goochland,  and  Louisa. 

In  1759,  he  removed  from  Virginia  to  New  Jersey,  to  be  President  over 
Nassau  Hall  College,  at  Princeton ;  but  the  great  and  good  man,  did  not 
live  long  there,  for  he  departed  this  life,  February,  1761. 

About  the  time  of  the  revival,  in  Hanover,  there  was  a  great  awakening 
in  Augusta,  under  the  ministry  of  Messrs.  Dean  and  Byram,  and  some- 
thing of  a  like  work  in  Frederick.  The  Presbyterians  are  pretty  numer- 
ous in  Virginia  ;  they  have  several  academies  in  the  state,  and  one  college 
in  Prince  Edward,  presided  over  by  Mr.  Smith,  under  whose  ministry  there 
has  been  a  sweet  revival  of  religion  of  late.  Their  doctrine  and  discipline, 
are  too  well  known  to  be  repeated.  They  were  all  obliged  to  pay  the 
Episcopal  clergymen,  as  much  as  if  they  had  been  Episcopalians,  until  the 
late  Revolution  ;  and,  if  their  preachers  solemnized  the  rites  of  matrimony, 
in  the  mode  of  license,  the  parish  preachers  claimed  and  recovered  the 
fees,  as  though  they  had  solemnized  the  rites  themselves.  The  Presbyte- 
rians indulge,  perhaps,  in  too  much  mirth  at  their  houses,  yet,  it  may  be 
.said  in  truth,  that  they  have  the  best  art  of  training  up  children,  in  good 
manners,  of  any  society  in  the  state. 

OF    THE    METHODISTS. 

The  Methodists  took  their  rise  in  England,  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago ;  but 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 


101 


what  concerns  us  at  present,  is  to  consider  their  rise  and  spread  in  Ameri- 
ca,  and  particularly  in  Virginia,  which  was  as  follows : 

About  1764,  Philip  Embury,  a  local  preacher,  from  Ireland,  came  to 
New  York,  and  formed  a  society,  of  his  own  countrymen,  and  others. 
About  the  same  time,  Robert  Strawbridge,  another  local  preacher,  from 
Ireland,  settled  in  Frederick  county,  in  Maryland,  and  formed  a  few  soci- 
eties. In  1769,  Richard  Boardman,  and  Joseph  Pilmoor,  came  to  New 
York,  who  were  the  first  regular  Methodist  preachers  on  the  continent. 
In  1771,  Francis  Asbury,  and  Richard  Wright,  came  over,  and  many 
classes  were  formed,  and  many  ministers  were  raised  up  among  them. 
From  their  first  rise  in  America,  until  1784,  they  called  themselves  the 
members  of  the  church  of  England,  and  went  to  the  Episcopal  ministers 
for  baptism  and  the  eucharist. 

They  never  spread  much  in  Virginia,  till  about  1775.  Since  that  time, 
they  have  spread  so  much,  that  they  have  a  sprinkling  all  over  the  state, 
and,  in  some  counties,  are  numerous.  In  1784,  Rev.  Thomas  Coke  came 
over  from  England,  having  authority  from  Mr.  John  Wesley,  (the  first 
founder  of  the  society,)  to  organize  the  Methodists  into  a  distinct  church. 
Pursuant  thereto,  Mr.  Francis  Asbury  was  ordained  superintendant,  and  a 
number  of  elders  and  deacons  were  consecrated  for  inferior  services. 
Their  number,  on  the  continent,  is  above  forty-three  thousand,  and  they 
have  been  the  most  fortunate,  in  increasing  their  number  of  preachers,  of 
any  society  in  Virginia.  They  deny  the  doctrine  of  predestination,  ac- 
cording to  the  Calvanistic  explanation;  hold  that  Christ  died  for  all 
Adam's  progeny  ;  believe  that,  after  men  are  converted  and  sanctified, 
they  may  fall  away,  and  be  finally  damned ;  their  doctrine,  in  fine,  is  Ar- 
minian,  their  magazine  bears  the  name. 

Their  ministers  are  very  constant  preachers,  and  they  exceed  all  soci- 
eties in  the  state,  in  spreading  their  books  and  written  tenets  among  the 
people.  They  generally  baptize  by  sprinkling,  but  their  rules  allow  of 
pouring  or  immersion.* 

*  Baptism,  by  some,  is  made  everything ;  by  some,  anything ;  and,  by  others,  nothing. 
The  Episcopalians  make  it  everything;  they  say  that  the  water  is  blest  to  the  mystical 
washing  away  of  sin ;  that,  by  it,  children  are  regenerated,  and  engrafted  into  the  body  of 
Christ,  which  is  everything  we  need.  The  Methodists  make  it  anything;  either  sprink- 
ling, pouring  or  immersion.  No  matter  how  it  is  done,  if  it  is  done.  Can  it  be  supposed, 
that  Jesus,  who  was  faithful  in  all  his  house,  in  the  character  of  a  son,  should  be  less  de- 
finite in  his  orders  than  Moses  was,  who  was  only  a  servant  ?  See  (says  the  Hebrew 
prophet)  that  thou  makest  the  tabernacle,  in  all  things,  according  to  the  pattern  shown 
to  thee  in  the  Mount ;  and  is  the  pattern  of  Jesus  of  no  more  use  than  to  be  made  any- 
thing (^il  That  which  is  to  be  done  but  once  in  a  man's  life,  should  be  well  done.  Are 
the  words  of  St.  Paul  inapplicable  here  ?     "  One  baptism." 

The  Quakers  make  it  nothing ;  but  when  they  regard  the  word  of  God  more,  and  the 


102 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


There  are  a  few  Tunkers  and  Mennonists  in  Virginia,  and,  as  it  is  the 
design  of  this  chronicle  to  treat  of  all  the  religious  sects  in  the  state,  I 
shall  give  an  account  of  their  first  rise  and  peculiarities.  First  of  the 
Tunkers. 

The  Germans  sound  the  letter  t  like  d,  for  which  reason  they  are  called 
Dunkers,  which  name  signifies  Sops  or  Dippers.  They  first  arose  in 
Schwardznau,  in  the  year  1708.  Seven  religious  neighbors,  chiefly  Pres- 
byterians,  consorted  together,  to  read  the  Bible,  and  edify  each  other  in 
the  way  that  they  had  been  brought  up,  having  never  heard  that  there  was 
a  Baptist  in  the  world.  However,  being  convinced  of  believers'  baptism, 
and  congregational  government,  they  desired  Alexander  Mack  to  baptize 
them,  which  he  objected  to,  considering  himself  unbaptized  ;  upon  which 
they  cast  lots  for  an  administrator. f  Upon  whom  the  lot  fell,  has  been 
cautiously  concealed  ;  but  baptized  they  were,  in  the  river  Eder,  by 
Schwardzenau,  and  then  formed  themselves  into  a  church,  choosing  Alex- 
ander Mack  for  their  minister.  As  God  prospered  their  labors,  and  made 
them  increase,  both  in  members  and  preachers,  so  Satan  raised  persecution 
against  them.  Some  fled  to  Holland,  and  some  to  Creyfelt ;  and  the  mo- 
ther church  voluntarily  removed  to  Frizland,  and  thence  to  America.  la 
1719,  and  in  1729,  those  of  Holland  and  Creyfelt  followed  them.  In 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  etc.,  thei-e  is  a  considerable  number  of  them ; 
and  a  few  from  those  states  have  found  their  way  into  Virginia.  They 
hold  that  Christ  not  only  died  for  all  Adam's  race,  but  that  he  will  finally 
restore  all  to  glory.  They  practise  trine-immersion  in  baptism ;  leading 
the  candidate  into  the  water,  he  kneels  down,  and  the  minister  dips  him, 
face  downward,  first  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  then  in  the  name  of  the 
Son,  and  then  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  which  being  done,  while  he 

word  of  Barclay  less,  they  will  then  find  baptism,  not  only  to  be  a  con:imand,  but  the  first 
commad,  after  repentance  and  faith. 

If  baptism  is  everything,  Simon,  the  witch,  is  gone  to  heaven,  and  the  thief  dropt  from 
the  cross  to  hell.  If  it  is  anything,  we  may  say  of  it,  as  Mr.  Wesley  does  of  praying 
time,  "  any  time  is  no  time."  And  if  it  is  nothing,  why  is  the  noun,  with  its  verb  and 
participle,  recorded  almost  one  hundred  times  in  the  New  Testament?  If  men  can  be 
perfect,  or  obedient  in  all  things,  without  it,  what  means  this  bleating  of  the  Scripture* 
which  I  hear? 

t  This  mode  was  used  in  the  ordination  of  Matthias  to  the  apostleship ;  and,  like  every 
other  account  in  the  New  Testament,  is  a  precedent  without  a  second.  As  no  two  in- 
stances of  ordination  are  uniform,  can  it  be  a  piece  of  licentiousness  to  treat  the  subject, 
as  to  its  mode,  with  a  degree  of  indifference?  In  Virginia,  Episcopal,  Presbyterial,  and 
Congregational  ordinations  are  all  contended  for.  Imposition  and  non-imposition  of  hands 
are  equally  pleaded  for  ;  but,  after  all,  a  commission  from  Heaven,  to  preach  and  baptize^ 
ie  the  great  quintessence. 


ELDER   JOHN   LELAND..  103 

continues  on  his  knees,  the  minister  imposes  hands  upon  his  head,  prays, 
and  then  leads  them  out.  They  also  practise  washing  of  feet,  anointing 
the  sick  with  oil,  and  the  holy  kiss.  They  will  neither  swear,  fight, 
nor  keep  slaves.  They  make  little  or  no  use  of  the  civil  law,  and  take 
no  use  for  money.  As  Christians,  they  live  mortified,  self-denying  lives ; 
and,  as  citizens,  they  are  patterns  of  peace  ;  well  deserving  their  common 
title — harmless  Tunkers, 

OF    THE    MENNONISTS. 

The  Mennonists  derive  their  name  from  Menno  Simon.  He  was  born 
in  the  year  1505 — got  into  orders  in  1528 — continued  a  famous  preacher 
and  disputer  till  1531.  He  then  began  to  question  the  validity  of  many 
things  in  the  church  of  Rome,  and  among  the  rest,  infant  baptism  ;  but 
neither  the  doctors  of  his  order,  nor  those  of  the  Protestant  faith,  gave  him 
the  satisfaction  he  wished  for.  He  finally  embraced  believers'  baptism, 
and  continued  preaching  and  planting  churches  in  the  low  countries  for 
thirty  years,  and  died  in  peace,  January  31,  1561.  Menno  was  dipped 
himself,  and  dipped  others,  and  so  did  his  successors,  except  when  they 
were  in  prison,  or  were  hindered  from  going  to  the  water,  and  then  pour- 
ing was  practised.  What  they  used  in  Europe,  only  of  necessity,  is  be- 
come the  only  mode  practised  by  them  in  America.  They  hold  a  profes- 
sion of  faith  a  prerequisite  to  baptism,  which,  in  Virginia,  is  made  by 
learning  to  answer  a  number  of  questions.  The  candidate  being  received, 
kneels  down  before  the  minister,  and  water  is  poured  on  his  head ;  after 
which,  follow  imposition  of  hands  and  prayer.  They  believe  the  doctrine 
of  universal -provision,  but  not  the  doctrine  of  universal  restitution;  they 
are  equally  conscientious  of  swearing  and  bearing  arms,  with  the  Quakers 
and  Tunkers.  The  only  Virginia  Baptist  church  that  I  know  of  in  the 
state,  that  refuse  to  bear  arms,  or  take  an  oath  before  a  magistrate,  is  one 
in  Shenandoah  ;  the  chiefest  of  whom,  are  the  natural  descendants  of  the 
Mennonists.  In  worship  and  discipline,  they  are  like  other  Baptists  in  the 
state  ;  but  some  peculiarities  of  the  Mennonists,  keep  them  from  uniting. 

The  Tunkers  and  Mennonists  seem  to  be  more  consistent  with  them- 
selves than  the  Quakers,  in  disusing  the  law  as  well  as  arms.  Perhaps  the 
reason  is,  because  the  two  first  have  been  small,  persecuted  societies,  and 
have  learned  to  bear  affliction  patiently,  and  have  but  little  to  do  with 
mankind ;  but  should  they  undertake  to  settle  a  colony  themselves,  as  the 
Quakers  did  Pennsylvania,  it  is  probable  that  they  would  see  the  necessity 
of  civil  law.  Civil  government  is  certainly  a  curse  to  mankind  ;  but  it  is 
a  necessary  curse,  in  this  fallen  state,  to  prevent  greater  evils.  It  is  yet 
a  question,  whether  the  good  Quakers  have  a  sufficient  reason  for  using 
the  law,  and  not  appealing  to  arms.  If  an  internal  foe  arises,  and  kills 
a  man,  they  execute  the  law,  and  hang  the  murderer ;  but  if  external 


104  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

foes  invade,  and  kill  and  burn  all  before  them,  no  means  must  be  used  to 
bring  them  to  punishment.     Is  it  bad  reasoning  to  say,  that  when  inno- 
cency  is  injured,   it  appeals  first  to  law  for  redress  ;  but  if  it  finds  no 
redress  at  law,  it  finally  appeals  to  arms  ?     The  law  of  a  state,  is  the 
compact  of  citizens  in  the  state,  and  the  law  of  nations  in  confederation, 
is  the  compact  of  bodies  of  men ;  and  why  the  violators  of  one  should 
be  punished,  and  the  breakers  of  the  other  pass  with  impunity,  is  not  so 
easily   answered.     If  all  nations  were  true  to  their  engagements,  there 
would  be  no  war  in  the  world;    so,  if  all  the  citizens  in  a  state,  lived 
agreeable  to  the  laws  of  it,  there  would  be  no  punishment.     If  there  was 
no  sin  in  the  world,   there    would  be  no  laws  needed.     The  more  vir- 
tuous people  are,  the  more   liberal  their  laws  should  be  ;  but  the  more 
vicious   the  people  are,   the  more  severe  the  laws    must  be,  to  restrain 
their  unruly  passions.     Where  rulers  are  more  virtuous  than  the  people, 
the  more   independent  and  important  the  rulers  are,    the  better  for  the 
people ;    but  where  the  people  are  more  virtuous  than  the  magistrates, 
magistrates  should  be  dependant  on,  and  responsible  to  the  people.     As 
it  is  generally  seen  that   the  people  are  more   virtuous    than   those    in 
power  ;  consequently,  a  republican,  responsible  government  is  best.  Great 
salaries  given  to  officers,  are  as  dangerous  to  the  good  of  the  community, 
as  no  salaries  are.     Great  salaries  stimulate  avaricious  men,  to   make 
use  of  undue   means  to  acquire  those  offices,  while  men  of  real  merit 
feel  a  disgust  to  prey  so  much  upon  the  industrious.     Incompetent  sal- 
aries, disable  men  of  small  forturnes  from  filling  those  offices  their  real 
merit  entitles  them  to,  and  consequently  fix  government  in  the  hands  of 
the  rich,  who  generally  feel  more  for  themselves,  than  they  do  for  the 
poor.     To  fix  salaries  high  enough,  and  not    too  high,  is  the   work  of 
the  wise  ;  and  to  give  power  enough  to  men  to  do  good,  and  yet  have 
it  so  counterpoised,  that  they  can  do  no  harm,  is  a  line  so  difficult  to  be 
drawn,  that  it  has  never  yet  been  done. 

OF    THE    BAPTISTS. 

The  Baptists  took  their  rise  in  Virginia,  before  the  Methodists ;  but,  as 
I  purpose  to  treat  more  largely  on  the  doctrine  and  forms  of  the  Baptists, 
than  I  have  done  on  other  societies,  I  have  reserved  them  for  the  last. 

There  were  a  few  Baptists  in  Virginia,  before  the  year,  1760,  but  they 
did  not  spread,  so  as  to  be  taken  notice  of  by  the  people,  much  less  by  the 
rulers,  till  after  that  date.    About  the  year,  1764,  they  prevailed  so  much 
that,  in  the  year  following,  they  formed  an  Association,  called,  "  the  Ke- 
tocton  Regular  Baptist  Association."*     From  1764,  to  1774,  the  Baptists 

*  Ketocton,  is  the  name  of  a  water-course,  in  Loudoun  county,  that  empties  into  the 
Potomac.  Most  of  the  Baptist  churches,  now  in  Virginia,  take  their  names  of  distinction 
from  the  waters  where  they  are. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  105 

spread  over  the  greatest  part  of  the  state  that  was  peopled.  Several  min- 
isters, of  that  order  came  from  Pennsylvania  and  the  Jerseys,  and  settled 
in  the  northern  parts  of  the  state,  and  others  were  raised  up  in  the  southern 
parts,  who  travelled  about,  and  preached  like  the  old  Baptist,  John,  "  repent, 
for  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand,"  and  great  numbers  of  the  people 
went  out  unto  them,  and  were  baptized,  confessing  their  sins.  Many  of  the 
young  converts  caught  the  spirit  of  their  teachers,  and  zealously  engaged 
in  ihe  work.  In  a  course  of  time,  the  fires  from  the  northern  preachers, 
and  those  in  the  south,  met,  like  the  two  seas,  in  St.  Paul's  shipwreck,  in 
Orange  county,  1767.  Two  or  three  ministers,  from  each  side,  assembled 
in  conference,  but  did  not  so  happily  unite,  as  candor  desired.  A  division 
took  place.  The  northern  members  called  themselves,  "  Regular  Baptists," 
and  the  southern  members  called  themselves,  "  Separate  Baptists ;"  and, 
if  some  alienation  of  affection  did  not  attend  this  division,  in  some  instan- 
ces, it  was  because  they  were  free  from  those  temptations  that  have  al- 
ways  mingled  with  religious  divisions,  and  if  there  was  not  a  little  zeal 
discovered  to  proselyte,  as  well  as  convert  the  people,  I  have  been  wrongly 
informed. 

The  Regulars,  adhered  to  a  confession  of  faith,  first  published  in  Lon- 
don, 1689,  and  afterwards  adopted  by  the  Baptist  Association  of  Philadel- 
phia, in  1742  ;  but  the  Separates  had  none  but  the  Bible.  Just  upon  the 
spot  of  ground  where  the  division  took  place,  the  members  knew  some- 
thing of  the  cause  ;  but  those  who  lived  at  a  distance,  were  ignorant  of 
the  reason,  and  whenever  they  met,  they  loved  each  other  as  brethren,  and 
much  deplored  that  there  should  be  any  distinction,  or  shyness  among  them. 
The  Separates,  who, also  formed  an  association,  increased  much  the  fastest, 
both  in  ministers  and  members,  and  occupied,  by  far,  the  greatest  territory. 
The  Regulars  were  orthodox  Calvanists,  and  the  work  under  them  was 
solemn  and  rational ;  but  the  Separates  were  the  most  zealous,  and  the 
work  among  them  was  very  noisy.  The  people  would  cry  out,  "  fall  down," 
and,  for  a  time,  lose  the  use  of  their  limbs  ;  which  exercise  made  the  by- 
standers  marvel  ;  some  thought  they  were  deceitful,  others,  that  they  were 
bewitched,  and  many  being  convinced  of  all,  would  report  that  God  was 
with  them  of  a  truth. 

THE   PERSECUTION   OF   THE   BAPTISTS. 

Soon  after  the  Baptist  ministers  began  to  preach  in  Virginia,  the  novelty 
of  their  doctrine,  the  rarity  of  mechanics  and  planters  preaching  such 
strange  things,*  and  the  wonderful  effect  that  their  preaching  had  on  the 

*  To  this  day,  there  are  not  more  than  three  or  four  Baptist  ministers  in  Virginia,  who 
have  received  the  diploma  of  M.  A.,  which  is  additional  proof  that  the  work  has  been  of 
God,  and  not  of  man. 

14 


106 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


people,  called  out  multitudes  to  hear  them — some  out  of  curiosity,  some 
in  sincerity,  and  some  in  ill  will. 

Their  doctrine,  influence  and  popularity,  made  them  many  enemies ; 
especially  among  those  who  value  themselves  most  for  religion  in  the 
Episcopal  mode.  The  usual  alarm  of  the  Church  and  State  being  in  danger, 
was  echoed  through  the  colony ;  nor  were  the  Episcopal  clergymen  so 
modest,  but  what  they  joined  the  alarm  ;  like  the  silversmiths  of  old,  crying 
"  our  craft  is  in  danger  of  being  set  at  naught."  Magistrates  began  to  issue 
their  warrants,  and  sheriffs  had  their  orders  to  take  up  the  disturbers  of 
the  peace.  The  county  of  Spottsylvania  took  the  lead,  and  others  soon 
followed  their  example.  Preaching,  teaching,  or  exhorting,  was  what  dis- 
turbed the  peace.  A  like  work  disturbed  the  peace  of  Satan,  when  he  cried 
out,  "  let  us  alone."  Sometimes,  when  the  preachers  were  brought  before 
the  courts,  they  escaped  the  prison  by  giving  bonds  and  security,  that  they 
would  not  preach  in  the  county  in  the  term  of  one  year ;  but  most  of  them 
preferred  the  dungeon  to  such  bonds.  Not  only  ministers  were  imprisoned, 
but  others,  for  only  praying  in  their  families,  with  a  neighbor  or  two. 

The  act  of  toleration,  passed  in  the  first  of  William  and  Mary's  reign, 
afforded  the  suffering  brethren  some  relief.  By  applying  to  the  general 
court,  and  subscribing  to  all  the  thirty-nine  articles,  saving  the  thirty-fourth, 
thirty-fifth,  and  thirty-sixth,  together  with  one  clause  in  the  twentieth,  and 
part  of  the  twenty-seventh,  they  obtained  license  to  preach  at  certain  stip- 
ulated places  ;*  but,  if  they  preached  at  any  other  places,  they  were  ex- 
posed to  be  prosecuted. 

Some  of  the  prisoners  would  give  bonds  not  to  preach,  and  as  soon  as 
they  were  freed,  would  immediately  preach  as  before.  This  was  done, 
when  they  had  reason  to  believe  that  the  court  would  never  bring  suit  upon 
the  bonds.  I  have  never  heard  of  but  one  such  suit  in  the  state,  and  that 
one  was  dismissed.  The  ministers  would  go  singing  from  the  court-house 
to  the  prison,  where  they  had,  sometimes,  the  liberty  of  the  bounds,  and  at 
other  times  they  had  not.  They  used  to  preach  to  the  people  through  the 
grates :  to  prevent  which,  some  ill-disposed  men  would  be  at  the  expense 

*  There  are  other  parts  of  the  thirty-nine  articles,  equally  exceptionable  with  thoBC 
parts  excepted.  If  a  creed  of  faith,  established  by  law,  was  ever  so  short,  and  ever  so 
true  ;  if  I  delieved  the  whole  of  it  with  all  my  heart — should  I  subscribe  to  it  before  a  ma- 
gistrate, in  order  to  get  indulgence,  preferment,  or  even  protection — I  should  be  guilty  of 
a  species  of  idolatry,  by  acknowledging  a  power,  that  the  Head  of  the  Church,  Jesus 
Christ,  has  never  appointed.  In  this  point  of  view,  who  can  look  over  the  Constitutions 
of  government  adopted  in  most  of  the  United  States,  without  real  sorrow  ?  They  require 
a  religious  test,  to  qualify  an  officer  of  "state.  All  the  good  such  tests  do,  is  to  keep  from 
office  the  best  of  men  ;  villains  make  no  scruple  of  any  test.  The  Virginia  Constitution 
ie  free  from  this  stain.  If  a  man  merits  the  confidence  of  his  neighbours,  in  Virginia — let 
him  worsnip  one  God,  twenty  God's,  or  no  God — be  he  Jew,  Turk,  Pagan,  or  Infidel,  he 
is  eligible  to  any  office  in  the  state. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  107 

of  erecting  a  high  wall  around  the  prison ;  others,  would  employ  half 
drunken  strolls  to  beat  a  drum  around  the  prison  to  prevent  the  people  from 
hearing.  Sometimes,  matches  and  pepper-pods  were  burnt  at  the  prison, 
door,  and  many  such  afflictions  the  dear  disciples  went  through.  About 
thirty  of  the  preachers  were  honored  with  a  dungeon,  and  a  kw  others  be- 
side. Some  of  them  were  imprisoned  as  often  as  four  times,  besides  all 
the  mobs  and  perils  they  went  through.  The  dragon  roared  with  hideous 
peals,  but  was  not  red — the  Beast  appeared  formidable,  but  was  not  scarlet 
colored.  Virginia  soil  has  never  been  stained  with  vital  blood  for  con- 
science sake.  Heaven  has  restrained  the  wrath  of  man,  and  brought  au- 
spicious days  at  last.  We  now  sit  under  our  vines  and  fig-trees,  and  there 
is  none  to  make  us  afraid. 

THE    REASONS   OF   THEIR   DISSENT. 

But  why  this  schism  ?  says  an  inquisitor.  If  the  people  were  disposed 
to  be  more  devotional  than  they  had  been  before,  why  not  be  devout  in  the 
church  in  which  they  had  been  raised,  without  rending  themselves  off,  and 
procuring  so  much  evil  unto  themselves  ?  This  question  may  be  answered 
in  part,  by  asking  a  similar  one.  Why  did  the  Episcopal  church  rend  off 
from  the  church  of  Rome,  in  the  Reformation  ?  Why  not  continue  in  that 
church,  and  worship  in  her  mode  ?  What  necessity  for  that  schism,  which 
occasioned  so  much  war  and  persecution  ?  If  we  are  to  credit  Frederick, 
in  his  "  Memoirs  of  the  House  of  Brandenburg,'"  the  cause  of  the  Refor- 
mation was,  in  England,  the  love  of  a  woman — in  Germany,  the  love  of 
gain — in  France,  the  love  of  novelty,  or  a  song.  But  can  the  church  of 
England  offer  no  other  reason  for  her  heretical  schism,  but  the  love  of  a 
woman  ?  Undoubtedly  she  can :  she  has  done  it,  and  we  approve  of  her 
reason ;  but  after  all,  she  is  not  so  pure  in  her  worship,  but  what  we  have 
many  reasons  for  dissenting  from  her.     Some  of  which  are  as  follows  : 

1.  No  national  church,  can,  in  its  organization,  be  the  Gospel  Church. 
A  national  church  takes  in  the  whole  nation,  and  no  more ;  whereas,  the 
Gospel  Church,  takes  in  no  nation,  but  those  who  fear  God,  and  work 
righteousness  in  every  nation.  The  notion  of  a  Christian  commonwealth, 
should  be  exploded  forever,  without  there  was  a  commonwealth  of  real 
Christians.  Not  only  so,  but  if  all  the  souls  in  a  government,  were  saints 
of  God,  should  they  be  formed  into  a  society  by  law,  that  society  could 
not  be  a  Gospel  Church,  but  a  creature  of  state. 

2.  The  church  of  England,  in  Virginia,  has  no  discipline  but  the  civil 
law.  The  crimes  of  their  delinquent  members  are  tried  in  a  court-house, 
before  the  judges  of  the  police,  their  censures  are  laid  on  at  the  whipping, 
post,  and  their  excommunications  are  administered  at  the  gallows.  In 
England,  if  a  man  cast  contempt  upon  the  spiritual  court,  the  bishop  dele- 
gates a  grave  priest,  who,  with  his  chancellor,  excommunicate  him.     The 


108  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

man  thus  excommunicated,  is  by  law,  disabled  from  being  a  plaintiff  or 
witness  in  any  suit.  But  for  heresy,  incest  or  adultery,  the  bishop  himself 
pronounces  the  exclusion.  The  outcast,  is  not  only  denied  the  company 
of  Christians,  in  spiritual  duties,  but  also,  in  temporal  concerns.  He  not 
only  is  disabled  from  being  plaintiff  or  witness  in  any  suit,  (and  so  deprived 
of  the  protection  of  the  law,)  but  if  he  continues  forty-days  an  excommu- 
nicant,  a  writ  comes  against  him,  and  he  is  cast  into  prison,  without  bail, 
and  there  continues  until  he  has  paid  the  last  mite.  Mrs.  Trask  was  judged 
a  heretick,  because  she  believed  in  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  and  for  that,  she 
was  imprisoned  sixteen  years,  until  she  died ;  but  a  Gospel  Church  has 
nothing  to  do  with  corporeal  punishments.  If  a  member  commits  sin,  the 
church  is  to  exclude  him,  which  is  as  far  as  church  power  extends.  If  the 
crime  is  cognizable  by  law,  the  culprit  must  bear  what  the  law  inflicts. 
In  the  church  of  England,  ecclesiastical  and  civil  matters  are  so  blended 
together,  that  I  know  not  who  can  be  blamed  for  dissenting  from  her. 

3.  The  manner  of  initiating  members  into  the  church  of  England,  is 
arbitrary  and  tyrannical.  The  subject,  (for  a  candidate  I  cannot  call  him,) 
is  taken  by  force,  brought  to  the  priest,  baptized,  and  declared  a  member 
of  the  church.  The  little  Christian  shows  all  the  aversion  he  is  capable 
of,  by  cries  and  struggles,  but  all  to  no  purpose  ;  ingrafted  he  is ;  and, 
when  the  child  grows  up,  if  he  differs  in  judgment  from  his  father  and  king, 
he  is  called  a  dissenter,  because  he  is  honest,  and  will  not  say  that  he  be- 
lieves what  he  does  not  believe;  and,  as  such,  in  England,  can  fill  no  post 
of  honor  or  profit.  Here,  let  it  be  observed,  that  religion  is  a  matter  en- 
tirely between  God  and  individuals.  No  man  has  a  right  to  force  another 
to  join  a  church  ;  nor  do  the  legitimate  powers  of  civil  government  extend 
so  far  as  to  disable,  incapacitate,  proscribe,  or  in  any  way  distress,  in  per- 
son, property,  liberty  or  life,  any  man  who  cannot  believe  and  practice  in 
the  common  road.  A  church  of  Christ,  according  to  the  Gospel,  is  a  con- 
gregation of  faithful  persons,  called  out  of  the  world  by  divine  grace,  who 
mutually  agree  to  live  together,  and  execute  gospel  discipline  among  them  ; 
which  government,  is  not  national,  parochial,  or  presbyterial,  but  congre- 
gational. 

4.  The  church  of  England  has  a  human  head.  Henry  VIII.  cast  off 
the  Pope's  yoke,  and  was  declared  head  of  the  church,  1533 ;  which  title, 
all  the  kings  of  England  have  borne  since ;  but  the  Gospel  Church,  ac- 
knowledges no  head  but  King  Jesus :  He  is  law-giver,  king,  and  judge — is 
a  jealous  God,  and  will  not  give  his  glory  unto  another. 

5.  The  preachers  of  that  order,  in  Virginia,  for  the  most  part,  not  only 
plead  for  theatrical  amusements,  and  what  they  call  civil  mirth,  but  their 
preaching  is  dry  and  barren,  containing  little  else  but  morality.  The  great 
doctrines  of  universal  depravity,  redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  rengen- 
eration,  faith,  repentance  and  self-denial,  are  but  seldom  preached  by  them, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  109 

and,  when  they  meddle  with  them,  it  is  in  such  a  superficial  manner,  as  if 
they  were  nothing  but  things  of  course. 

6.  Their  manner  of  visiting  the  sick,  absolving  sins,  administering  the 
Lord's  supper  to  newly  married  couples,  burying  the  dead,  sprinkling  child- 
ren with  their  gossips,  promises,  cross,  etc.,  are  no  ways  satisfactory,  and, 
as  they  were  handed  to  us  through  the  force  of  law,  we  reject  them  in  toto. 
These  are  some  of  the  reasons  we  have  for  dissenting  from  the  Episcopa- 
lians in  Virginia,  and  though  they  may  not  be  sufficient  to  justify  our  con- 
duct, in  the  opinion  of  others,  yet  they  have  weight  with  us.* 

THREE   GREAT   PRINCIPLES. 

There  are  three  grand,  leading  principles,  which  divide  the  Christian 
world :  I  say  leading  principles — for  each  of  them  is  subdivided  into  a 
number  of  peculiarities ;  these  three,  I  shall  caW  fate,  free-will,  and  resti- 
tution. 

1st.  Fate.  Those  who  believe  this  doctrine,  say,  that  God  eternally 
ordained  whatsoever  comes  to  pass :  that  if  the  minutest  action  should  be 
done  that  God  did  not  appoint,  it  would  not  only  prove  a  world  of  chance, 
but  create  an  uneasiness  in  the  Divine  mind ;  that  providence  and  grace 
are  stewards,  to  see  that  all  God's  decrees  are  fulfilled.  Sometimes  a  dis- 
tinction is  made  between  God's  absolute  and  permissive  decrees  ;  that  God 
absolutely  decreed  the  good,  and  permissively  decreed  the  evil.  Other  times 
it  is  stated  thus  :  that  upon  the  principle  of  God's  knowing  all  things,  every 
thing  comes  to  pass  of  necessity.  With  this  sentiment,  most  commonly, 
is  connected  the  doctrine  of  particular  redemption  :  that  Jesus  Christ  un- 
dertook for  a  certain  number  of  Adam's  progeny,  and  for  them  alone  he 
died  ;  that  those  for  whom  he  died,  shall  be  called,  by  irresistible  grace,  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  Truth  and  be  saved  ;  that  if  one  of  these,  whom  he 
chose  and  redeemed,  should  miss  of  Heaven,  his  will  would  be  frustrated, 
and  his  blood  lost.  And  as  this,  at  first  view,  seems  to  excuse  the  non- 
elect  for  not  believing  in  the  Mediator,  it  is  sometimes  said  that  Jesus 
died  virtually  for  all,  but  intentionally  for  a  few.  Others,  who  disdain  such 
pitiful  shifts,  say,  that  the  want  of  the  faith  of  God's  elect,  is  no  sin  ;  that 
justice  cannot  require  a  man  to  have  a  more  divine  life  than  Adam  possesed 

*  What  is  here  said  of  the  church  of  England,  respects  them  before  the  late  Revolution. 
Since  the  independence  of  the  state,  a  great  number  of  those  who  still  prefer  Episcopacy, 
have  the  most  noble  ideas  of  religious  liberty,  and  are  as  far  from  vnsliing  to  oppress  those 
who  differ  with  them  in  judgment,  as  any  men  in  the  state.  Experience  proves,  that  while 
each  man  believes  what  he  chooses,  and  practises  as  he  pleases,  although  they  differ  widely 
in  sentiment,  yet  they  love  each  other  better,  than  they  do  when  they  are  all  obliged  to 
believe  and  worship  in  one  way.  The  only  way  to  live  in  peace  and  enjoy  ourselves  a& 
freemen,  is  to  think  and  speak  freely,  worship  as  we  please,  and  be  protected  by  law  in 
our  persons,  property  and  liberty. 


110  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

in  Eden ;  that  if  we,  as  rational  creatures,  do  not  believe  as  much  as  Adam 
could  have  believed  in  innocency,  when  revealed  to  us,  that  we  are  guilty 
of  the  sin  of  unbelief;  but  that  the  law  cannot  require  us  to  believe  in  a 
Mediator,  and  therefore,  the  want  of  that  faith  is  not  a  sin.  Those  who 
adhere  to  this  principle,  are  called,  Fatalists,  Predestinarians,  Calvanists, 
Supralapfarians,  etc. 

2d.  Free-Will.  Those  who  adopt  this  principle,  affirm  that  Ged  eter- 
nally  decreed  to  establish  the  freedom  of  the  human  will.  That  if  men 
are  necessary  agents,  the  very  idea  of  virtue  and  vice  is  destroyed  ;  that 
the  more  angels  and  men  are  exalted  in  their  creation,  in  the  state  of  free 
agency,  the  greater  was  the  probability  of  their  falling ;  that  sin  could  never 
have  entered  into  the  world,  upon  any  other  footing  ;  that  if  man  does  what 
he  cannot  avoid,  it  is  no  rebellion  in  the  creature  ;  that  God  never  offers 
violence  to  the  human  will,  in  the  process  of  grace  ;  that  Christ  has  fulfilled 
the  law,  which  all  were  under — bore  the  curse  for  all — spilt  his  blood  for 
all — makes  known  his  grace  to  all — gives  to  each  a  talent — bids  all  im- 
prove— and  finally,  that  if  men  are  damned,  it  will  not  be  for  the  want  of 
a  Saviour ;  but  for  refusing  to  obey  him,  damned  for  unbelief,  and  that 
those  who  are  damned  will  have  their  torment  augmented  for  refusing  an 
offered  Saviour.  Some,  who  adhere  to  this  doctrine,  believe  that  when  men 
are  once  born  again,  that  they  can  never  perish,  and  others  believe,  that  there 
is  no  state  so  secure,  in  this  world,  but  what  men  may  fall  from  it  into 
eternal  damnation.  The  advocates  for  the  above  sentiment,  are  called  Ar- 
minians,  Free-willers,  Universalists,  Provisionists,  etc. 

3d.  Restitution.  Those  who  espouse  this  sentiment,  declare  that  God 
eternally  designed  to  save  all  men ;  that  he  made  them  to  enjoy  him  for 
ever,  and  that  he  will  not  be  frustrated — that  Christ  died  for  all,  and  will 
not  lose  his  blood — that  if  more  souls  are  lost  than  saved,  Satan  will  have 
the  greatest  triumph,  and  sin  have  a  more  boundless  reign  than  grace — 
that  if  even  one  soul  should  be  miserable,  world  without  end,  the  sting  of 
death  and  the  victory  of  the  grave  would  never  be  destroyed — that  Jesus 
will  reign  till  all  his  foes,  even  the  last  enemy,  shall  be  rooted  up — that 
he  will  reconcile  all  things  unto  himself,  and  make  all  things  new — that 
every  creature  in  heaven,  in  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  shall  join  in  the 
celestial  doxology.  But  those  who  hold  this  doctrine  are  equally  per- 
plexed and  divided,  with  those  who  believe  the  two  before-mentioned 
principles. 

Some  of  them  extend  the  doctrine  to  fallen  angels,  others  confine  it  to 
the  human  race — some  believe  there  will  be  no  punishment  after  death, 
others  conclude  that  torment  will  be  infflicted  in  Hades,  upon  rebellious 
soub,  even  until  the  resurrection  of  the  body  ;  and  others  think  that  they 
will  not  all  be  restored,  till  the  expiration  of  several  periodical  eternities.. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  Ill 

Those  who  avow  this  doctrine,  are  called  Universalists,  Hell-Redemp- 
tioners,  &c. 

Whether  it  is  a  blessing  or  a  curse  to  mankind,  it  is  a  certain  truth, 
that  the  theoretic  principles  of  men,  have  but  little  effect  upon  their  lives. 
I  know  men  of  all  the  before- written  doctrines  that  equally  seem  to  strive 
to  glorify  God,  in  the  way  which  they  conceive  will  do  it  the  most  effec- 
tually. It  is  no  novelty  in  the  world,  for  men  of  different  sentiments,  to 
stigmatize  the  doctrines  of  each  other,  with  being  pregnant  with  danger- 
ous  consequences  ;  but  it  is  not  the  doctrine  or  system  that  a  man  be- 
lieves, that  makes  him  either  a  good  or  bad  man,  but  the  spirit  he  is  gov- 
erned  by.  It  is  a  saying  among  lovers,  that  "love  will  triumph  over  rea- 
son," and  it  is  as  true,  that  the  disposition  of  the  heart  will  prevail  over 
the  system  of  the  head. 

The  third  principle,  mentioned  above,  has  few,  if  any,  vouchers  among 
the  Baptists  in  Virginia ;  but  the  two  first  spoken  of,  divide  counties, 
churches  and  families,  which,  about  the  year  1775,  raised  a  great  dis- 
pute in  Virginia,  and  finally  split  the  Separate  Baptists,  which  division 
continued  several  years  j  but,  after  both  parties  had  contested  till  their 
courage  grew  cool,  they  ceased  their  hostilities,  grounded  their  arms,  and 
formed  a  compromise  upon  the  middle  ground,  of  "  think  and  let  think  ;" 
and  ceded  to  each  other  its  territory  and  liberty. 

I  am  acquainted  with  men  of  all  these  principles,  who  are  equally  as- 
sured they  are  right.  No  doubt  they  are  right  in  their  own  conceits,  and 
they  may  be  all  right  in  their  aims  ;  but  I  am  assured  they  are  not  all  right 
in  their  systems  ;  and  far  enough  from  being  right,  when  they  bitterly  con- 
demn each  other. 

OF   MARRIAGE. 

It  is  a  question,  not  easily  answered,  whether  marriage  was  appointed 
by  the  Divine  Parent,  merely  for  the  propagation  of  the  human  species,  or 
for  the  education  of  children.  Whether  one  or  the  other,  or  both  were 
reasons  of  the  institution,  it  certainly  was  appointed  by  God,  honored  by 
Jesus,  and  declared  to  be  honorable  unto  all  by  St.  Paul.  What  lies  be- 
fore me  at  present,  is  to  consider  the  mode  of  marriage,  in  Virginia,  before 
the  late  revolution,  and  the  alterations  that  have  since  taken  place. 

Under  the  regal  government,  the  rites  of  matrimony  were  solemnized 
two  ways.  The  first,  and  most  reputable  way,  was  this  :  From  the  clerk's 
office,  in  the  county  where  the  bride  lived,  a  license  was  issued  to  the 
bridegroom,  which  cost  twenty  shillings,  which  was  a  perquisite  of  the 
governor  ;  and  fifty  pounds  of  tobacco  for  the  fee  of  the  clerk,  which 
raised  the  price  to  a  guinea.  This  license  was  delivered  to  the  clergyman 
on  the  wedding  day,  for  his  security ;  and  for  solemnizing  the  rites,  he 
was  entitled  to  twenty  shillings.     This  way  of  getting  wives,  was  too  ex- 


112  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

pensive  for  the  poor,  and,  therefore,  another  mode  was  prescribed  by  law, 
as  an  alternative.  The  clergyman  published  the  banns  of  marriage  on 
three  holy  days,  for  which  he  was  entitled  to  eighteen  pence,  and  for  join- 
ing such  couples  together  he  was  entitled  to  five  shillings.  The  Presby- 
terian ministers  sometimes  solemnized  the  rites ;  but  if  it  was  by  a  li- 
cense, the  parish  preacher  claimed  and  recovered  his  fee,  as  though  he 
had  solemnized  the  rites  himself.  After  the  declaration  of  independence, 
in  1780,  an  act  passed  the  general  assembly  to  authorise  as  many  as  four 
ministers  in  each  county,  of  each  denomination,  to  solemnize  the  rites ; 
but  the  act  was  so  partial  that  some  would  not  qualify,  others  took  what 
indulgence  the  act  gave,  and  still  petitioned  for  equal  liberty.  The  Epis- 
copal clergymen  were  allowed  to  join  people  together  in  any  part  of  the 
state,  while  others  were  circumscribed  by  county  bounds.  In  1784,  this 
partiality  was  removed,  and  all  ministers  were  set  on  a  level.  By  pre- 
senting credentials  of  their  ordination,  and  a  recommendation  of  their 
good  character  in  the  society  where  they  are  members,  and  also  giving 
bond  and  security  to  the  court  of  the  county  where  they  reside,  they  re- 
ceive testimonials,  signed  by  the  senior  magistrate,  to  join  together  any 
persons  who  legally  apply  in  any  part  of  the  state.  Publication  is  now 
abolished.  From  the  county  in  whichh  the  bride  resides,  a  license  is  is- 
sued out  of  the  clerk's  office,  which  costs  the  groom  fifteen  pence  ;  this 
license  is  given  to  the  preacher,  for  his  security  ;  and  for  joining  them  to- 
gether, he  is  entitled  to  five  shillings.  The  preacher  is  under  bonds  to 
certify  the  clerk,  from  whom  the  license  came,  of  the  solemnization  ;  and 
the  clerk,  for  registering  the  certificate,  is  entitled  to  fifteen  pence  more  : 
so  that  it  costs  but  seven  shillings  and  six  pence  to  get  a  wife  in  these 
days. 

THE   DECLENSION    AMONG   THE    BAPTISTS. 

A  REVIEW  of  head  eleven,  informs  us  what  persecution  the  Baptist 
preachers  were  subject  to,  which  continued  in  some  counties  until  the  rev- 
olution. Upon  the  declaration  of  independence,  and  the  establishment  of 
a  republican  form  of  government,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the 
Baptists  so  heartily  and  uniformly  engaged  in  the  cause  of  the  country 
against  the  king.  The  change  suited  their  political  principles,  promised 
religious  liberty,  and  a  freedom  from  ministerial  tax  ;  nor  have  they  been 
disappointed  in  their  expectations.  In  1776,  the  salaries  of  the  Episcopal 
clergymen  were  suspended,  which  was  so  confirmed  in  1779,  that  no  legal 
force  has  ever  been  used  since  to  support  any  preachers  in  the  state. 
But  as  they  gained  this  piece  of  freedom,  so  the  cares  of  war,  the  spirit 
of  trade,  and  moving  to  the  western  waters,  seemed  to  bring  on  a  general 
declension.  The  ways  of  Zion  mourned.  They  obtained  their  hearts' 
desire,  (freedom,)  but  had  leanness  in  their  souls.  Some  of  the  old  watch- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  113 

men  stumbled  and  fell,  iniquity  did  abound,  and  the  love  of  many  waxed 
cold.  But  the  declension  was  not  so  total,  but  what  God  showed  himself 
gracious  in  some  places ;  his  blessings,  like  small  showers  in  the  drought 
of  summer,  were  scattered  abroad.  Delegates  from  the  churches  assem- 
bled in  association  once  or  twice  in  each  year ;  but  so  much  of  the  time 
was  taken  up  in  confiding  what  means  had  best  be  used  to  obtain  and 
preserve  equal  liberty  with  other  societies,  that  many  of  the  churches 
were  discouraged  in  sending  delegates.  Many  of  the  ministers  removed 
from  their  churches,  to  Kentucky,  and  left  their  scattered  flocks,  like  a 
cottage  in  the  vineyard,  like  a  lodge  in  a  garden  of  cucumbers.  In  this 
point  of  view  was  the  Baptist  Society  in  Virginia,  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
and  the  return  of  auspicious  peace. 

October,  1783,  was  the  last  General  Association  the  Separate  Baptists 
ever  had.  They  divided  into  four  or  five  districts  ;  but  to  maintain  a  friendly 
correspondence,  and  be  helpers  to  each  other,  in  a  political  way,  they  es- 
tablished a  General  Committee,  to  be  composed  of  delegates  sent  from  each 
distinct  Association,  to  meet  annually.  Not  more  than  four  delegates  from 
one  Association  are  entitled  to  seats.  This  committee  give  their  opinion 
on  all  queries  sent  to  them  from  any  of  the  Associations,  originate  all  pe- 
titions to  be  laid  before  the  legislature  of  the  state,  and  consider  the  good 
of  the  whole  society.  It  may  be  here  noted,  that  the  General  Committee, 
as  well  as  the  Associations,  exercise  no  lordship  over  the  churches — all 
they  attempt  is  advice,  which  is  generally  received  by  the  churches  in  a 
cordial  manner.  Should  they  attempt  any  thing  more,  without  legal  author- 
ity, they  would  appear  ridiculous ;  and  with  legal  authority,  they  would 
grow  tyrannical.  Of  this  Committee,  the  regular  Baptist  Association  be- 
came a  member. 

In  1784,  the  Episcopal  society  was  legally  incorporated,  and  such  oxer- 
tions  were  made  for  a  general  assessment,  to  oblige  all  the  citizens  in  the 
state  to  pay  some  preacher,  that  a  bill  for  that  purpose  passed  two  readings ; 
but  the  final  determination  of  the  bill  was  postponed  until  November,  1785; 
when  the  time  came,  the  Presbyterians,  Baptists,  Quakers,  Methodists,* 
Deists,  and  covetous,  made  such  an  effort  against  the  bill,  that  it  fell  through. 
In  1786,  the  act,  incorporating  the  Episcopal  society  was  repealed  ;  but  in 
1788,  their  trustees  were  legalized  to  manage  the  property,  which  is  the 
state  of  things  at  this  time. 

Several  attempts  were  made,  at  different  times,  to  unite  the  Regular  and 
Separate  Associations  together,  but  all  proved  in  vain,  until  August,  1787j 


*  Before  this,  the  Methodists  petitioned  for  a  continuation  of  the  established  religion 
of  the  state  ;  but  being  organized  a  distinct  church,  they  vigorously  opposed  the  assess- 
ment ;  and  at  the  same  time  petitioned  the  legislature  for  a  general  hberation  of  the 
slaves  Although  the  petition  was  rejected,  as  being  impracticable,  yet  it  shows  their 
resolution  to  bring  to  pass  a  noble  work. 

15 


114  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

when  they  united  upon  the  principle  of  receiving  the  confession  of  faith, 
before  mentioned,  as  containing  the  great  essential  doctrines  of  the  gospel, 
yet,  not  in  so  strict  a  sense,  that  all  are  obliged  to  believe  everything  therein 
contained.*  At  the  same  time,  it  was  agreed,  that  the  appellations,  Reg- 
ular and  Separate,  should  be  buried  in  oblivion,  and  that  in  future  they 
should  be  called  "  the  United  Baptist  Churches  of  Christ  in  Virginia." 

THE    GREAT   WORK. 

The  firet  part  of  the  last  head  gives  an  account  of  the  declension  of  re- 
ligion'among  the  Baptists,  which  continued  until  1785.  In  the  summer  of 
that  year,  the  glorious  work  of  God  broke  out,  on  the  banks  of  James  River, 
and  from  thence  has  spread  almost  over  the  state.  In  treating  of  this 
great  revival,  I  shall  not  write  as  a  divine,  a  philosopher,  or  an  opposer, 
but  solely  as  an  historian. 

In  the  greatest  part  of  the  meetings,  when  religion  is  low  among  the  peo- 
ple, there  is  no  unusual  appearance  among  them  ;  a  grave  countenance,  a 
solemn  sigh,  or  a  silent  tear,  is  as  much  as  is  seen  or  heard,  and  sometimes 
a  great  degree  of  inattention  and  carelessness :  but  in  times  of  reviving 
it  is  quite  otherwise,  in  most  places.  It  is  nothing  strange,  to  see  a  great 
part  of  the  congregation  fall  prostrate  upon  the  floor  or  ground  ;  many  of 
whom,  entirely  loose  the  use  of  their  limbs  for  a  season.  Sometimes  num- 
bers of  them  are  crying  out  at  once,  some  of  them,  in  great  distress,  using 
such  language  as  this  :  "  God,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner — Lord,  save  me 

*  A  union  seemed  so  necessary  and  desirable,  that  those  who  were  somewhat  scrupulous 
of  a  confession  of  faith,  other  than  the  Bible,  were  willing  to  sacrifice  their  peculiarities, 
and  those  who  were  strenuous  for  the  confession  of  faith,  agreed  to  a  partial  reception  of 
it,  "  United  we  stand,  divided  we  fall,"  overcome,  at  that  time,  all  objections ;  but  had 
they  \inited  without  any  confession  of  faith,  as  they  did  in  Georgia,  perhaps  it  would  have 
been  better.  In  kingdoms  and  states,  where  a  system  of  religion  is  established  by  law, 
with  the  indulgence  of  toleration  to  non-conformists  of  restricted  sentiments,  it  becomes 
necessary  for  such  non-conformists  to  publish  a  confession  of  their  faith,  to  convince  the 
rulers  that  they  do  not  exceed  the  bounds  of  toleration  ;  but  in  a  government  like  that  of 
Virginia,  where  all  men  believe  and  worship  as  they  please — where  the  only  punishment 
inflicted  on  the  cnthusiastical,  is  pity — what  need  of  a  confession  of  faith?  Why  this  Vir- 
gin Mary  between  the  souls  of  men  and  the  scriptures?  Had  a  system  of  religion  been 
essei^tial.tQ  salvation,  or  even  to  the  happiness  of  the  saints,  would  not  Jesus,  who  was 
faithful  in  all  his  house,  have  left  us  one  ?  If  he  has,  it  is  accessible  to  all.  If  he  has  not, 
why  should  a  man  be  called  a  heretick  because  he  cannot  believe  what  he  cannot  believe, 
though  he  believes  the  Bible  with  all  his  heart  ?  Confessions  of  faith  often  check  any  fur- 
ther pursuit  after  truth,  confine  the  mind  into  a  particular  way  of  reasoning,  and  give  rise 
to  frequent  separations.  To  plead  for  their  utility,  because  they  have  been  common,  is  as 
good  sense,  aa  to  plead  for  a  state  establishment  of  religion,  for  the  same  reason  ;  and  both 
are  as  bad  reasoning,  as  to  plead  for  sin,  because  it  is  everywhere.  It  is  sometimes  said 
that  hereticks  are  always  averse  to  confessions  of  faith.  I  wish  I  could  say  as  much  of 
tyrants.  But  after  all,  if  a  confession  of  faith,  upon  the  whole,  may  be  advantageous,  the 
greatest  care  shoidd  be  taken  not  to  sacradize,  or  make  a  petty  Bible  of  it. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  115 

or  I  must  perish — what  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  etc.  Others  breaking 
out  in  such  rapturous  expressions  as  these  :  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul ! 
0,  sweet  Jesus,  how  I  love  thee  !— Let  everything  that  hath  breath  praise 
the  Lord  ! — O,  sinners !  come,  taste  and  see  how  good  the  Lord  is  !"  etc. 

I  have  seen  such  exercise,  and  heard  such  melody  for  several  hours  to- 
gether.  At  Associations,  and  great  meetings,  I  have  seen  numbers  of 
ministers  and  exhorters,  improving  their  gifts  at  the  same  time.  Such  a 
heavenly  confusion  among  the  preachers,  and  such  a  celestial  discord 
among  the  people,  destroy  all  articulation,  so  that  the  understanding  is  not 
edified ;  but  the  awful  echo,  sounding  in  the  ears,  and  the  objects  in  great 
distress,  and  great  raptures  before  the  eyes,  raise  great  emotion  in  the 
heart.  Some  of  the  ministers  rather  oppose  this  work,  others  call  it  a  little 
in  question,  and  some  fan  it  with  all  their  might.  Whether  it  be  celestial 
or  terrestial,  or  a  complication  of  both,  it  is  observed  by  the  candid  that 
more  souls  get  first  awakened  at  such  meetings,  than  at  any  meetings 
whatever,  who  afterwards  give  clear,  rational  accounts  of  a  divine  change 
of  heart.  This  exercise  is  not  confined  to  the  newly  convicted,  and  newly 
converted,  but  persons  who  have  been  professors  a  number  of  years,  at 
such  lively  meetings,  not  only  jump  up,  strike  their  hands  together,  and 
shout  aloud,  but  will  embrace  ohe  another,  and  fall  to  the  floor.  I  have 
never  known  the  rules  of  decency  broken  so  far  as  for  persons  of  different 
sexes,  thus  to  embrace  and  fall  at  meetings.  It  is  not  to  be  understood 
that  this  exercise  is  seen  in  all  parts  of  the  slate,  at  times  when  God  is 
working  on  the  minds  of  the  people.  No,  under  the  preaching  of  the  same 
man,  in  different  neighborhoods  and  counties,  the  same  work,  in  substance, 
has  different  exterior  effects. 

At  such  times  of  revival,  it  is  wonderful  to  hear  the  sweet  singing  among 
the  people,  when  they  make  melody  in  their  hearts  and  voices  to  the  Lord. 
In  the  last  great  ingathering,  in  some  places,  singing  was  more  blessed 
among  the  people  than  the  preaching  was.  What  Mr.  Jonathan  Edwards 
thought  might  be  expedient  in  some  future  day,  has  been  true  in  Virginia. 
Bands  go  singing  to  meeting,  and  singing  home.  At  meeting,  as  soon  as 
preaching  is  over,  it  is  common  to  sing  a  number  of  spiritual  songs  j  some- 
times several  songs  are  sounding  at  the  same  time,  in  different  parts  of  the 
congregation.  I  have  travelled  through  neighborhoods  and  counties  at 
times  of  refreshing,  and  the  spiritual  songs  in  the  fields,  in  the  shops  and 
houses,  have  made  the  heavens  ring  with  melody  over  my  head ;  but,  as 
soon  as  the  work  is  over,  there  is  no  more  of  it  heard.  Dr.  Watts  is  the 
general  standard  for  the  Baptists  in  Virginia ;  but  they  are  not  confined 
to  him  ;  any  spiritual  composition  answers  their  purpose.  A  number  of 
hymns  originate  in  Virginia,  although  there  is  no  established  poet  in  the 
state.  Some  Virginia  songs  have  more  divinity  in  them,  than  poetry  or 
grammar  ;  and  some  that  I  have  heard  have  but  little  of  eithef.    '     '., 


116 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


Candidates  generally  make  confession  of  their  faith  before  the  whole 
assembly  present ;  but,  sometimes  there  are  so  many  to  offer,  that  the 
church  divides  into  several  bodies,  each  of  which  acts  for  the  whole,  and 
receives  by  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  At  times  appointed  for  baptism, 
the  people  generally  go  singing  to  the  water-side,  in  grand  procession  :  I 
have  heard  many  souls  declare  they  first  were  convicted,  or  first  found 
pardon  going  to,  at,  or  coming  from  the  water.  If  those  who  practice  in- 
fant baptism  can  say  ag  much,  it  is  no  wonder  they  are  so  fond  of  it. 
Forty,  fifty,  and  sixty  have  often  been  baptized  in  a  day,  at  one  place,  in 
Virginia,  and  sometimes  as  many  as  seventy.five.  There  are  some  min- 
isters now  living  in  Virginia,  who  have  baptized  more  than  two  thousand 
persons.  It  is  said  that  St.  Austin  baptized  ten  thousand  in  the  dead  of 
winter,  in  the  river  Swale,  in  England,  in  the  year  59.5.  I  have  seen  ice 
cut  more  than  a  foot  thick,  and  people  baptized  in  the  water,  and  yet  I  have 
never  heard  of  any  person  taking  cold,  or  any  kind  of  sickness,  in  so  doing. 
And  strange  it  is  that  Mr.  Wesley  should  recommend  cold  bathing  ibr  such 
a  vast  number  of  disorders,  and  yet  be  so  backward  to  administer  it  for 
the  best  purpose,  viz.,  to  fulfil  righteousness. 

THE   NUMBER    OF    BAPTISTS. 

There  are  in  Virginia,  at  this  time,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  or- 
dained preachers  of  the  Baptist  denomination,  and  a  number  besides  who 
exercise  a  public  gift ;  but  in  the  late  great  additions  that  have  been  made 
to  the  churches,  there  are  but  few  who  have  engaged  in  the  work  of  the 
ministry.  Whether  it  is  because  the  old  preachers  stand  in  the  way,  or 
whether  it  is  because  the  people  do  not.  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to 
thrust  out  laborers,  or  whether  it  is  not  rather  a  judgment  of  God  upon  the 
people,  for  neglecting  those  who  are  already  in  the  work,  not  communi- 
eating  to  them  in  all  good  things,*  I  cannot  say;  but  so  it  is,  that  but  few 
appear  to  be  advancing,  to  supply  the  places  of  the  old  ones,  upon  their 
decease. 

There  are  also  about  two  hundred  and  two  churches.  The  exact  num. 
ber  of  members  I  cannot  ascertain.  Between  Potomac  and  James  rivers, 
are  nine  thousand  ;  and  as  there  is  about  the  same  number  of  preachers 
and  churches,  between  James  river  and  North  Carolina,  together  with 
some  good  account,  I  judge  there  are  as  many  as  nine  thousand  south  of 
James  river.  Upon  the  western  waters,  in  Kentucky,  there  are  thirty-one 
churches,  divided  into  three  Assaciations.  In  one  of  tTiem,  there  were 
one  thousand  members,  May,  1789.  In  another,  there  is  about  the  same 
number;  but,  lest  I  should  swell  my  numbers  too  high,  I  will  add  the  little 

*  Gospel  preachers  are  generally  like  the  ass  seen  by  Agelastus,  loaded  with  figs,  and 
feeding  upon  thistles. 


ELDER   JOHN    LEhAfin.  117 

Association,  at  the  falls  of  Ohio,  containing  five  churches,  to  make  the 
round  number  of  two  thousand  in  Kentucky  ;  and,  as  there  are  a  few  Bap. 
tists  between  the  Alleghany  and  Kentucky,  I  conclude  the  sum  of  twenty 
thousand  is  a  moderate  estimate.  These  churches  are  classed  into  eleven 
Associations,  nine  of  which  correspond  in  the  General  Committee.  For 
the  ease  of  the  eye,  they  are  stated  in  the  following  table  : — 

1  General  Committee, 
11  Asssociations, 
202  Churches, 
150  Ministers,* 
20,000  Members. 
The  number  of  communicants  compose  but  a  small  part  of  those  who 
commonly  attend  Baptist  worship.     It  will  not  appear  extravagant,  to 
those  who  are  generally  acquainted  in  the  state,  to  say  that,  taking  one 
part  of  the  state  with  another,  there  are  more  people  who  attend  the  Bap- 
tist worship,  than  any  kind  of  worship  in  the  state. 

OF    DRESS. 

Upon  the  first  rise  of  the  Baptists  in  Virginia,  they  were  very  strict  in 
their  dress.  Men  cut  off  their  hair,  like  Cromwell's  round-headed  chap- 
lains,  and  women  cast  away  all  their  superfluities  ;  so  that  they  were  dis- 
tinguished from  others,  merely  by  their  decoration.  Where  all  were  of 
one  mind,  no  evil  ensued  j  but  where  some  did  not  choose  to  dock  and 
strip,  and  churches  made  it  a  matter  of  discipline,  it  made  great  confusion  j 
for  no  standard  could  be  found  in  the  Bible,  to  measure  their  garments  by. 
No  doubt,  dressing,  as  well  as  eating  and  drinking,  can  be  carried  to  ex- 
cess ;  but  it  appears  to  be  a  matter  between  God  and  individuals ;  for, 
whenever  churches  take  it  up,  the  last  evil  is  worse  than  the  first.  This 
principle  prevailed  until  the  war  broke  out,  at  which  time  the  Baptist  mode 
took  the  lead.  Those  who  went  into  the  army,  cut  off  their  hair,  and 
those  who  stayed  at  home,  were  obliged  to  dress  in  home-spun.  Since 
the  return  of  peace,  and  the  opening  of  the  ports,  the  uniformity  between 
the  Baptists  and  others,  in  point  of  clothing,  still  exists ;  notwithstanding 
the  great  work  of  conversion  there  has  been  in  the  state,  but  very  little  is 
said  about  rending  garments ;  those  who  behave  well,  wear  what  they 
please,  and  meet  with  no  reproof. 

THE    EXCESS   OF   CIVIL   POWER    EXPLODED. 

The  principle,  that  civil  rulers  have  nothing  to  do  with  religion  in  their 

*  In  England,  are  two  arch-bishops,  and  twenty-six  bishops.  In  Ireland,  are  four 
arch-bishops,  and  nineteen  bishops.  In  Scotland,  one  general  assembly,  thirteen  provin- 
cial synods,  and  sixty-eight  presbyteries. 


118 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


official  capacities,  is  as  much  interwoven  in  the  Baptist  plan,  as  Phydias's 
name  was  in  the  shield.  The  legitimate  powers  of  government  extend 
only  to  punish  men  for  working  ill  to  their  neighbors,  and  no  way  affect 
the  rights  of  conscience.  The  nation  of  Israel  received  their  civil  and  re- 
ligious laws  from  Jehovah,  which  were  binding  on  them,  and  no  other; 
and  with  the  extirpation  of  that  nation,  were  abolished.  For  a  Christian 
commonwealth  to  be  established  upon  the  same  claim,  is  very  presumptu- 
ous, without  they  have  the  same  charter  from  Heaven.  Because  the  na- 
tion of  Israel  had  a  divine  grant  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  orders  to  en- 
slave the  heathen,  some  suppose  Christians  have  an  equal  right  to  take 
away  the  land  of  the  Indians,  and  make  slaves  of  the  negroes.  Wretched 
religion,  that  pleads  for  cruelty  and  injustice.  In  this  point  of  view,  the 
Pope  offered  England  to  the  king  of  Spain,  provided  he  would  conquer  it; 
after  England  became  Protestant,  and  in  the  same  view  of  things,  on  May 
4,  1493,  the  year  after  America  was  discovered,  he  proposed  to  give  away 
the  heathen  lands  to  his  Christian  subjects.  If  Christian  nations,  were 
nations  of  Christians,  these  things  would  not  be  so.  The  very  tendency 
of  religious  establishments  by  human  law,  is  to  make  some  hypocrites,  and 
the  rest  fools ;  they  are  calculated  to  destroy  those  very  virtues  that  reli- 
gion is  designed  to  build  up  ;  to  encourage  fraud  and  violence  over  the 
earth.  It  is  error  alone,  that  stands  in  need  of  government  to  support  it; 
truth  can  and  will  do  better  without :  so  ignorance  calls  in  anger  in  a  de- 
bate, good  sense  scorns  it.  Religion,  in  its  purest  ages,  made  its  way  in 
the  world,  not  only  without  the  aid  of  the  law,  but  against  all  the  laws  of 
haughty  monarchs,  and  all  the  maxims  of  the  schools.  The  pretended 
friendship  of  legal  protection,  and  learned  assistance,  proves  often  in  the 
end  like  the  friendship  of  Joab  to  Amasa. 

Government  should  protect  every  man  in  thinking  and  speaking  freely, 
and  see  that  one  does  not  abuse  another.  The  liberty  I  contend  for,  is 
more  than  toleration.  The  very  idea  of  toleration,  is  despicable  ;  it  sup- 
poses  that  some  have  a  pre-eminence  above  the  rest,  to  grant  indulgence ; 
whereas,  all  should  be  equally  free,  Jews,  Turks,  Pagans  and  Christians. 
Test  oaths,  and  established  creeds,  should  be  avoided  as  the  worst  of  evils. 
A  general  assessment,  (forcing  all  to  pay  some  preacher,)  amounts  to  an 
establishment;  if  government  says  I  must  pay  somebody,  it  must  next  de- 
scribe that  somebody,  his  doctrine  and  place  of  abode.  That  moment  a 
minister  is  so  fixed  as  to  receive  a  stipend  by  legal  force,  that  moment  he 
ceases  to  be  a  gospel  ambassador,  and  becomes  a  minister  of  state.  This 
emolument  is  a  temptation  too  great  for  avaricious  men  to  withstand.  This 
doctrine  turns  the  gospel  into  merchandise,  and  sinks  religion  upon  a  level 
with  other  things. 

As  it  is  not  the  province  of  civil  government  to  establish  forms  of  reli- 
gion, and  force  a  maintenance  for  the  preachers,  so  it  does  not  belong  to 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  119 

that  power  to  establish  fixed  holy  days  for  diviiie  worship.  That  the  Jew- 
ish  seventh-day  Sabbath  was  of  divine  appointment,  is  unquestionable  ;  but 
that  the  Christian  first-day  Sabbath  is  of  equal  injunction,  is  nriore  doubt- 
ful. If  Jesus  appointed  the  day  to  be  observed,  he  did  it  as  the  head  of 
the  church,  and  not  as  the  king  of  nations  ;  or  if  the  apostles  enjoined  it, 
they  did  it  in  the  capacity  of  Christian  teachers,  and  not  as  human  legislators. 
As  the  appointment  of  such  days  is  no  part  of  human  legislation,  so  the 
breach  of  the  Sabbath  (so  called)  is  no  part  of  civil  jurisdiction.  I  am  not 
an  enemy  to  holy  days,  (the  duties  of  religion  cannot  well  be  performed 
without  fixed  times,)  but  these  times  should  be  fixed  by  the  mutual  agree- 
ment  of  religious  societies,  according  to  the  word  of  God,  and  not  by  civil 
authority.  I  see  no  clause  in  the  federal  constitution,  or  the  constitution 
of  Virginia,  to  empower  either  the  federal  or  Virginia  legislature  to  make 
any  Sabbathical  laws. 

Under  this  "head,  I  shall  also  take  notice  of  one  thing,  which  appears 
to  me  unconstitutional,  inconsistent  with  religious  liberty,  and  unnecessary 
in  itself;  I  mean  the  paying  of  the  chaplains  of  the  civil  and  military  de- 
partments out  of  the  public  treasury .  The  king  of  Great  Britain  has  an- 
nually forty-eight  chaplains  in  ordinary,  besides  a  number  extraordinary ; 
his  army  also  abounds  with  chaplains.  This,  I  confess,  is  consistent  with 
the  British  form  of  government,  where  religion  is  a  principle,  and  the 
church  a  creature  of  the  state ;  but  why  should  these  plans  of  proud,  cov- 
etous priests,  ever  be  adopted  in  America  ?  If  legislatures  choose  to  have 
a  chaplain,  for  Heaven's  sake,  let  them  pay  him  by  contributions,  and  not 
out  of  the  public  chest.  In  some  of  the  states,  a  part  of  each  day,  during 
the  session  of  assembly,  is  taken  up  in  attending  prayers  ;  and  they  may 
well  afford  it,  for  they  are  paid  for  the  time  ;  but  whether  they  would  pray 
as  long,  if  they  were  not  under  pay,  is  a  question  ;  and  whether  the  chap- 
lain would  pray  as  long  for  them,  if  the  puplic  chest  was  like  Osiron's 
purse,  is  another, 

For  chaplains  to  go  into  the  army,  is  about  as  good  economy  as  it  was 
for  Israel  to  carry  the  ark  of  God  to  battle  :  instead  of  reclaiming  the  peo- 
ple, they  generally  are  corrupted  themselves,  as  the  ark  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Philistines.*  The  words  of  David  are  applicable  here  :  "  Carry 
back  the  ark  into  the  city."  But  what  I  aim  chiefly  at,  is  paying  of  them 
by  law.  The  very  language  of  the  proceeding  is  this  :  '•  If  you  will  pay 
me  well  for  preaching  and  praying,  I  will  do  them,  otherwise  I  will  not." 
Such  golden  sermons  and  silver  prayers  are  of  no  great  value. 

*  A  sheriff  being  sent  to  bring  a  Tartar  to  court,  was  a  long  time  detained  ;  when  so- 
licited to  make  his  return,  he  replied,  "  the  Tartar  will  not  come."  Come  without  him 
then,  said  the  judge.     "  Yee  sir,"  said  the  sheriff;  "  but  the  Tartar  will  not  let  me." 


120  TUE    WRITINGS    OF 

WASHING   OF    FEET   AND    DRY   CHRISTENING. 

Washing  of  feet  is  practised  by  some  of  the  Baptists,  disused  by  others, 
and  rejected  by  the  third  class,  which  breaks  no  friendship  among  them, 
each  one  acting  according  to  his  persuasion.  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
supper,  are  neither  of  them  used  for  the  good  of  the  body  ;  but  the  first  is 
significant,  and  the  last  commemorative.  The  question  is,  whether  wash- 
ing of  feet  is  to  be  performed  for  the  good  of  the  body,  or  as  a  sacred  rite  ? 
If  for  the  good  of  the  body,  it  should  be  done  when,  and  only  when,  the 
feet  are  sore  and  filthy ;  but  if  as  a  sacred  rite,  people  should  do  as  they 
now  do,  viz.,  wash  their  feet  clean  before  they  meet  together  for  the  pur- 
pose of  washing  feet.  A  person  being  taken  upon  surprise  at  a  washing 
feet  meeting,  made  this  confession  :  "  If  I  had  known  that  you  would  have 
washed  feet  to-night,  I  would  have  washed  mine  clean  before  I  came  from 
home." 

Some  of  the  preachers  practice  what  is  satirically  called  dry  chrisleningf 
and  others  do  not.  The  thing  referred  to  is  this  :  when  a  woman  is  safely 
delivered  in  child-bearing,  and  raised  to  health  enough  to  go  to  meeting, 
she  brings  her  child  to  the  minister,  who  either  takes  it  in  his  arms,  or 
puts  his  hands  upon  it,  and  thanks  God  for  his  mercy,  and  invokes  a  bless- 
ing on  the  child  ;  at  which  time  the  child  is  named. 

The  Baptists  believe  that  those  who  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  it: 
that  a  preacher  is  as  much  entitled  to  a  reward  for  his  labor,  as  the  reaper 
in  the  field  is  to  his  hire.  It  is  a  gross  innovation  from  truth,  to  view  the 
wages  of  a  minister  in  the  light  of  alms.  That  religion  that  opens  the 
heart,  unties  the  purse-strings.  When  souls  are  caught  in  the  net  of  the 
gospel  (like  the  fish  that  Peter  caught)  they  have  a  piece  of  money  in  their 
mouths.  If  people  will  not  give  the  preacher  his  due,  they  and  their  money 
must  perish  together. 

Finally,  the  Baptists  hold  it  their  duty  to  obey  magistrates,  to  be  subject 
to  the  law  of  the  land,  to  pay  their  taxes,  and  pray  for  all  in  authority. 
They  are  not  scrupulous  of  taking  an  oath  of  God  upon  them  to  testify  the 
truth  before  a  magistrate  or  court ;  but  reject  profane  swearing.  Their 
religion  also  allows  them  to  bear  arms  in  defence  of  their  life,  liberty  and 
property,  and  also  to  be  friendly  to  those  who  differ  with  them  in  judgment, 
believing  a  cynick  to  be  as  bad  as  a  sycophant. 

THE   VIRGINIA    BAPTISTS    COMPARED   WITH    THE    GERMAN. 

From  this  account  of  the  Virginia  Baptists,  they  appear  to  be  a  very 
different  sect  from  the  German  Anabaptists.  The  grand  error  of  those 
rioters,  was  founding  both  dominion  and  property  in  grace  ;  which  is  the 
error  of  the  church  of  Rome,  and  the  church  of  England  unto  this  day ; 
and,  indeed,  the  error  of  all  established  churches  that  incapacitate  a  man 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  121 

from  holding  his  office  and  property,  without  he  will  submit  to  a  religious 
test.  The  confusion  in  Germany  was  not  of  the  religious  kind,  but  the 
struggles  of  the  people  to  get  clear  of  the  oppression  of  the  princes.  Their 
leader  taught  them,  that  if  they  would  acknowledge  their  mission,  they 
should  be  free  from  taxes,  rents,  and  subjection ;  the  prospect  of  which, 
drew  multitudes  of  them,  until,  like  the  followers  of  Theudas  and  Judas, 
they  were  all  dispersed.  If  the  German  fanatics  were  really  Baptists,  yet 
it  is  as  cruel  to  impute  their  errors,  by  wholesale,  to  the  Virginia  Baptists, 
as  it  would  be  to  impute  all  the  cruelty  of  the  church  of  Rome  to  those  so- 
cieties  in  Virginia  that  practise  infant  baptism.  I  have  two  histories  of 
the  German  insurgents  before  me,  one  of  which  appears  to  be  a  scorpid- 
ium,  written  with  the  head  of  an  asp,  dipped  in  gall,  the  other  is  more 
mild.  If  these  histories  may  be  depended  upon,  neither  Nicholas  Stork 
nor  Thomas  Muncer,  were  Anabaptists  ;  Mclchoir  Hoffiman  and  John  Bech- 
old,  were.  They  were  called  Anabaptists,  because  they  repeated  baptism ; 
but  they  did  not  dip  but  sprinkle,  so  that  the  whole  uproar  belongs  to  other 
societies,  and  not  to  the  Baptists.  A  late  author,  Rev.  Mr.  Pattilloe,  in 
giving  an  account  of  the  rise  of  other  societies,  says,  "  the  Baptists  made 
their  appearance  in  Germany,  soon  after  the  Reformation  began."  Has 
the  good  Mr.  Pattilloe  got  this  by  wrote,  hearing  of  it  so  often  ?  or  has  the 
judicious  pen  of  Mr.  Smith  helped  him  out  in  a  dead  lift  ?  or  can  the  gen- 
tleman demonstrate  his  assertion  and  implication  by  real  facts  1  Should 
I  affirm  that  the  Presbyterians  made  their  appearance  in  London,  in  the 
reign  of  James  I.,  on  the  fifth  of  November,  1605,  in  the  gun-powder 
plot,  it  might  perhaps  raise  the  bristles  of  his  meek  heart ;  and  this  I  might 
affirm  with  as  much  propriety,  as  he  could  affirm  what  he  has.  The  names 
Papist  and  Presbyterian,  are  as  much  alike  as  Baptist  and  Anabaptist,  and 
their  modes  of  baptism  far  more  uniform.  I  admire  Mr.  Pattilloe's  writing 
in  general;  I  was  a  subscriber  for  his  book,  and  think  my  dollar  well  ex- 
changed ;  but,  let  the  Rev.  gentleman  remember,  that  the  Baptists  can 
produce  sacred  proof  for  their  appearance  in  Judea,  about  fifteen  hundred 
years  before  those  tumults  in  Germany,  and  if  he  can  produce  more  anti- 
quated proof  of  the  Presbyterians,  then  let  him  triumph  ',  otherwise,  be 
peaceable,  as  becomes  him. 

SOME    REMARKS. 

A  retrospective  view  of  this  Chronicle,  informs  us  that  the  number  of 
religious  sects  in  Virginia,  is  seven,  viz.,  Episcopalians,  Quakers,  Presby- 
terians, Methodists,  Tunkers,  Mennonists,  and  Baptists.  There  are  a  few 
Jews,  but  they  have  no  synagogue,  nor  is  there  any  chapel  for  Papists.  If 
men  had  virtue  enough,  it  would  be  pleasing  to  see  all  of  one  mind  ;  but  in 
these  lethargic  days,  if  there  is  not  a  little  difference  among  men,  they  sink 
into  stupidity.     It  is  happy  for  Virginia,  in  a  political  point  of  vievv,  tha* 

16 


122  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

there  are  several  societies,  nearly  of  a  size  ;  should  one  attempt  to  oppress 
another,  all  the  rest  would  unite  to  prevent  it.  And  the  same  may  be  said 
of  the  United  States;  more  than  twenty  religious  societies  are  in  them, 
which  render  it  almost  impossible  for  one  order  to  oppress  all  the  others. 
This  is  a  greater  security  for  religious  liberty  than  all  that  can  be  written 
on  paper.  If  two  or  three  of  the  most  popular  societies  in  the  Union 
should  unite  together,  the  other  societies  would  have  cause  to  fear,  from 
the  consideration,  that  the  many  generally  oppress  X\\efew  ;  but  if  things 
in  future,  emerge  as  they  have  heretofore,  we  have  more  reason  to  be- 
lieve, that  the  present  societies  will  split  and  subdivide,  than  we  have  to 
believe,  that  parties,  now  at  variance,  will  ever  unite.  O,  Virginia!  O, 
America  ! — a  people  favored  of  the  Lord  ! — may  the  goodness  of  God  ex- 
cite our  obedience.  There  are  yet  remaining  some  vestiges  of  religious 
oppression,  but  they  are  chiefly  theoretical.  It  may  be  said,  that  in  sub- 
stance, the  different  societies  enjoy  equal  liberty  of  thinking,  speaking,  and 
worshipping,  and  equal  protection  by  law.  Perhaps  there  is  not  a  consti- 
tutional evil  in  the  states,  that  has  a  more  plausible  pretext,  than  the  pro- 
scription of  gospel  ministers ;  I  say  in  the  slates,  for  most  of  them  have 
proscribed  them  from  seats  of  legislation,  &c.  The  federal  government 
is  free  in  this  point :  to  have  one  branch  of  the  legislature  composed  of 
clergymen,  as  is  the  case  in  some  European  powers,  is  not  seemly — to  have 
them  entitled  to  seats  of  legislation,  on  account  of  their  ecclesiastical  dig- 
nity, like  the  bishops  in  England,  is  absurd.  But  to  declare  them  ineligi- 
ble, when  their  neighbors  prefer  them  to  any  others,  is  depriving  them 
of  the  liberty  of  free  citizens,  and  those  who  prefer  them,  the  freedom  of 
choice. 

If  the  office  of  a  preacher  were  lucrative,  there  would  be  some  propriety 
in  his  ineligibility ;  but  as  the  office  is  not  lucrative,  the  proscription  is  cruel. 
To  make  the  best  of  it,  it  is  but  doing  evil,  that  good  may  come  :  denying 
them  the  liberty  of  citizens,  lest  they  should  degrade  their  sacred  office. 
Things  should  be  so  fixed  in  government,  that  there  should  be  neither  de- 
grading  checks,  nor  alluring  baits  to  the  ministry  ;'but  as  the  proscription, 
mentioned  above,  is  a  check,  so  there  are  some  haiis,  in  the  states,  to  the 
sacred  work.  In  some  of  the  states,  the  property  of  preachers  is  free  from 
tax.  In  Virginia,  their  persons  are  exempt  from  bearing  arms.  Though 
this  is  an  indulgence  that  I  feci,  yet  it  is  not  consistent  with  my  theory  of 
politics.  It  may  be  further  observed,  that  an  exemption  from  bearing  arms, 
is,  but  a  legal  indulgence,  but  the  ineligibility  is  constitutional  proscription, 
and  no  legal  reward  is  sufficient  for  a  constitutional  prohibition.  Tiie  first 
may  be  altered  by  the  caprice  of  the  legislature,  the  last  cannot  be  exchan- 
ged, without  an  appeal  to  the  whole  mass  of  constituent  power. 

THE    RIGHTS    AND    BONDS    OF   CONSCIENCE. 

The  subject  of  religious  liberty,  has  been  so  canvassed  for  fourteen  years, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  123 

and  has  so  far  prevailed,  that  in  Virginia,  a  politician  can  no  more  be  pop. 
ular,  without  the  possession  of  it,  than  a  preacher  who  denies  the  doctrine 
of  the  new  birth ;  yet  many,  who  make  this  profession,  behave  in  their 
families,  as  if  they  did  not  believe  what  they  profess.  For  a  man  to  con- 
tend for  religious  liberty  on  the  court-house  green,  and  deny  his  wife,  chil- 
dren and  servants,  the  liberty  of  conscience  at  home,  is  a  paradox  not  easily 
reconciled.  If  a  head  of  a  family  could  answer  for  all  his  house  in  the 
day  of  judgment,  there  would  be  a  degree  of  justice  in  his  controlling  them 
in  the  mode  of  worship,  and  joining  society;  but  answer  for  them  he  can- 
not ;  each  one  must  give  an  account  of  himself  to  God,  and  none  but  cruel 
tyrants  will  prevent  their  wives,  children  or  servants,  either  directly  or 
indirectly,  from  worshipping  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  con- 
sciences, and  joining  the  society  they  choose  ;  for  as  religion  does  not  de- 
stroy either  civil  or  domestic  government,  so  neither  of  them  extend  their 
rightful  influence  into  the  empire  of  conscience. 

The  rights  of  conscience  are  so  sacred,  that  no  mortal  can  justly  cir- 
cumscribe  them,  and  yet  the  conscience  is  so  defiled  by  sin,  as  well  as  the 
other  powers  of  the  soul,  that  it  may  lead  men  into  error.  The  word  con- 
science, signifies  comvion  science  ;  a  court  of  judicature,  erected  by  God 
in  every  human  breast :  and,  as  courts  of  justice  often  give  wrong  judg- 
ment, for  want  of  good  information,  so  it  happens  with  conscience.  The 
author  of  our  religion  said,  "  the  time  will  come,  when  he  that  killeth  you> 
will  think  that  he  doeth  God  service."  And  Paul  verily  thought  that  he 
ought  to  do  many  things  against  the  Lord  Jesus.  So  that  conscience  is 
not  the  rule  of  life,  but  the  word  of  God.  Though  conscience  should  be 
free  from  human  control,  yet  it  should  be  in  strict  subordination  to  the  law 
of  God. 

THOUGHTS   ON    SYSTEMS. 

That  devil,  who  transforms  himself  into  an  angel  of  light,  is  often  preach- 
ing from  these  words ;  "  contend  earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to 
the  saints."  Whenever  men  are  self-conceited  enough  to  believe  them- 
selves  infallible  in  judgment,  and  take  their  own  opinions  for  tests  of  ortho- 
doxy, they  conclude  they  are  doing  God  service,  in  vindicating  his  truth ; 
while  they  are  only  contending  for  their  particular  tenets.  By  this  gross 
mistake,  the  Christian  world  is  filled  with  polemical  divinity.  I  very  much 
question,  whether  there  was  ever  more  sophistry  used  among  the  old  phi- 
losophers, than  there  has  been  among  divines.  I  never  saw  a  defence  of 
a  religious  system,  but  what  a  great  part  of  it  was  designed  to  explain 
away  the  apparent  meaning  of  plain  texts  of  scripture.  System  writers 
generally  adopt  a  few  principles,  which,  they  say,  are  certain  truths,  and 
all  reasoning  against  those  principles  they  strive  to  make  sophistry,  and 
all  texts  that  seem  to  withstand  their  scheme,  they  endeavor  to  explain 


124  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

away  ;  sometimes  by  mending  the  translation  of  the  Bible.  I  have  never 
yet  known  an  instance  of  a  man's  altering  the  translation  of  a  text  that 
expressed  his  own  sentiment,  as  it  is  translated. 

When  men  are  run  hard  to  support  their  plan,  they  will  appeal  from 
scripture  to  the  reason  of  things  ;  and  when  reason  fails  them,  they  will 
fly  back  again  to  scripture  ;  and  when  both  disappear,  they  will  have  re- 
course to  the  unsearchable  ways  of  God.  There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind, 
that  the  God  of  order  acts  consistently  with  himself;  but  it  is  a  grand 
doubt,  whether  divine  materials  ever  did,  or  ever  will,  submit  to  human 
standards.  And,  I  think  it  much  safer  for  a  man  to  own  his  ignorance, 
and  stand  open  to  conviction,  than  to  be  too  positive  in  asserting  things 
that  he  himself  may  doubt  of  in  his  cool  retired  hours. 


THE 

FIRST  RISE  OF  SIF 

NEITHER  FROM  A  HOLY  NOR  SINFUL  CAUSE ; 

UNAVOIDABLE  WITH  GOD,  BUT  AVOIDABLE  WITH  CREATURES. 


EXHIBITED  IN  AN  EXPOSITION  OP  THE  FIRST  THREE  CHAPTERS  OF  GENESIS ; 

IN  WHICH  A  NUMBER  OP  CONJECTURES,  CALCULATIONS,  AND 

MATHEMATICAL  OBSERVATIONS  ARE  MADE. 


With  novel  error  men  engage  ; 

At  novel  truth  they  always  rage. Mkrluc10U8. 


*  This  piece  was  never  before  published,  but  was  written  in,  or  prior  to,  the  year  1790. 
The  appendix  was  probably  written  at  a  subsequent  period,  but  u'Acji,  we  have  no  means  of 
ascertaining. 


PREFACE. 


Longitude  and  perpetual  motion  have  employed  the  prying 
thoughts  of  the  ingenious  for  a  long  time ;  great  premiums  are  of- 
fered to  the  man  who  shall  first  find  them  out.  The  apparent 
advantages  of  such  discoveries  would  be  great ;  but  whether  the 
world  will  ever  enjoy  those  advantages  or  not,  is  a  matter  of  pre- 
sent uncertainty. 

The  first  rise  of  sin  has  also  been  a  subject  of  much  speculation. 
Orthodox  divines,  poets,  and  mystics  have  employed  their  pens  to 
investigate  the  point;  but  not  being  satisfied  with  the  elucidation 
of  any  piece  that  I  have  seen,  I  have  presumed  to  offer  the  follow- 
ing tract  to  the  public,  which  will  speak  for  itself 

Those  who  have  read  Dr.  Gill  on  Genesis,  will  see  that  I  have 
borrowed  some  remarks  of  him ;  but,  in  some  instances,  I  have 
dared  to  differ  from  that  great  man. 

If  the  conjectures  are  considered  extravagant,  or  futile,  the 
reader  may  remember  that  he  is  at  his  full  liberty  to  invent  any- 
thing better.  The  whole  of  it  is  offered  to  the  world  in  modesty 
and  diffidence,  by  the  author.  J.  L. 


AN    EXPOSITION 

OF  THE  FIRST  THREE  CHAPTERS  OF  GENESIS,  &c. 


The  history  of  the  world,  before  the  flood,  includes  only  one  hundred  and 
seventy  verses  :  from  the  first  of  Genesis,  to  chapter  vii.,  verse  11.  It  is 
very  short,  and,  therefore,  very  sublime  and  significant.  The  term  of  time, 
that  this  short  history  treats  of,  is  no  less  than  sixteen  hundred  and  fifty- 
five  years,  one  month,  and  seventeen  days. 

From  this  history,  we  learn  that  there  was  one  murderer,  one  man-slayer, 
one  martyr,  one  prophet,  and  one  preacher,  before  the  deluge ;  and  that 
the  imaginations  of  men's  hearts  were,  in  general,  evil,  and  only  evil,  con- 
tinually. 

No  more  than  twenty-seven  personal  names  are  given  us  in  this  account, 
viz.  :  Adam,  the  first  man,  and  Eve,  his  wife — Cain,  and  eleven  of  his 
posterity — Abel — Seth,  and  eleven  of  his  descendants  ;  and  yet,  we  are 
told  by  some,  that  there  were  eleven,  and  some  say,  eighty  thousand  mil- 
lions of  people  destroyed  in  the  flood.  No  doubt  but  what  there  was  a 
large  number,  but  this  account  seems  extravagant,  beyond  all  reason  ;  for 
this  would  be  more  than  six  souls  to  every  acre  of  land  on  the  face  of  the 
globe  ;  which,  perhaps,  is  eighty  times  as  many  as  have  ever  been  on  the 
earth,  living  at  one  time,  since  the  flood.* 

The  name,  God,  is  used  seventy-three  times  before  the  deluge,  and  the 
name.  Lord,  or  Jehovah,  thirty-five.  No  direct  promise  is  given  of  the 
Messiah,  in  the  whole  history,  but  the  conquering  seed  of  the  woman  is 
made  known  in  the  denunciation  of  Jehovah  God  to  the  serpent. 

But,  what  lies  before  me  at  this  time,  is  to  confine  my  observations  to 
the  first  three  chapters  of  Genesis,  containing  eighty  verses. 

*  If,  from  the  formation  of  Adam  and  Eve,  to  the  flood,  people  doubled  once  in  forty- 
five  years,  there  had  been  on  earth  more  than  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand 
millions.  And,  if  they  have  doubled  as  fast  from  Noah,  to  the  present  time,  there  have 
been  in  the  world  nearly  forty  thousand  quatiillions  ;  which  would  be  more  than  one  hun- 
dred thousand  souls,  for  each  square  inch  in  the  terraqueous  globe. 


188  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

CHAPTERS  I.  AND  II. 

In  the  first  chapter,  the  phrase,  and  God  said,  is  found  ten  times.  A  short 
account  of  creation  is  given,  which  is  more  fully  explained,  in  a  supple- 
mentary way,  in  the  second  ;  for  which  reason,  both  chapters  are  explained 
together  ;  introduced  by  the  words, 

THE   FIRST    DAY. 

In  the  beginning.  Not  of  eternity,  which  had  no  beginning,  but  of  time. 
If  the  history  of  Moses  respects  the  whole  creation,  this  clause  destroys 
the  notion  of  the  pre-existence  of  angels,  or  the  human  soul  of  Christ;  but 
if  his  history  only  treats  of  the  solar  system,  and  there  are  other  worlds, 
and  systems  of  worlds  in  existence,  let  their  histories  be  produced,  and 
they  shall  be  regarded.  Creation  had,  some  time,  a  beginning;  and  no 
sufficient  reason  has  yet  been  offered,  that  it  ever  had  a  beginning  anterior 
to  the  Mosaic  account.  He  who  wrought  in  the  beginning,  was  God.  The 
Elohim,  here  used,  is  a  noun  of  plural  number,  and  seems  to  express  a 
trinity  of  persons  in  the  divine  Essence  :  by  this  triune  Creator  were  all 
things  created,  visible  and  invisible.  The  word  Elohim,  is  said,  by  some, 
to  signify  all  Poicer,  to  show  that  creation  and  formation  were  the  effects 
of  omnipotence  ;  that  the  world,  both  as  to  matter  and  form,  was  the  crea- 
ture of  God,  and  did  not  emerge  by  the  fortuitous  motion  and  conjunction 
of  pre-existing  matter.  Others  say,  the  word  represents  a  being,  in  whom 
all  fulness  centres.  This  is  true  of  the  Creator;  but  as  the  same  name  is 
given  to  angels,  and  the  rulers  of  this  world,  who  are  not  centres  of 
all  perfections,  the  first  signification  seems  best.  The  things  that  God 
made  in  the  beginning,  were,  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  All  created  heav- 
ens are  here  intended,  at  least  in  substance,  though  not  as  yet  spread  out 
like  a  garment,  or  tent.  It  is  most  likely  that  the  Heaven  for  angels  was 
first  finished,  and  then  peopled  by  angels  ;  for  it  is  certain  that  the  heavens, 
earth,  and  seas,  and  all  things  in  them,  were  made  in  the  six  days ;  and  as 
angels  were  present  on  the  third  day,  when  the  foundations  of  the  earth 
were  fixed,  and  sang  for  joy ;  where  is  a  more  likely  time  to  assign  for 
their  creation  than  the  first  day  ?  The  word  heaven,  here  used,  signifies 
above,  as  the  word  earth  does  below,  so  that  whatever  is  above  or  below, 
in  substance,  was  made  on  the  first  day.  But  when  the  earth  was  first 
made,  it  was  withoutform  ajkd  void.  Not  without  some  form,  which  always 
attends  gross  matter,  but  void  of  the  form  which  it  now  has — which  it  had 
when  Moses  wrote — which  it  had  before  the  flood — and  particularly  which 
it  had  on  the  third  day,  when  it  was  new-moulded  and  decorated  by  God. 
Had  man  been  then  formed,  he  could  not  have  discernbd  what  form  it  was 
in,  for,  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep.    The  particles  of  the  earth 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  129 

being  as  much  heavier  than  water  as  twenty  exceeds  twelve,  of  course, 
sunk  the  lowest,  while  the  particles  of  water  rose  uppermost,  resembling  a 
deep  sea ;  and  as  no  light  had  then  been  made,  (at  least  to  appear,)  dark- 
ness covered  the  whole  mass ;  but  it  did  not  long  remain  in  that  predica- 
ment, for,  the  spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters.  By  the 
spirit  of  God,  some  understand  the  wind,  which  is  volatile,  like  spirit,  which 
they  suppose  moved  on  the  face  of  the  waters ;  if  so,  then  the  air  was 
made  on  the  first  day.  If  this  does  not  intend  the  wind,  no  account  is  given 
of  its  creation  in  the  Genessian  history  ;  and  as  fire  cannot  exist  in  a  visi- 
ble manner  without  air,  it  looks  as  if  the  air  must  have  been  made  before 
the  light  appeared.  But  it  is  more  generally  believed,  that  the  infinite 
spirit  of  God  is  meant.  The  clauses  before  this,  treat  of  the  creation  of 
all  above  and  below,  and  the  dark  situation  all  was  in  ;  and  this  clause 
speaks  of  the  working  of  God's  power,  to  produce  things  and  creatures 
out  of  what  was  already  created  :  and,  indeed,  it  appears  most  likely,  that 
what  the  Hebrews  call  To-kee  and  Bo-kee,  and  the  Greeks  call  chaos,  was 
made  in  the  beginning  of  the  first  day,  and  that  out  of  this  crude  mass  all 
things  were  formed.  And  when  the  spirit  of  God  thus  moved,  God  said, 
let  there  he  light,  which  was  the  first  time  that  God  spake.  It  appears  most 
probable,  that  God,  the  Son,  was  the  speaker  ;  from  which  it  is  said,  in  the 
beginning  was  the  Word — all  things  were  made  by  him — in  him  was  light : 
and  the  first  word  was  obeyed,  for  there  teas  light  ;  likely  in  the  form  of  a 
pillar  of  fire,  which  answered  the  use  of  a  sun,  until  the  fourth  day,  when 
the  sun  was  formed.  And  God  saw  the  light  that  he  had  made,  and  it  was 
good  in  itself,  and  would  be  useful  to  men.  The  almighty  Architect  exam- 
ined his  work,  to  see  if  it  was  well  done,  and  pronounced  it  good.  And 
God  divided  the  light  from  the  darkness,  by  causing  the  light  to  move  round 
the  rough  mass  of  matter,  or,  more  likely,  the  rough  mass,  to  turn  round 
the  light.  In  either  case,  the  shadow  of  the  dark  ball  made  darkness,  and 
the  light  shining  upon  it  made  it  lurid,  and  the  division  depended  upon  the 
diurnal  motion,  which  has  lasted  to  this  day. 

And  God  called  the  light  day,  and  the  darkness,  he  called  night ;  which 
times  are  to  continue,  alternately,  as  long  as  the  earth  remaineth.  And 
the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  first  day.  Darkness  preceded  the 
light,  likely,  about  twelve  hours,  which  was  succeeded  by  twelve  hours 
light,  which  evening  and  morning  made  the  first  day.  Various  philoso- 
phers  say,  that  darkness  was  before  light,  and  many  nations,  such  as  the 
Romans,  Athenians,  Druids,  etc.,  began  their  days  in  the  eveninp^,  as  also, 
did  the  Jews  their  holy  days. 

THE    SECOND    DAY. 

And  God  said,  lei  there  be  a  firmament  in  the  midst  of  the  waters.  This 
firmament  is  called  heaven  ;  the  visible  heavens  are  intended,  which  were 

17 


130  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

spread  out  like  a  curtain,  on  the  second  day.  The  use  of  this  expanse  was 
to  divide  the  waters  from  the  waters  ;  from  which,  some  have  supposed  that 
there  are  fountains  of  water  above,  and  that  these  fountains  of  the  great 
deep  were  broken  up,  in  the  time  of  the  flood,  when  the  waters  descended 
in  awful  cataracts ;  or,  it  may  signify  nothing  more  than  that  the  firma- 
ment was  to  divide  the  waters  which  were  in  the  seas,  lakes,  rivers,  etc., 
from  the  waters  which  were  in  the  clouds.  Obsequious  to  the  Almighty 
fiat,  it  was  so  ;  and  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  second  day.  That 
the  second  day's  work  was  well  done,  there  is  no  doubt ',  but  there  is  no 
account  that  God  inspected  it  and  pronounced  it  good. 

THE    THIRD    DAY. 

And  God  said,  let  the  waters  under  the  heavens  le  gathered  together  in 
one  place.  Before  this,  they  covered  over  the  whole  face  of  the  earth,  but  now 
God  broke  up,  for  the  sea,  the  spacious  channel,  and  ordered  the  waters  to 
retire  to  their  destined  habitation,  and  said,  '*  hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  and 
no  further,  and  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed."  This  was  done 
that  the  Lord  might  appear.  At  this  time  the  pillars  of  the  earth  were  fixed, 
"which  made  "  the  morning  stars  sing  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God 
shout  for  joy."  And  God  called  the  dry  land  earth,  and  the  gathering  to- 
gether of  the  waters,  called  he  seas.  The  earth  includes  the  two  continents, 
and  all  the  islands,  but  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  face  of  it  differed 
■widely,  at  that  time,  from  its  present  position.  There  were  seas  before 
Moses  wrote,  and  perhaps  there  were  before  the  flood,  and  most  likely  be- 
fore the  fall,  for  God  called  the  waters,  seas.  The  seas  at  present  have  a 
communication  with  each  other,  but  as  they  wash  different  shores,  and  for 
that  cause,  bear  different  names,  the  plural  is  kept  up  among  us. 

The  earth  and  seas,  together,  form  the  terraqueous  globe,  supposed  to 
be  a  spherioid,  though  generally  treated  of  as  a  sphere.  The  ancients  con- 
ceived  the^rth  and  seas  to  be  as  flat  as  a  trencher,  and  those  who  belie- 
ved in  antipodes  were  called  heretics. 

The  earth  seems  to  be  governed  by  the  law  of  gravitation,  subordinate 
to  God  ;  and  though  small,  in  comparison  to  some  of  the  globes,  is  yet 
great  and  wonderful  in  itself,  to  show  forth  the  mighty  works  of  God. 
The  diameter  of  the  earth  is  computed  at  seven  thousand  six  hundred  and 
thirty-six  miles  ;  the  circumference  twenty-four  thousand  miles  ;*  the  sur- 
ficial  contents  to  be  above  twenty-eight  millions  of  miles ;  which,  if  redu- 
ced to  acres,  would  be  above  eighteen  thousand  millions :  but,  if  a  third 
part  of  the  face  of  the  globe  is  allowed  to  be  sea,  the  acres  of  land  would 


*  The  general  computation  is  twenty-one  thousand  six  hundred,  but  some  make  it  as  great 
as  twenty-six  thousand ;  to  form  a  medium  therefore,  and  to  give  a  round  number  without 
fractions,  I  compute  it  at  twenty-four  thousand  miles.  All  my  calculations,  respecting 
the  earth,  are  made  upon  that  scale,  except  the  foot-note  in  the  introduction. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  131 

be  more  than  twelve  thousand  millions  :  which  would  make  about  twenty- 
one  such  empires  as  that  of  the  United  States,*  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  such  states  as  Virginia,  or  four  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty  such 
as  Connecticut.  And,  if  ten  acres  of  land  is  sufficient  for  an  individual, 
the  earth  will  support  more  than  a  thousand  millions  of  souls. 

It  is  difficult  to  tell  what  is  in  the  globular  centre  of  the  terraqueous  ball, 
whether  earth,  water,  rocks  or  mineral ;  and  as  difficult  to  put  the  point 
of  a  needle  on  any  part  of  its  ambit,  which  is  not  the  superficial  centre ; 
nature  having  fixed  it  under  such  laws,  that  every  part  of  it  is  central. 

The  annual  motion  of  the  eai-th  determines  the  length  of  a  year,  which 
is  about  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days,  and  six  hours ;  and  the  diurnal 
motion  fixes  the  length  of  a  day,  which  is  twenty-four  hours.  The  surface 
of  the  earth  is  unweariedly  moving,  in  her  diurnal  course,  about  theequa- 
tor,  the  distance  of  one  thousand  miles  an  hour,  and  carries  all  her  inhab- 
itants with  her  :  and  as  the  distance  between  the  earth  and  sun  is  ninety 
millions  of  miles,  the  earth  is  moving,  with  her  inhabitants,  in  the  direc- 
tion of  her  annual  circuit,  about  sixty-four  thousand  miles  an  hour.  Does 
this  surprise  you,  and  make  you  cry  out,  impossible  ?  If  so,  only  consider, 
that  if  the  earth  stands  still,  according  to  the  vulgar  notion,  and  the  sun 
moves  round  it,  the  sun  must  fly  at  the  speed  of  above  five  hundred  and 
sixty-five  millions  of  miles  each  day,  or,  three  hundred  and  ninety-two 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-seven  miles  each  minute,  in  his  diurnal 
course  ;  which  is  about  fifty-six  thousand  times  as  swift  as  a  ball  flies  from 
the  mouth  of  a  cannon. 

The  earth  is  girt  round  with  a  girdle  of  circumambient  air,  which  closely 
adheres  to  her  in  all  her  motions.  Should  a  cannon  be  placed  on  the  earth 
perpendicularly,  and  discharge  a  ball  into  the  air,  if  the  ball  should  be 
gone  two  minutes  before  it  returned,  the  cannon  would  have  removed,  in 
that  space  of  time,  thirty-three  miles,  consequently  the  ball  would  return 
that  distance  from  the  cannon's  mouth  ;  but,  as  the  air  adheres  to  the  earth, 
the  ball  would  return  to  the  very  point  from  whence  it  went. 

The  solid  contents  of  the  terraqueous  globe,  is  above  three  hundred 
thousand  millions  of  miles,  which,  if  reduced  to  inches,  would  be  more 
than  eight  hundred  thousand  trillions.  An  inch  of  common  sand  weighs 
about  an  ounce,  Troy,  but  an  inch  of  water  weighs  only  twelve  penny- 
weights. Rocks  and  minerals  weigh  much  more  than  sand.  If  sand  may  be 
considered  as  a  medium,  the  globe  weighs  as  many  ounces  (Troy)  as  there 
are  inches  in  its  contents.  Fifty-one  ounces,  Troy,  are  equal  to  fifty-six, 
avoirdupois  ;  and  fourteen  pounds  avordupois,  are  equal  to  seventeen  Troy. 
The  earth,  by  this  rule,  weighs  more  than  ninety-seven  quatillions  of  oun- 
ces. Avoirdupois,  or,  above  three  hundred  trillions  of  tons. 

*  The  American  empire  contains  six  hundred  and  forty  millions  of  atres,  of  which, 
fifty-one  millions  are  water. 


132  THE   WRITINGS    OF 

And  God  said,  let  the  earth  bring  forth  grass,  herhs,  and  fruitful  trees, 
yielding  fruit  after  their  kind,  whose  seed  are  in  themselves,  upon  the  earth. 
The  spirit  of  God,  that  brooded  upon  the  terraqueous  globe  on  the  first 
day,  had,  on  the  third  day,  not  only  separated  the  waters  from  the  earth, 
but  also  impregnated  the  earth  to  produce  vegetables  for  beasts  and  fruit- 
trees  for  man :  and  this  provision  was  made  before  the  creatures  were 
formed  to  eat  them.  So,  likewise,  it  is  in  the  new  creation,  all  spiritual 
blessings  are  provided  in  the  New  Covenant  for  men  before  they  are  new- 
made  to  receive  them.  The  grass,  herbs,  and  trees,  had  seed  within  them- 
selves to  produce  their  kind,  which  has  continued  in  order  down  to  this  day. 
After  God  had  made  the  earth,  he  made  it  vegetate  and  bring  forth  fruit ; 
even  so  when  men  are  created  in  Christ  Jesus  and  put  on  the  new  man, 
they  work  for  God  and  bring  forth  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit. 

On  this  third  day,  the  Lord  made  to  grow  out  of  the  ground  every  tree 
that  is  pleasant  to  the  sight,  and  good  for  food  ;  the  Tree  of  Life,  also,  in 
the  midst  of  the  garden,  and  the  Tree  of  Knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  though 
not  spoken  of  until  afterwards :  from  which  we  learn  that  creation  furnished 
objects  to  please  the  senses,  as  well  as  to  support  the  rational  creature  with 
food.  Likewise,  in  religion,  not  only  safety,  but  pleasure  is  found ;  the 
ways  thereof  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are  peace. 

And  God  saw  all  that  he  had  done,  on  the  third  day,  and  it  was  good ; 
no  evil  had  yet  appeared :  angels  retained  their  integrity,  and  filial  subjec- 
tion to  their  Maker. 

THE    FOURTH   DAY. 

And  God  said,  let  there  he  lights  in  the  firmament  of  the  heaven.  This 
firmament  includes  all  that  space  between  the  earth  and  third  heavens ; 
but  that  part  of  it  called  the  starry  heavens,  seems  to  be  particularly  in- 
tended. No  new  light  was  made  on  this  day  ;  but  that  pillar  of  light,  made 
on  the  first  day,  was,  on  this  day,  formed  into  the  various  luminaries,  af- 
terwards spoken  of,  to  divide  the  day  from  the  night,  to  be  for  signs  and 
seasons,  for  days  and  years.  Day  and  night  are  governed  by  the  sun ; 
while  the  sun  shines  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  it  is  day,  and  when  it  goes 
down,  it  is  night.  The  length  of  the  day  is  equal  to  the  presence  of  the 
sun,  and  the  length  of  the  night  equal  to  his  absence.  The  moon,  in  her 
fulness,  arises  upon  the  setting  of  the  sun,  and  enlightens  the  earth  during 
his  absence  ;  and,  therefore,  is  said,  to  rule  the  Night.  When  the  moon 
fails  us  in  her  nocturnal  visits,  the  twinkling  stars  pay  their  officious  aid, 
and,  by  reason  of  their  number,  cast  much  light  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
the  earth. 

These  lights  were  to  be  for  signs  ;  not  for  deluded  necromancers  to  prog- 
nosticate  by  ;  no,  those  dull  masses,  ignorant  of  their  own  existence,  can 
never  foretel  things  future,  respecting  men  j  but  for  signs  of  good  and  bad 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  133 

weather,  for  the  times  of  plowing,  sowing  and  reaping.  And  seasons  of 
summer  and  winter,  spring  and  fall.  For  days,  by  the  diurnal  motion,  in 
twenty-four  hours  ;  and  years,  by  the  annual  circuit,  in  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  days  and  a  few  hours. 

The  greater  light  to  rule  the  day;  i.  e.,  the  sun,  called  by  the  ancients, 
Ur,  which  word  signifies  both  light  and  heat ;  and,  it  is  evident,  that  the 
sun  is  the  fountain  of  heat  as  well  as  light.  This  stupendous  orb  may  well 
be  called  great,  being  about  nine  hundred  thousand  times  the  bigness  of  the 
earth  ;  placed  at  the  distance  of  ninety  millions  of  miles  from  the  ball  that 
we  inhabit ;  yet  capable  of  darting  a  ray  of  light  to  ua  in  the  space  of 
seven  and  a  half  minutes. 

This  amazing  luminary  is  the  centre  of  the  solar  system,  and  once  in 
twenty-eight  years,  all  the  worlds  that  play  around  it,  come  again  to  the 
same  point  and  condition.  This  sovereign  of  nature,  rules  the  day  with 
such  resplendent  lustre,  that  no  other  orb  is  seen  to  shine  in  his  presence : 
but  instead  of  being  an  object  of  religious  adoration,  is  but  a  speck  of  Je- 
hovah's works,  placed  in  the  heavens,  to  show  forth  the  wisdom,  power, 
and  goodness  of  the  Almighty. 

The  smaller  light  (the  moon)  to  rule  the  night.  The  moon  is  called  a 
light,  but  she  borrows  all  her  bright  ornaments  of  the  sun.  That  the  moon 
is  an  opaque  body  of  some  kind  of  matter,  is  evident,  otherwise  she  would 
not  eclipse  the  sun  when  she  intervenes. 

One  entire  day  of  the  moon  is  almost  equal  to  thirty  of  our  natural  days ; 
consequently,  the  moon's  night  is  nearly  equal  to  fifteen  of  our  days  and 
nights. 

If  the  moon  is  inhabited,  it  is  matter  of  conjecture,  whether  her  inhabi- 
tants sleep  so  long  at  a  time,  and  work  as  long  without  sleeping :  and  how 
much  the  men  of  the  moon  must  eat  for  supper,  upon  this  supposition,  is 
matter  of  speculation. 

The  moon  in  bulk,  is  as  follows :  diameter,  two  thousand  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  miles ;  circumference,  six  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-four  miles  ;  ambit,  above  three  and  a  half  million,  which,  if  reduced 
to  acres,  would  be  more  than  two  thousand  millions.  But,  if  one  third  part 
of  the  moon's  surface,  is  allowed  to  be  seas,  it  leaves  upwards  of  one  and 
a  half  thousand  millions  of  acres  in  land :  and,  if  ten  acres  of  land  are 
sufficient  to  support  an  individual,  the  moon  will  support  above  one  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  millions  of  souls. 

The  size,  complexion,  dress,  manners,  language,  laws,  and  religion  of 
those  people,  we  are  ignorant  of,  (although  the  moon  is  called  our  neigh- 
bor.) SwedenhurgW s  account  gains  but  little  credit  among  us ;  the  air- 
halloons  have  not  yet  answered  the  purpose  of  forming  an  acquaintance ; 
what  future  experiments  may  do,  is  uncertain. 
He  made  the  stars  also.    Some,  who  believe  in  the  existence  of  worlds 


134  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

and  systems  of  worlds,  prior  to  the  solar  system,  suppose  that  this  clause 
respects  the  creation  of  those  stars,  which  are  worlds  or  centres  of  worlds, 
and,  that  though  by  their  inconceivable  distance,*  they  appear  to  us  but 
small  points,  like  the  diamond  on  a  lady's  ring,  yet  they  are  of  themselves, 
globes  of  amazing  magnitude.  They  conclude,  that  the  same  hand  that 
made  the  sun  and  moon,  on  the  fourth  day,  had  made  these  stars  long  be- 
fore. But  it  seems  rather  to  respect  those  stars,  that  were  made  at  the 
same  time  that  the  sun  and  moon  were. 

Others  restrain  it  to  the  planetary  stars,  viz.,  Mars,  Mercury,  Jupiter, 
Venus,  Saturn,  and  Herschel.  Sorne  of  these  stars  have  their  moons,  rings, 
and  satellites  playing  around  them,  of  which  I  cannot  at  this  time  be  par- 
ticular. 

It  is  best,  however,  by  these  stars,  to  understand  not  only  those  already 
mentioned,  but  likewise  Arcturus  and  his  sons,  Pleiades,  and  the  cham- 
bers of  the  south,  as  well  as  all  the  constellations  and  stars  in  the  heavens* 

And  God  saw  his  work  and  it  was  good  ;  free  from  evil,  which  had  no 
being  as  yet,  and  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  fourth  day. 

THE   FIFTH   DAY. 

On  the  fifth  day,  God  gave  orders  to  the  waters  to  bring  forth  living  crea- 
tures. On  the  first  day,  gross  nature  was  made ;  on  the  third  day,  vege- 
table  life  sprung  out  of  chaos,  and  discovered  itself  in  the  grass,  herbs  and 
trees  ;  and  on  the  fifth  day,  animal  life  was  produced.  Fish  of  every 
kind  were  created,  from  the  largest  kraken  to  the  smallest  minnows  ;  and 
fowls  to  fly  in  the  open  air,  from  the  eagle  to  the  fly.  These,  it  seems, 
were  produced  out  of  the  water,  and  yet,  if  we  cast  our  eyes  on  Chapter 
ii.,  19,  it  is  pretty  plain  that  they  were  made  out  of  the  earth.  To  recon- 
cile both  places  together,  and  both  to  the  nature  of  things,  it  is  supposable 
that  they  were  both  made  out  of  the  earth  at  the  water's  side  ;  or,  more 
likely,  out  of  the  mud,  under  the  water.  It  is  also  probable,  that  the  fish 
were  made  in  the  fore  part  of  the  day,  and  fowls  in  the  after  part.  There 
is  a  considerable  likeness  between  these  two  species  of  creatures  :  both 
steer  their  courses  by  their  tails  ;  fins  and  scales  to  one,  are  as  wings  and 
feathers  to  the  other,  and  both  are  oviparous.  After  God  had  made  them, 
he  blessed  them  with  the  power  of  procreation,  and  bid  them  be  fruitful, 
and  fill  their  destined  elements. 

This  day's  work,  also,  was  well  done  :  God  saw  that  it  was  good  ;  and 
the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  jifih  day. 

*  The  nearest  fixed  star  is  at  such  a  distance  from  us,  that  a  cannon-ball  must  fly  at 
the  rate  of  one  hundred  fathoms  a  second,  and  take  nearly  seven  hundred  thousand  years 
to  reach  it :  the  distance  being  computed  at  almost  two  and  a  half  millions  of  miles.  A 
line  of  wheat-grains,  from  the  sun  to  said  star,  allowing  four  grains  to  the  inch,  would 
form  a  mountain  of  wheat,  more  than  sufficient  to  sow  forty  such  globes  as  this,  allowing 
a  biishel  to  an  acre. 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  135 


THE    SIXTH   DAY. 


And  God  said,  let  the  earth  bring  forth  the  living  creature  after  his  kind : 
i.  e.,  let  the  living  creatures  be  made  out  of  the  earth,  and  live  upon  it ; 
for,  notwithstanding,  the  earth  was  impregnated  by  the  spirit  of  God,  and 
warmed  by  the  sun,  yet  these  causes  could  not  create  beasts  without  om- 
nipotent power  ;  and  so  it  follows,  God  made  beasts,  cattle,  and  creeping 
things  after  their  kind  :  by  which  is  meant,  wild  beasts,  tame  cattle,  ser- 
pents  and  reptiles  ;  and  God  saw  it  was  good. 

Thus  the  earth  was  made  for  man  to  dwell  upon,  the  heavens  to  cover 
over  him  as  a  canopy,  the  sun  to  enlighten  him  by  day,  the  moon  and  stars 
by  night,  herbs  and  fruit-trees  for  his  food,  and  every  living  thing  for  his 
service,  before  he  was  formed.  Moreover,  a  garden  of  pleasure  was  planted 
in  the  east  part  of  the  land  of  Eden,  with  all  kinds  of  useful  and  pleasant 
trees  ;  and,  to  consummate  his  earthly  enjoyments,  a  river  of  water  went  out 
of  Eden,  and  ran  through  the  garden,  to  water  it,  which  spread  out  in  four 
branches,  as  it  left  the  garden,  and  formed  the  four  rivers,  Pison,  Gihon, 
Hiddekel,  and  Euphrates.  The  first  of  these  rivers  is  nowhere  spoken  of 
in  scripture  besides.  The  second  is  spoken  of,  1  Kings,  i.,  33  ;  2  Chron. 
xxxii.,  30,  or,  more  likely,  another  river  of  the  same  name.  The  third 
ran  through  Persia,  near  Shushan,  the  palace,  and  the  fourth  ran  through 
Babylon. 

Almost  all  parts  of  the  world  have  contended  for  this  garden,  and  seem 
to  be  at  as  great  loss  about  it  as  chronologers  are  about  the  time  in  which 
Job  lived.  Whether  it  was  in  Ceylon,  Armenia,  the  land  of  Judah,  Me- 
sopotamia, or  in  any  other  place  contended  for,  it  certainly  was  a  delight- 
ful spot,  and  seemed  to  invite  an  occupant ;  but  as  beautiful  as  things  ap- 
peared, it  had  not  rained  upon  the  earth.  But  there  went  up  a  mist  from 
the  earth,  being  exhaled  by  the  sun,  from  the  seas,  rivers,  etc.,  in  very 
small  particles,  and  forming  a  cloud,  sprinkled  down  water  upon  the  whole 
face  of  the  ground. 

And  God  said,  let  tis  make  man  after  our  image  and  likeness,  and  let 
them  have  dominion  over  fish,  fowl,  cattle  and  creeping  things.  These 
words  were  not  spoken  to  beasts,  that  could  not  understand  ;  nor  to  angels, 
who  were  neither  of  the  privy  council,  nor  co-workers  with  God  in  cre- 
ation ;  but  the  phrase  bespeaks  a  co-operation  of  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Ghost  in  creating  man  :  and  man  immediately  was  made  in  the  image  of 
God :  not  in  the  image  of  his  deity  :  that  God  who  cannot  lie,  could  not 
make  a  being  like  himself,  in  that  respect.  Christ  only  bears  the  express 
image  of  his  Father's  person,  as  a  natural  son  bears  the  image  of  his  natural 
father ;  but  the  first  man  that  was  made,  bore  the  image  of  God  as  the 
wax  bears  the  image  of  the  signet.  He  was  also  in  the  image  of  God,  in 
this  point  of  view :  the  Father,  Word,  and  Holy  Ghost  are  one ;  so  soul, 


136  THE    WRITINGS   OP 

spirit  and  body,  make  one  man ;  there  is  a  trinity  in  man,  as  well  as  in 
God  ;  moreover,  he  was  made  in  the  same  human  shape  and  dispositon 
that  Christ  was  to  appear  in,  a  true  figure  of  him  who  was  to  come ;  in 
these  senses,  he  was  made  in  the  image  of  God,  and  was  lovely  in  the 
eyes  of  his  Maker.  Male  and  female  created  he  them.  Both  sexes  were 
in  one  body.  The  man  is  not  without  the  woman,  nor  the  woman  with- 
out the  man  in  the  Lord. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  mystic  writers,  that  Adam  had  power 
to  propagate  his  own  species  before  Eve  was  separated  from  him,  having 
both  the  masculine  and  feminine  natures  in  him  ;  but  it  can  hardly  be 
credited,  that  sin  has  radically  altered  the  shape  of  man ;  and  how  Adam 
could  multiply  with  such  a  shape,  without  he  had  the  power  of  creating, 
is  unaccountable ;  and  that  he  had  power  to  create,  no  man  pretends. 
It  is  best  therefore  to  suppose  that  God  made  both  natures  in  one  body, 
with  an  intention  of  separating  them  before  they  procreated.  Matter  was 
first  made,  on  the  first  day,  afterwards  it  was  remoulded  ;  then  Adam 
was  made  out  of  it ;  and  cast  the  woman  out  of  man  ;  so  that  women  are 
the  most  refined  from  dross  matter — removed  the  furthest  from  clay  of 
any  of  the  lower  creatures. 

After  God  had  made  man,  he  put  him  into  the  garden  to  dress  and  keep 
it,  and  immediately  constituted  him  a  subject  of  moral  government,  by 
enjoining  a  law  (not  a  covenant)  on  him,  with  a  penalty  annexed  thereto. 
This  indulgent  father  and  divine  legislated,  or  gave  him  free  liberty  to 
eat  of  all  the  trees  in  the  garden,  and  regale  himself  with  all  the  pleasures 
of  paradise  ;  but  as  there  was  one  noxious  tree,*  he  would  have  him  avoid 
it;  and  said,  "  My  son,  you  may  eat  of  all  the  trees  in  the  garden,  save 
one,  the  fruit  of  which  will  poison  you  to  death ;  and  lest  my  caution 
should  be  ineffectual,  I  command  you  not  to  touch  it ;  and  to  make  my 
law  forcible,  1  add  the  penalty  of  death  to  the  breaker  of  it,  which  shall 
be  inflicted  the  very  day  that  the  law  is  broken."  This  law  therefore 
may  be  considered  as  a  cautionary  command,  and  it  appears  most  likely 
to  me  that  there  was  a  poisonous  quality,  a  physical  evil  in  the  tree,  that 
would   have  mortalized   Adam,  if  God  had  not  prohibited  it.     This  pro- 

*  Some  suppose  that  the  best  way  to  clear  the  character  of  God  from  being  the  cause 
of  every  kind  of  evil,  is,  to  imagine  that  Adam  stood  a  representative  of  all  the  lower 
creation,  human,  animal,  vegetative  and  the  gross  parts  of  it,  and  that  when  he  sinned 
and  forsook  his  moral  order,  it  threw  the  whole  creation  into  disorder.  That  as  soon  as 
sin  raised  a  war  of  elements  within  him,  the  contagion  ran  through  all  the  elements 
without  him,  and  brought  a  curse  upon  the  fire,  air,  water  and  earth.  That  briers  and 
thistles  and  all  poisonous  weeds  sprang  up,  as  a  consequent  thereof;  and  that  the  infec- 
tion rose  up  in  the  sap  of  the  tree  of  good  and  evil,  (which  had  not  this  quality  before 
the  fall,  as  they  judge,)  and  that  the  animals  received  a  cruel,  venomous  disposition  from 
the  source  of  Adam's  sin,  as  well  as  the  human  world,  a  wicked  stubborn  nature. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  137 

hibition  was  also  a  test  of  Adam's  obedience,  to  train  him  up  in  moral 
subjection. 

After  God  made  Adam  and  placed  him  in  the  garden,  he  did  not  choose 
idleness  for  him,  but  brought  unto  him  all  the  beasts  and  fouls  to  name ; 
and  Adam  gave  names  to  them  all,  by  which  they  were  afterwards  called. 

Some  think  that  this  is  a  great  proof  of  Adam's  primeval  wisdom,  in 
giving  names  to  the  creatures,  the  signification  of  which  exactly  agreed 
with  the  nature  of  the  creatures  to  whom  they  were  applied  :  but  it  is 
not  likely  that  the  names  that  Adam  called  them  by,  had  been  received 
into  his  dialect  before,  (for  this  affair  happened  within  a  few  hours  after 
his  formation,)  and  if  not,  I  cannot  see  how  the  signification  of  a  name 
could  exist  before  the  name  itself. 

But  among  all  the  creatures  that  were  brought  before  him  to  name, 
there  was  not  found  a  helpmeet  for  him,  not  one  that  he  could  converse 
with  ;  none  to  help  him  keep  and  dress  the  garden  ;  nor  any  to  help 
him  procreate.  This  wonderous  creature,  man,  of  whom  so  much  is 
said,  was  made  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  in  or  near  Eden  ;  and  after 
God  had  formed  him  in  human  shape,  he  breathed  into  him  the  breath 
of  life,  and  he  became  a  living  soul.  Vegetative  and  animal  lives  were 
made  out  of  the  earth,  as  distillers  extract  the  spirit  from  grain,  etc.; 
and  therefore  when  they  die,  their  spirits  return  to  the  earth  from  whence 
they  came  ;  but  the  soul  of  man  was  breathed  out  of  the  mouth  of  God, 
and  therefore  when  men  die,  their  souls  go  to  God  from  whence  they 
came.  At  the  time  when  God  quickened  Adam's  dust  with  animal  life, 
he  infused  the  immortal  soul  into  him.  Though  Eve  was  in  Adam,  as  has 
been  said,  yet  it  is  not  likely  that  the  soul  of  Eve  was  in  Adam's  soul, 
much  less  in  his  rib. 

And  the  Lord  God  said,  it  is  not  good  that  7nan  should  be  alone,  I  will 
make  an  helpmeet  for  him.  It  may  here  be  observed  that  the  name  Lord 
or  Jod-he,  vah-he,  used  in  this  clause,  and  indeed  eleven  times  in  the 
eleventh  chapter,  is  expressive  of  the  eternity  of  God.  Gross  nature,  ani- 
mals, and  the  mortal  lives  of  men  had  a  beginning,  and  will  have  an  end; 
but  there  is  one  being  who  never  had  a  beginning,  and  will  never  have 
an  end  ;  and  this  being  is  Jehovah,  here  translated  Lord. 

This  eternal  God  saw  that  it  was  not  good  for  man  so  to  dwell  alone. 
This  clause  has  led  some  to  believe  that  the  defection  had  begun  ;  but  it 
designs  nothing  more  than  that  God  saw  that  man  could  not  propagate  by 
himself  alone,  nor  be  as  happy  as  he  might  be  with  an  associate.  Moral 
evil  is  indefatigable  here,  because  after  this  God  pronounced  all  things 
very  good. 

The  way  in  which  the  Lord  God  made  Adam  a  helpmeet,  was  as  fol- 
1  ows :  He  caused  a  deep  sleep  to  fall  upon  Adam,  which  was  the  first 
time  that  he  ever  slept :  it  was  near  the  close  of  the  sixth  day,  and  per- 

18 


138  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

haps,  Adam  was  weary  with  his  day's  work  in  naming  all  the  creatures, 
(as  the  second  Adam  often  was  in  travelling,)  and  his  senses  were  all 
locked  up  for  rest.  This  was  a  deep  sleep  ;  common  sleep  would  not  have 
kept  the  senses  dormant  enough  to  bear  the  operation  that  Adam  went 
through ;  but  this  was  so  deep  that  Adam  felt  no  pain  while  his  side  was 
opened,  a  rib  taken  from  thence,  and  the  flesh  closed  up  again.  This  rib 
the  Lord  formed  into  a  woman  and  brought  her  to  Adam. 

Anatomists  say,  that  men  have  twelve  ribs  on  each  side ;  if  so,  we 
should  judge  that  Adam  had  thirteen,  at  least  on  one  side,  and  that  the 
superfluous,  unmated  rib,  was  taken  out  for  the  purpose  of  a  woman. 
The  part  of  Adam  that  was  taken  to  form  a  women,  was  neither  from 
his  head  nor  feet ;  to  teach  us  that  women  should  not  attempt  to  rule  their 
husbands,  nor  be  trodden  under  foot  by  them :  but  the  rib  was  from  his 
side,  under  his  arm,  near  his  heart ;  to  show  that  the  woman  is  to  be  by 
her  husband,  under  the  arm  of  his  protection,  near  the  heart  of  his  love. 

It  looks  as  if  God  carried  off  the  rib  to  a  little  distance  from  Adam, 
while  he  formed  it  into  a  woman  ;  perhaps  to  the  same  place  where  Adam 
was  formed  ;  and  when  God  had  formed  this  lovely  creature,  he  brought 
her  to  Adam ;  who  upon  first  sight  knew  her,  at  least  from  whence  she 
came,  and  said,  "  this  is  bone  of  my  bones,  and  flesh  of  my  flesh."  Her 
bones  and  flesh  were  taken  from  him,  and  this  he  knew.-  Perhaps 
while  he  was  asleep,  he  was  taught  it  in  a  dream  ;  or  God  might  reveal 
it  to  him  by  impulse  ;  or  we  may  suppose,  that  though  Adam  was  in  a  deep 
sleep  when  the  ribs  were  taken  from  him,  yet  he  awaked  before  it  was 
formed  into  a  woman,  and  stood  not  far  olT  to  see  God  form  it  into  a 
human  shape ;  but  let  him  come  by  his  knowledge  one  way  or  another, 
he  knew  from  whence  she  came,  and  called  her  name  woman,  because 
she  came  from  man. 

Even  so,  when  souls  arc  new  made  by  divine  grace,  they  are  brought 
to  the  second  Adam,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  being  drawn  by  the  father, 
not  against,  but  with  their  wills;  and  when  they  come,  Jesus  knows  them 
and  calls  them  by  a  new  name.  Therefore  a  man  shall  leave  his  father 
and  mother  and  shall  cleave  unto  his  wife,  and  they  shall  he  one  flesh. 

If  these  words  were  spoken  by  Adam,  at  the  time  when  he  received 
Eve,  they  were  cither  prophetic  of,  or  preccptives  for  his  posterity ; 
for  they  were  not  applicable  to  Adam's  case,  who  had  no  father  but  God, 
and  no  mother  but  the  earth,  neither  of  which  was  he  to  leave  for  his  wife. 
If  they  are  considered  as  the  words  of  Moses,  they  were  not  spoken  at 
the  time  when  Eve  was  brought  to  Adam,  but  between  two  and  three 
thousand  years  afterwards,  when  the  Hebrew  historian  wrote ;  and  this 
he  gives  as  a  reason  why  men  should  cleave  to  their  wives  and  take  care 
of  them. 

But  rather  the  words  were  spoken  by  God  himself,  who,  at  the  time 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  139 

of  instituting  marriage,  gave  directions  about  it.  In  Mat.  xix.  4,  5,  where 
Jesus  quotes  this  passage,  he  informs  us  that  he  who  made  the  male  and 
female  at  the  beginning,  said  for  this  cause,  etc. 

And  God  blessed  them  with  the  tokeHs  of  his  favor  and  love,  and  with 
the  power  of  procreation,  and  said  unto  them,  be  faithful  and  multiply  and 
replenish  the  earth  with  your  offspring,  and  subdue  it,  by  tilling  the  ground, 
sowing  and  reaping,  and  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over 
the  foul  of  the  air,  and  over  every  living  thing  that  moveth  upon  the  face 
of  the  earth.  As  man  was  to  be  in  subjection  to  God,  so  all  the  crertures 
below  were  to  be  in  subjection  to  man,  who  was  appointed  vicegerent  of 
the  world.  To  the  beasts,  God  gave  every  green  herb,  but  to  man  he 
gave  seed  and  fruit-trees.  There  is  no  account  that  God  gave  the  beasts, 
birds  and  fish  to  man,  for  the  purpose  of  eating,  or  that  ever  the  antedelu- 
vians  did  eat  any  of  them  before  the  flood  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  this  divine 
charter  gave  man  the  dominion  of  them  all,  and  very  likely  he  and  his 
children  ate  thereof,  before  the  days  of  Noah. 

In  the  day  when  they  were  made,  they  were  both  naked  and  were  not 
ashamed.  It  is  supposable  that  the  air  was  temperate,  and  therefore  they 
needed  no  clothing ;  and  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  the  elements  would 
ever  have  raged,  and  fomented  storms,  if  sin  had  never  entered  the  world. 
However,  if  it  was  the  design  of  God  to  have  them  wear  clothes  in  future, 
it  is  probable  that  he  intended  that  they  should  manufacture  for  themselves. 

As  sin  and  guilt  were  strangers,  so  shame  was  unknown.  Since  the 
fall,  God  calls  upon  men  to  be  ashamed  of  their  ways ;  and  grace  teaches 
men  to  be  ashamed  of  those  things  that  do  not  profit ;  but  that  which  is 
a  virtue  in  a  guilty  man,  would  be  mean  and  insignificant  in  an  innocent 
being. 

And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  sixth  day.  Upon  the  close 
of  each  day  before  (the  second  excepted)  the  Lord  pronounced  all  good  ; 
but  upon  the  close  of  all  his  creation  work,  de  declares  all  to  be  very  good. 
Nothing  sinful  or  diserderly  had  yet  appeared ;  angels,  man  and  beasts, 
all  stood  in  their  poper  order  and  obedience. 

Thus  the  heavens  and  the  earth  loere  finished,  all  the  hosts  of  them. 

THE    SEVENTH    DAY. 

And  on  the  seventh  day  God  ended  his  work,  or  had  ended  his  work,  for 
all  things  were  made  in  six  days  ;  a7id  he  rested  the  seventh  day  from,  all  his 
work  which  he  had  made,  not  that  <he  was  fatigued  with  labor,  as  men  are, 
but  he  ceased  from  his  work,  as  it  is  expressed  Heb.  iv.,  10.  And  God 
blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it.  Although  there  is  no  account 
that  ever  man  regarded  the  seventh  day  of  the  week  more  than  any  other, 
until  the  giving  of  manna  in  the  wilderness,  yet  this  is  given  as  a  reason, 


140  THE   WRITINGS    OF 

in  the  fourth  commandment,  why  the  nation  of  Israel  should  rest  on  the 
seventh  day  of  the  week. 

If  the  decalogue  (the  ten  commadments)  is  all  of  a  moral  nature,  the  in- 
junction is  binding  on  all  nations ;  and  if  all  nations  were  under  the  bond 
of  regarding  the  seventh  day  in  a  holy  manner,  it  is  strange  that  St.  Paul 
never  had  occasion  to  reprove  the  Gentiles,  for  the  breach  of  it,  as  the 
Jewish  prophet  had  to  reprove  their  own  nation ;  and  besides,  if  the  ob- 
servance of  the  seventh  day  was  a  moral  obligation  upon  all  nations,  God 
either  designed  that  the  poles  of  the  earth  should  never  be  peopled,  or  the 
moral  law  required  a  natural  impossibility;  for,  at  the  poles,  there  is  but 
one  day  and  night  in  a  year.  Yea,  further  ;  how  is  it  possible  for  persons, 
under  opposite  horizons,  being  antipodes  to  each  other,  to  keep  the  same 
day? 

The  most,  therefore,  that  can  be  said,  (at  least  proved,)  is  that  God 
rested  on  the  seventh  day  ;  and  that  after  above  two  thousand  four  hun- 
dred years,  he  ordained  that  the  nation  of  Israel  should  keep  the  same  day 
of  the  week,  throughout  their  generations.  If,  in  the  New  Testament, 
Christians  are  commanded  to  keep  the  first  day,  by  Christ  or  his  apostles, 
that  divine  appointment  is  sufficient ;  human  legislatures  have  nothing  to 
do  in  ordaining  fixed  holy  days,  establishing  creeds  of  faith,  requiring  re- 
ligious tests,  certificates,  or  anything  of  the  kind. 

Having  made  some  remarks  on  the  six  days'  work,  and  the  seventh 
day's  rest,  the  history  of  which  includes  the  first  and  second  chapters,  I 
shall  proceed  to  some  observations  on  the  third,  which  treats  of  the  en- 
trance of  sin  into  the  human  world  ;  but,  as  Satan  seems  to  be  a  leading 
character  in  this  chapter,  it  appears  necessary  to  say  something  about  an- 
gels, and  by  what  means  they  were  turned  from  celestial  spirits  to  infernal 
devils. 

But  before  I  enter  upon  the  dark  arena,  I  shall  premise  a  few  things. 
First,  on  the  nature  of  God,  and  secondly,  on  the  nature  of  his  decrees. 

And  who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?  Can  man,  by  searching,  find 
out  God,  or  the  Almighty,  unto  perfection  ?  Clouds  and  darkness  are 
round  about  him,  yet  righteousness  and  judgment  are  the  habitation  of  his 
throne.  Verily,  he  is  a  God  that  hideth  himself,  and  giveth  not  a  full  ac- 
count of  any  of  his  matters.  Remember,  O  my  soul,  how  vengeance  fell 
on  the  Bethshemites,  for  prying  too  curiously  into  the  ark.  "  Man  was 
not  made  to  question,  but  adore."  Yet,  with  all  submission  to  divine 
power  and  wisdom,  let  me  attempt  to  speak  of  my  God,  and  the  glory  of 
his  works. 

First.  The  Almighty  exists  of  necessity,  and  yet  willingly  :  he  is  of 
that  nature  that  he  cannot  but  exist,  and  yet  that  necessity  does  not  de- 
stroy his  infinite  freedom  ;  for  he  is  under  no  necessity,  but  that  of  innate 

IdW. 

Should  I  affirm  that  all  God's  works  are  works  of  necessity,  it  wou/d 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  141 

convey  this  idea :  that  God  cannot  do  anything,  more  or  less  than  what  he 
now  does  ;  which,  perhaps,  would  be  an  idea  unbecoming  Omnipotence  ; 
and  yet  it  may  be  safely  affirmed,  that  many  of  his  works  are  necessarily 
done.  If  God  is  under  no  necessity  to  speak,  yet,  when  he  speaks  of 
choice,  he  is  under  necessity  to  speak  truth,  for  he  cannot  lie.  He  is  un- 
der a  necessity  of  showing  forth  the  glory  of  his  perfections  in  his  works, 
(when  he  works  of  choice,)  for  he  cannot  work  beneath  himself.  And  if 
creation  was  a  deed  of  choice,  and  not  of  necessity,  yet  judicial  works  are 
works  of  necessity;  God's  nature  being  such,  that  he  is  under  the  neces- 
sity of  innate  law,  to  judge  and  punish  for  the  glory  of  his  perfections.  If 
it  should  be  thought  presumptuous  to  say,  that  God  cannot  punish  sooner, 
otherwise,  or  more  severely  than  he  does  ;  if  we  consider  that  love  and 
goodness  counterpoise  power  and  justice,  and  that,  sometimes,  mercy 
rejoices  against  judgment,  it  will  not  appear  more  presumptuous,  perhaps, 
than  true. 

The  great  question  is,  whether  God  could  have  prevented  sin  or  not  ? 
If  the  works  of  creation  were  works  of  necessity,  i.  e.,  if  the  nature  of  God 
was  such,  that  he  could  not  but  have  made  the  world  when  he  did,  and  as 
he  did,  I  conclude  that  it  was  not  possible  for  God  to  have  prevented  sin ; 
but  if  creation  was  a  work  of  will,  and  not  of  necessity,  then  God  could 
have  prevented  sin,  by  having  not  made  the  world,  and  creatures  in  it,  to 
sin.     But  more  of  this  hereafter. 

Second.  Did  God  decree  that  angels  and  men  should  sin,  or  not  ?  A 
decree  is  the  law  of  a  court  to  accomplish  some  purpose.  No  such  law 
was  given  to  angels,  to  Adam,  or  to  his  children.  The  decree,  through 
the  Bible,  is  that  creatures  should  not  sin. 

But  I  do  not  wish  to  criticise  on  phrases.  The  general  idea  of  a  de- 
cree, among  Calvinistic  writers,  is  the  eternal  design  of  God  ;  the  question 
is,  therefore,  whether  it  was  the  eternal  design  of  God  that  sin  should  have  , 
birth,  or  not  ?  If  it  was  the  design,  decree,  or  secret  will  of  God,  that 
creatures  should  sin,  how  can  it  be  sin  ?  for  sin  is  a  transgression  of  his 
will.  If  God  decreed  sin,  he  decreed  that  which  is  opposed  to  his  nature, 
contrary  to  his  law,  and  what  he  could  not  effect  himself,  nor  make  his 
creatures  effect.  Some  make  a  great  difference  between  his  secret  and 
revealed  will.  Is  not  this  charging  God  with  duplicity?  That  there  is  a 
difference  between  the  law  that  God  works  by,  and  the  law  given  to  his 
creatures,  is  granted.  The  rule  of  God's  working,  is  either  the  law  of  his 
nature,  or  sovereign  will ;  for  there  was  no  anterior  existent  to  impose  a 
law  on  him ;  but  the  law  of  his  creatures,  is  his  moral  and  absolute  pre- 
cepts; and  simple  obedience,  without  gainsaying,  is  indispensable  from  all 
rational  intelligences.  But  the  question  is,  whether  it  was  the  secret  will 
of  God,  that  sin  should  (in  a  direct  or  indirect  manner)  enter  in  among  his 
creatures,  and  at  the  same  time  forbid  it  ?     If  so,  it  is  no  wonder  that  all 


142  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

the  philosophic  divines  are  puzzled  to  reconcile  the  goodness  of  God  with 
the  misery  of  his  creatures.  But  why  do  men  talk  so?  Have  they 
learned  their  theory  from  Scripture,  or  divine  teaching  ?  If  from  either, 
then  it  is  revealed  to  them,  and,  therefore,  is  no  longer  his  secret  will.  It 
has  been  observed,  that  the  rule  of  God's  working,  was  either  innate  law 
or  sovereign  will.  That  sin  is  agreeable  to  the  law  of  his  nature,  I  pre- 
sume,  no  man  vindicates ;  and  if  it  was  his  sovereign  will  that  sin  should 
emerge,  it  was  then  unavoidable  ',  either  God  or  creatures  must  effect  it : 
God  could  not,  and,  therefore,  it  follows,  that  creatures  unavoidably  must. 
If  5m  then  is  sin — the  parent  of  sorrow — the  cause  of  death  and  eternal 
misery,  who  can  justify  the  goodness  of  God  upon  this  principle  ?  If  sin 
is  according  to  the  secret,  sovereign  will  of  God,  it  is  to  answer  some 
noble  purpose ;  for  all  God's  appointed  works  will  praise  him  ;  but  what 
angel  or  man  can  point  out  any  general  good  effected  by  sin  ?  If  sin  is 
the  cause  of  general  good,  all  creatures  should  love  it ;  and  if  creatures 
should  love  it,  why  are  they  called  upon  to  repent  of,  and  hate  it  ? 

The  first  character  that  God  ever  discovered  himself  in,  to  Adam,  (and 
likely  to  angels,)  was  that  of  a  moral  governor,  and  he  treated  him  as 
a  subject  of  moral  government :  first  as  a  legislator,  in  giving  a  law ; 
and  afterwards  as  a  judge,  in  punishing  crimes.  And  as  it  was  not 
possible  for  God  to  sin,  or  make  creatures  sin,  so,  likewise,  (consider- 
ing him  in  the  character  of  a  moral  governor,)  it  was  not  possible  for 
him  to  prevent  it. 

Should  a  legislator  do  anything  more  than  make  laws,  forbidding 
crimes  ;  should  he  make  places  of  confinement,  and  shut  up  all  his  sub- 
jects, to  prevent  their  crimes,  what  a  kingdom  of  miserable  subjects  he 
would  have ;  but  if  he  makes  them  happy,  with  the  freedom  of  think- 
ing, speaking,  walking  and  working,  and  only  gives  them  a  law  of  good 
behaviour,  it  is  not  possible  for  him  to  prevent  their  transgression  :  the 
only  means  that  he  could  make  use  of  to  prevent  it,  would  make  them 
entirely  miserable.  So  it  was  with  God  ;  he  loved  his  creatures,  and 
sought  to  make  them  happy  ;  and,  as  rational  creatures  cannot  be  happy 
without  the  freedom  of  their  will,  this  freedom  was  established  in  them 
by  God ;  and,  in  this  point  of  view,  it  was  not  possible  for  God  to  have 
prevented  their  sin ;  as  the  only  means  that  would  have  secured  them 
from  sin,  would  have  made  them  completely  miserable. 

Here,  then,  we  see  God,  all  goodness,  seeking  the  happiness  of  his  crea- 
tures,  and  the  very  essentials  of  rational  happiness,  by  their  inadvertence, 
proved  their  overthrow. 

If  the  question  then  is  asked,  whether  sin  was  unavoidable,  or  avoidable  ? 
the  answer  is,  unavoidable  with  God,  but  avoidable  with  creatures.  For 
creatures,  in  their  moral  agency,  had  sufficient  power  to  stand  and  obey, 
as  well  as  freedom  to  rebel.     If,  then,  creation  is  acknowledged  to  be  a 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  143 

good  work,  and  that  God  had  a  right  to  command  the  creatures  that  he 
made,  the  character  of  God  is  clear  in  the  apostacy  of  creatures  ;  for  his 
foreknowledge  of  their  fall,  had  no  influence  on  their  wills,  nor  in  any- 
way occasioned  their  sin,  any  more  than  the  foreknowledge  of  David  made 
Judas  sell  his  master. 

The  new  divinity,  (so  called,)  which  declares  God  to  be  the  efficient  au- 
thor of  sin,  and  that  sin,  eventually,  is  the  cause  of  great  good,  represents 
Jehovah  as  a  cruel  being,  and  cuts  the  nerves  of  repentance  ;  for  what  idea 
must  we  form  of  a  being,  whose  nature  was  such,  that  he  could  not  discover 
the  full  glory  of  it,  without  the  transgression  of  his  creatures,  which  event- 
ually brings  on  the  damnation  of  many  of  them  ?  And,  if  the  truth  of 
God  is  to  abound  more  by  the  lies  of  his  creatures,  and  the  wrath  of  man 
is  to  work  the  righteousness  of  God,  how  can  men  be  convinced  and  judged 
as  transgressors  ?  Every  honest  heart,  unbiased  by  system,  upon  hearing 
"  that  God  designed  men  to  sin,  and  that  sin  will  effect  great  good,"  will 
confess,  that  the  natural  conclusion  is,  let  men  sin. 

That  the  Divine  Legislator  has  given  many  laws  to  fallen  creatures,  which 
were  not  from  the  beginning,  in  which  he,  (in  some  sort,)  accommodates 
himself  to  their  condition,  requires  no  proof  but  just  to  cast  our  thoughts 
on  all  laws  of  civil  government,  laws  of  war,  and  laws  of  putting  away 
wives.  These  laws  were  not,  and  could  not  be  from  the  beginning.  In 
the  execution  of  these  laws,  he  makes  use  of  one  wicked  man,  or  nation 
to  punish  another ;  and  as  the  instruments  act  voluntarily  from  a  wicked 
heart,  (although  their  wrath,  in  action,  praises  God,)  he  punishes  those  in- 
struments for  what  they  do.  Now,  if  from  this  consideration,  it  can  be 
proved  that  God  is  more  glorified,  and  men,  (upon  a  large  scale,)  more 
happy  than  they  would  have  been,  if  sin  had  never  entered  the  world,  then 
we  may  say,  that  sin  is  the  cause  of  great  good :  otherwise,  the  circum- 
stance of  Joseph's  being  sold  by  his  brethren,  and  Jesus  being  hated  and 
crucified  by  the  Jews  will  not  prove  it. 

But  to  descend  to  the  enquiry  respecting  angels.  It  has  been  observed, 
that  no  good  reason  has  yet  been  given  to  prove  that  angels  were  made 
before  the  first  day ;  but  if  they  were  made  ten  thousand  years  before,  the 
difficulties  are  still  the  same  in  accounting  for  their  first  sin. 

Beasts  are  all  brutal,  angels  are  all  spirit;  but  men  are  part  brute,  and 
part  angel.  It  is  a  point  of  dispute  in  these  days,  whether  materiality  be- 
longs to  all  creatures  or  not ;  if  so,  then  angels  were  made  spiritual  mat- 
ter, but  whether  they  were  made  spiritual  matter,  or  spirit,  distinct  from 
matter,  it  is  presumable  that  they  were  made  beings  that  could  neither  pro- 
create nor  die  :  and  yet  it  is  certain  that  they  were  subject  to  moral  mu- 
tability. 

There  is  no  way,  in  idea,  possible  to  account  for  the  entrace  of  sin  among 
rational  creatures,  but  by  considering  their  wills  entirely  at  liberty ;  as  the 


144  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

contrary  would  destroy  the  very  notion  of  vice  and  virtue,  good  and  evil, 
right  and  wrong.  It  must,  therefore,  be  supposed  that  angels,  as  subjects 
of  moral  government,  were  considered  under  a  law,  with  the  freedom  of 
their  wills,  to  obey  or  rebel.  But  how  it  was  possible  for  sinless  creatures, 
without  a  tempter,  to  choose  to  rebel,  is  a  matter  of  great  weight :  yet,  as 
difficult  as  it  appears  to  us,  it  has  certainly  been  the  case  with  angels.  The 
best  way  that  I  can  conceive  of  it,  is  as  follows,  and  which  is  partly  con- 
jectural. 

One  reason  why  Jehovah  was  six  days  in  forming  the  worlds  and  their 
inhabitants,  was,  that  angels  might  see  what  he  could  do;  who  stood  by,  as 
spectators,  and  sang  together,  and  shouted  for  joy  ;  and  it  looks  most  likely 
that  not  one  of  them  had  sinned  before  ihe  third  day,  for  they  all  sang  for 
joy ;  which  would  not  have  been  the  case,  if  any  of  them  had  commenced 
rebellion. 

And  further,  it  is  probable  that  none  of  them  had  rebelled  on  the  sixth 
day ;  for  God,  at  the  close  of  that  day  pronounced  all  very  good.  It  is  a 
further  conjecture,  that  sin  had  not  raised  any  commotion  in  the  universe 
until  after  the  seventh  day  ;  for,  on  that  day,  God  rested  ;  seeing  nothing 
out  of  order  in  all  his  works.  But,  soon  after  this,  (perhaps  on  the  eighth 
day,)  the  rebellion  broke  out. 

The  last  of  creation-work,  was  man ;  at  the  sight  of  whom,  angels  were 
filled  with  wonder,  to  see  a  body  so  noble,  erect,  and  possessed  with  such  en- 
dowments of  mind  ;  but  while  angels  were  wondering,  said  God  to  angels, 
"my  Son  shall  assume  the  nature,  and  appear  in  the  form,  of  that  man, 
whom  ye  now  behold  ;  and  I  command  all  of  you  to  worship  him  as  an 
incarnate  God."  This  was  the  first  time  that  Christ  was  brought  into  the 
world,  by  name ;  and  when  Jehovah  brought  his  first  begotten  into  the 
world,  he  said,  "  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him."  This  appears  to 
be  the  test  of  their  obedience  ;  and  the  trial  was,  whether  they  would  wor- 
ship a  being  in  a  nature  inferior  to  their  own,  merely  because  God  com- 
mandcd  them  to.  At  this  juncture,  angels  had  full  power  to  obey,  and  yet 
their  wills  were  free  to  rebel ;  for  God  treated  them  as  subjects  of  moral 
government,  and  exercised  no  coercion  over  them. 

Angelic  wisdom  now  began  to  reason.  "  What,"  said  angels,  "  shall  we 
worship  a  nature  inferior  to  our  own  ;  why  not  worship  a  beast  as  well  ? 
It  will  be  idolatry  to  worship  a  creature,  and  man  is  but  a  creature  ;  our 
wisdom  tells  us,  therefore,  that  it  is  best  not  to  obey."  Here  rebellion  arose. 
The  wisdom  of  angels  could  not  comprehend  how  divinity  and  humanity 
could  be  personally  united  ;  and,  therefore,  to  prevent  idolatry,  they  trans- 
gressed a  divine  command.  Let  our  views  be  ever  so  good — let  our  rea- 
soning be  ever  so  fair — yet,  if  we  refuse  to  obey  a  plain  command,  because 
we  do  not  understand  every  thing  contained  in  it,  we  are  guilty  of  that 
crime  which  turned  celestial  angels  into  infernal  devils. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  145 

To  say  that  the  first  sin  came  from  a  sinfu]  cause,  is  absurd  ;  and  to  sup- 
pose  that  it  came  from  a  holy  cause,  is  contrary  to  the  order  of  nature.  It 
is  best,  therefore,  to  conceive  of  it  as  arising  from  the  limited  wisdom  and 
inadvertent  conduct  of  sinless  creatures.  Sin,  then,  is  the  creature  of  be- 
ings,  who  are,  themselves,  the  creatures  of  God.  It  is  highly  probable, 
from  the  order  of  God's  works,  that  some  angels  were  more  noble  and  ca- 
pacious  than  others,  and  that  one  of  the  high  rank,  perhaps  the  highest  that 
God  made,  took  the  lead  in  the  rebellion,  and  used  his  angelic  oratory  to 
persuade  the  rest  to  follow  him,  who,  to  this  day,  has  a  kind  of  subordin- 
ate government  over  others.  When  they  are  called  devils,  he  is  called 
their  prmce  ;  and  when  he  is  called  the  devil,  they  are  called  his  angels. 
But  let  it  be  observed,  that  angels  acted  personally  for  themselves  ;  one 
was  not  a  representative  for  another ;  and,  as  they  do  not  procreate,  cor- 
ruption of  nature  is  not  communicated  by  generation. 

If  it  should  be  objected,  "  that  if  the  first  cause  of  sin  was  the  limited 
wisdom  of  creatures,  it  impeaches  the  goodness,  or  wisdom  and  power  of 
God  :  for,  if  God  was  infinite  in  goodness,  and  sought  the  happiness  of  his 
creatures,  he  would  certainly  have  made  their  wisdom  so  extensive  that  they 
could  not  have  erred  in  judgment,  provided  his  wisdom  and  power  could 
have  effected  it." 

The  answer  is,  infinity  belongs  alone  to  God.  Had  angels  been  endowed 
with  ten  thousand  times  as  much  wisdom  as  they  were,  their  wisdom  would 
still  have  been  limited  to  a  point,  infinitely  inferior  to  the  immense  circle 
of  Jehovah,  and  their  trial  would  still  have  been  the  same.  And  will  any 
mancooly  say,  that  the  great  first  cause — the  cause  of  all  causes  and  things, 
(sin  excepted,) — is  wanting  in  goodness,  power,  and  wisdom,  because 
he  did  not — could  not,  make  things  equal  to  himself. 

The  truth  is,  angels  were  endowed  with  wisdom,  sufficient  to  make  them 
as  happy  as  the  angels  now  in  heaven  are  ;  and  with  power  to  do  as  much 
as  God  required  them  to  do.  And  that  creatures,  as  holy  and  wise  as  the 
angels,  could  be  inadvertent,  needs  no  proof,  but  to  think  of  their  fall. 

It  was  an  essential  of  angelical  existence,  that  they  should  have  the  power 
of  going  through  matter,  and  entering  any  material  creature  :  and  therefore, 
though  they  lost  their  moral  excellences  by  the  fall,  yet  they  were  not  de- 
prived of  that  power  and  wisdom,  essential  to  their  existence  ;  had  they 
been  deprived  of  these — their  hell — their  very  existence  would  have  been 
extinguished.  That  Satan  still  retained  these  things  after  his  fall,  appears 
evident,  by  what  follows. 


19 


146  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


CHAPTER  III. 


Now  the  serpent  was  more  subtle  than  any  beast  of  the  field  which  the  Lord 
God  had  made.  The  prince  of  devils,  having  been  so  successful  among  the 
angels,  made  his  attempt  upon  man.  The  serpent  here  intends  either  that 
reptile,  called  a  snake,  or  the  devil  in  a  real  body  of  a  snake,  or  else  the 
devil  in  the  form  of  a  snake.  Various  Jewish  authors  say  that  animals 
had  the  power  of  conversing,  before  the  fall,  but  this  wants  proof  j  without 
which,  this  seducer  must  have  been  more  than  a  snake,  for  he  spake  :  and 
further,  the  Scripture  seems  to  hold  forth  that  the  seduction  of  our  first  pa- 
rents was  by  the  devil. 

If  this  serpent  was  tl>e  devil  in  a  snake,  the  question  is  whether  the  snake 
acted  voluntarily  and  understandingly,  or  involuntarily  in  ignorance  ?  If 
he  understood  what  he  was  about,  and  formed  a  confederacy  with  the  devil 
to  go  into  the  malevolent  enterprise,  he  then  deserved  the  judgment  and 
punishment  he  met  with  ;  but  if  we  acknowledge  this,  it  proves  too  much, 
for  by  this  rule  the  snake  was  a  sinner  before  Adam  or  Eve  was.  If  the 
snake  acted  involuntarily,  i.  e.,  if  the  devil  assumed  and  used  bis  body, 
merely  as  a  machine,  and  the  snake  was  ignorant  of  the  intrigue,  of  course 
he  must  be  innocent  of  the  crime  :  why  then  should  he  be  punished  1  To 
escape  this  difficulty,  some  have  thought  that  the  devil,  only  in  the  form  of 
a  serpent,  was  the  seducer:  the  name  that  some  serpents  are  called  by, 
signifies  seraph,  and  perhaps  the  devil  might  appear,  at  this  time,  in  the 
form  of  a  fiery  flying  serpent  or  seraph,  which  form  good  angels  had  ap- 
peared in  before  to  Eve,  and  thereby  transforming  himself  into  an  angel  of 
light,  might  deceive  Eve  the  more  readily :  and  yet  some  of  the  denunci- 
ations to  the  tempter,  seem  to  suit  the  snake  better  than  the  devil,  and  look 
as  if  God  meant  to  punish  the  devil  as  the  agent,  and  the  snake  as  the  in- 
strument. 

Supposing  the  snake  guilty  of  no  crime,  yet  he  who  made  the  earth,  and 
all  that  is  in  it,  for  the  use  of  man,  might  subject  the  snake  to  what  he  did, 
for  the  service  of  man,  by  putting  enmity  between  them,  that  whenever  men 
see  a  snake  they  may  be  put  in  mind  of  the  fall,  and  be  humble  for  it. 

That  God  has  ordered  the  death  of  beasts  for  the  service  of  man,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  sacrifices.  If  animal  death  was  occasioned  by  the  sin  of 
man,  surely  the  snake  may  suffer  a  little  for  his  good  ;  and  if  it  is  true  that 
beasts  would  have  been  slain  for  the  support  of  man,  had  man  never  sinned  ; 
that  God  made  them  purposely  to  lay  down  their  lives  for  men  ;  who  can 
impeach  the  goodness  of  God  for  putting  the  serpent  to  a  little  disgrace  for 
the  profit  of  man,  although  he  had  been  guilty  of  no  crime  ?  It  is  best 
therefore  to  suppose  this  serpent  was  the  devil,  in  a  real  snake. 

This  serpent  was  subtle.    Serpents  are  famed  for  their  wisdom  and  subtlety, 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  147 

and,  although  the  fox  may  be  more  crafty  than  serpents  in  general,  yet «/«« 
serpent,  being  actuated  by  the  devil,  roas  more  subtle  than  any  beast  of  the 
Jield  thai  God  had  made.  And  he  said  unto  the  looman,  who  perhaps  was 
a  little  distance  from  her  husband,  or  if  they  were  both  together,  he  first 
attempted  Eve,  being  the  weaker  part.  The  devil  spake  in  the  serpent,  as 
the  angel  of  the  Lord  did  in  Balaam's  ass :  the  words  he  said,  were,  "yea, 
hath  God  said,  ye  shall  not  eat  of  every  tree  in  the  garden."  He  begins  with 
a  yea  to  affirm  it,  yet  speaks  afterwards  by  an  interrogation,  in  which  his 
subtlety  appears.  Some  suppose  that  the  evil  first  arose  when  Eve  wandered 
away  from  her  husband  in  the  garden,  without  his  knowledge  of  it ;  but  it 
is  not  certain  that  she  was  alone  when  the  serpent  accosted  her,  nor  is  it 
likely  that  the  mutual  love  between  them  would  admit  of  their  being  far 
apart,  without  the  labor  in  the  garden  called  for  it :  and  if  duty  called  for  it, 
there  could  be  no  crime  in  it.  Others  think  that  the  disease  began  when 
Eve  gave  the  serpent  audience,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  she  suspected 
him  to  have  been  a  deceiver.  If,  as  has  been  conjectured,  the  devil  appeared 
in  the  same  form  that  good  angels  assumed  before,  where  was  the  impru- 
dence of  the  woman  in  receiving  him  ?  And,  even  supposing  Eve  to  have 
known  him  to  be  a  deceiver,  yet  she  answered  him  well,  in  these  words, 
we  may  not  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  trees  of  the  garden,  freely.  God  is  so  far 
from  restraining  us,  that  he  has  given  us  free  liberty  to  eat  of  all  the  trees  but 
one,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  which  tree  bears  a  poisonous  fruit, 
of  which  God  has  bid  us  beware  ;  and  lest  his  caution  should  be  disregarded, 
he  has  made  it  the  test  of  our  obedience,  and  threatened  us  with  something 
awful,  which  he  calls  death,  if  we  eat  thereof.  Some  imagine  that  Eve 
was  guilty  of  adding  to,  and  taking  from  the  words  of  God,  in  her  reply  to 
the  serpent.  The  words  that  she  added,  were,  neither  shall  ye  touchit :  and 
instead  of  saying,  ye  shall  surely  die,  she  said,  lest  ye  die.  But  it  may  be 
observed,  that  Eve  had  orders  second  handed  ;  when  they  were  delivered 
by  God  to  Adam,  it  is  most  probable  that  Eve  was  not  formed,  but  Adam 
gave  her  information  thereof,  and  if  he  had  not  been  particular  in  detail, 
it  was  his  error  and  not  the  error  of  Eve.  But  the  words  themselves  con- 
vey no  idea,  (that  I  can  see,)  distinct  from  the  words  spoken  to  Adam  by 
God  himself:  and,  if  men  or  women  are  guilty  of  a  crime  for  not  quoting 
words  exactly,  Peter,  and  Paul,  and  the  Son  of  God,  too,  were  guilty.  Then 
said  the  serpent  to  the  woman,  ye  shall  not  surely  die.  These  words  were 
in  direct  contradiction  to  the  words  of  God  ;  in  them  he  gives  God  the  lie. 
From  this,  he  is  said  to  be  a  liar  from  the  beginning.  These  words,  no 
doubt,  shocked  Eve  to  the  heart,  and  I  think  the  shock  was  fatal.  The 
deception  here  began.  Eve  called  in  question  the  immutability  of  God, 
and  supposed  that  this  shining  form  had  brought  her  some  intelligence  that 
God  had  revoked  his  threatening.  But  if  the  contagion  had  not  yet  taken 
place,  it  did  before  the  serpent  had  done  speaking  ',    for  when  he  had 


148  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

done,  Eve  was  disarmed  of  all  her  confidence,  and  answered  the  serpent 
no  more.  The  serpent  proceeded.  For  God  doth  know  that  in  the  day  ye 
eat  thereof,  then  your  eyes  shall  be  opened,  and  ye  shall  be  as  God's,  know- 
ing good  and  evil.  Here  the  devil  speaks  highly  in  commendation  of  the 
knowledge  of  God,  but  not  so  of  his  goodness.  He  had  before  insinuated 
that  God  withheld  from  them  what  might  make  them  happier ;  and  now 
he  represents  God  as  doing  it  designedly  :  that  as  he  knew  the  quality  of 
that  tree  to  make  them  wise,  he  prohibited  it  to  keep  them  in  ignorance.  It 
looks  as  if  the  devil,  before  this,  had  told  Adam  and  Eve  (the  latter  at  least) 
that  they  were  naked,  and  that  it  was  very  indecent ;  but,  when  they  ex-  • 
amined  themselves,  they  saw  no  cause  of  shame  in  their  nakedness,  which 
the  devil  imputed  to  their  ignorance,  and  told  them  that  if  they  would  eat 
of  that  tree,  their  eyes  would  be  opened  to  see  their  shame  as  plainly  as 
the  Gods  (the  angels)  did,  and  would  know  that  what  he  had  told  them 
was  true ;  or  that  they  would  be  as  Elohim,  the  divine  Creator,  and  know 
abundance. 

As  Eve  before  suspected  the  immutability  of  God,  she  now  had  her  ears 
opened  to  hearken  to  anything,  and  credited  what  the  serpent  said  so  far 
as  to  examine  for  herself.  The  deception  had  prevailed  so  far,  that  her 
mind  was  blinded.  For  when  the  woman  saw  that  the  tree  was  good  for 
food,  and  pleasant  to  the  eyes,  her  taste  and  sight  took  the  lead  of  her 
mind,  and  preponderated  against  the  divine  prohibition  :  which  proves  that 
her  senses  were  vitiated  before  she  ate  of  the  tree.  And  what  mainly  in- 
fluenced her  to  eat,  was  that  the  fruit  of  the  tree  was  desirable  to  make  one 
wise.  And  surely,  said  Eve,  God,  who  is  so  good,  never  wishes  us  to  live 
in  ignorance  :  what  we  know  of  God  already  makes  us  admire  him ;  how 
great  then  will  be  our  wonder  and  adoration,  when  our  eyes  are  opened, 
and  we  are  as  God's,  knowing  good  and  evil.  "  Gold  may  be  bought  too 
dear."  It  is  wisdom  in  creatures  to  live  ignorant  of  those  things  that 
cannot  be  known  but  by  rebellion  ;  but  false  reasoning  had  so  much  weight 
on  Eve,  that  she  withstood  the  tempter  no  longer,  hnitook  the  fruit  of  the 
tree  and  did  eat ;  in  which  action  she  broke  the  divine  command,  and  be- 
came culpable.  And  as  soon  as  she  had  eaten,  she  used  her  voice  to  per- 
suade  her  husband  to  do  likewise ;  who,  it  seems,  was  near  at  hand,  if  not 
on  the  spot.  St.  Paul  informs  us,  thd.t  the  man  was  not  deceived,  but  the 
woman  being  deceived  was  in  the  transgression.  In  which  words  the  sup- 
plement first  seems  to  be  left  out ;  for,  without  that  supplement,  the  man 
was  not  in  transgression  at  all.  His  meaning,  therefore,  is  that  the  woman 
was  first  deceived  and^rs^  in  the  transgression  ;  for  if  Adam  was  not  de- 
ceived by  the  words  of  the  serpent  to  Eve,  (who  might  stand  by  as  a  spec- 
tator and  hear  all  that  passed,)  yet  he  was  deceived  by  Eve.  Some  think 
that  it  was  conjugal  love  that  made  Adam  eat ;  who,  rather  than  lose  his 
wife,  would  disobey  his  God ;  if  so,  the  excess  of  his  conjugal  love  was 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  149 

his  first  depravity ;  so  that  the  beauty  and  charms  of  Eve  deceived  him. 
But  it  is  most  likely  that  Eve,  by  extolling  the  sweetness  of  the  fruit, 
and  its  excellent  effects,  deceived  him. 

As  Eve  was  persuasive  with  her  voice,  so  she  was  officious  with  her 
hands ;  for  she  gave  to  her  husband  and  he  did  eat.  If  Eve  was  not  a 
part  of  Adam,  as  federal  head,  then  her  ti'ansgression  was  only  personal, 
for  herself,  and  God  could  have  killed  her,  and  made  Adam  another 
helpmeet ;  and,  if  this  was  the  case,  then  our  fall  depended  upon  Adam's 
transgression  alone,  and  what  Eve  did  in  no  way  effects  us  j  but  I 
think  that  the  whole  man  (Adam  and  Eve)  was  federal ;  and  that  when 
the  defection  began  in  Eve,  the  female  part,  the  total  apostacy  was  not 
to  be  prevented.     And  after  they  had  transgressed. 

The  eyes  of  them  both  were  opened ;  to  see  what  good  they  had  lost, 
and  partly  what  evil  they  had  incurred  ;  to  see  themselves  stripped  of  their 
original  righteousness.  Innocence  was  now  gone,  and  guilt  began  to 
swell  their  breasts.  And  they  knew  that  they  were  naked;  by  such  a 
knowledge  as  to  be  ashamed  of  it.  At  first,  they  were  not  clothed  with 
hair,  feathers  nor  scales ;  their  clothing  was  their  moral  virtue,  and  when 
that  was  gone,  Ihey  saw  themselves  more  naked  than  the  animals,  more 
vile  than  the  beasts  that  perish.  And  they  sewed-Jig  leaves  together  and 
made  themselves  aprons.  Not  with  needles,  which  were  not  then  in  ex- 
istence, but  either  fastened  them  together  with  thorns,  or,  what  is  more 
likely,  wreathed  them  together,  and  bound  them  around  their  waists,  and 
let  the  longest  leaves  hang  down  before  them,  like  aprons,  to  hide  their 
nakedness.  The  fig-leaves  they  chose  because  of  their  large  size.  Equally 
foolish  are  men,  who  strive  to  make  a  clothing  for  their  naked  souls,  with 
their  own  works.  What  follows,  is  the  appearance  of  the  Lord  God  in 
the  garden — his  arraigning  Adam,  Eve,  and  the  serpent  before  his  bar — 
their  trial  and  respective  dooms.  But  before  I  enter  upon  these  heads,  I 
shall  inquire  into  the  nature  of  the  penalty,  annexed  to  the  law  that  was 
given  to  Adam.  The  law  was :  "  Thou  shalt  not  eat  of  the  tree."  The 
penalty  threatened,  in  case  of  transgression,  was  :  "  Thou  shalt  surely  die." 
The  time  in  which  the  penalty  was  to  be  inflicted,  was:  "  The  day  that  he 
should  eat  thereof." 

It  is  most  commonly  believed  that  the  death  of  the  body — the  death  of 
the  soul — and  the  eternal  death  of  both  body  and  soul  in  hell  are  included 
in  the  threatening,  and  that  all  these  would  have  been  inflicted  on  Adam, 
on  the  day  of  his  fall,  if  a  mediator  had  not  appeared ;  but  these  things  re- 
quire investigation. 

By  the  death  of  the  body,  is  understood  the  exit  of  the  soul,  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  animal  life,  and  a  putrefaction  and  rottenness  of  the  earthy 
parts.  This  death,  I  believe,  was  contained  in  the  threatening,  under  this 
restriction,  that  all  of  it  was  not  to  be  inflicted  on  the  same  day.     The 


150  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

words  of  the  threatening  are  rendered,  by  sonne,  dying  thou  shall  die  ; 
and  seem  to  convey  this  idea:  that  in  the  day  that  Adam  should  eat  of  the 
tree,  he  should  be  mortalized — made  subject  to  vanity,  pain  and  sickness, 
which  should  never  quit  him  till  he  should  be  reduced  to  death  ;  and  in 
this  light  God  seems  to  explain  it,  when  he  says,  In  sorrow  shall  Ihou  eat 
all  the  days  of  thy  life,  until  thou  return  to  dust.  This  was  fulfilled  on 
Adam,  and  is  fulfilled  on  his  progeny.  Whether  the  seeds  of  death  were 
occasioned  by  the  poisonous  fruit,  (which  is  probable  enough,)  or  planted 
by  God  in  a  judicial  manner,  thay  have  certainly  raised  a  war  in  the  ele- 
ments  that  compose  man,  that  will  not  cease  their  rage  till  he  expires — 
there  is  no  discharge  in  this  war. 

The  objection  to  this  doctrine,  is  this:  If  the  Death  of  the  body  was  any 
part  or  all  of  the  penalty  annexed  to  the  law,  and  Jesus,  the  security  of  his 
people,  sufi'ered  death  for  them,  with  what  propriety  can  justice  punish 
them  with  death,  when  their  security  has  paid  it  ?  To  this  it  may  be  re- 
plied, that  Jesus  died,  not  to  free  men  from  it,  but  to  follow  death  to  his 
last  retreat,  in  order  to  destroy  death  and  raise  men  therefrom.  Further, 
though  Jesus  laid  down  his  life,  yet  he  did  not  turn  to  dust,  which  seems 
to  be  the  penalty  annexed  :  this  the  real  debtor  pays,  and  not  the  surety ; 
and  besides,  it  is  not  certain  that  Jesus  ever  undertook  to  bear  or  palliate 
the  penalty  of  that  law  ;  but  it  is  most  likely  that  the  whole  of  the  annexed 
penalty  was  inflicted  on  Adam  and  his  posterity,  and  was  no  way  mitigated 
by  the  Mediator.     But  more  of  this  hereafter. 

If  by  the  death  of  the  soul  is  meant  alienation  of  affection  and  enmity 
against  God,  it  is  not  rational  to  conclude  that  this  death  was  any  part  of 
the  penalty ;  for  this  reason  :  alienation  and  a  carnal  mind  had  taken  pos- 
session of  Adam  and  Eve  before  they  broke  the  test  of  their  obedience  ; 
and  if  spiritual  apostacy  preceded  the  transgression,  it  could  not  be  the 
penalty  inflicted  for  the  crime.  Nor  would  it  sound  very  well  to  read  the 
words  of  the  Lord  thus  :  "In  the  day  that  thou  eatest  the  fruit  of  the  tree, 
I  will  make  thee  an  alienate,  carnal,  hardhearted  enemy  to  thy  Creator.'' 
Those  who  believe  that  spiritual  apostacy  was  any  part  of  the  penalty,  and 
that  Jesus,  the  surety  of  his  people,  endured  the  penalty  for  them,  would 
do  well  to  ask  themselves  this  question  :  Was  Jesus  ever  made  an  alienate, 
carnal,  hai-dhearted  enemy  to  God  ?  If  not,  how  could  he  have  borne  the 
penalty,  if  spiritual  death  was  included  in  the  penalty  ? 

But  if  by  the  death  of  the  soul  is  understood  simply  its  separation  from 
God,  the  conclusion  is  not  so  absurd,  that  it  was  part  of  the  penalty.  The 
souls  of  Adam  and  Eve  first  wandered  away  from  God,  after  Satan  and 
sin,  before  they  ate  the  interdicted  fruit ;  and,  therefore,  God,  in  a  judicial 
way,  withdrew  himself,  and  gave  them  up  to  the  fury  of  Satan  and  sin  as 
a  just  punishment.  This  Jesus  endured  for  his  people  ;  he  was  forsaken 
of  God,  and  given  up  to  Satan,  sin  and  sinners. 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  151 

That  something  more  than  natural  death  came  by  the  fall,  is  certain  ; 
and  it  is  as  certain  that  much  sin  was  committed  by  Adam  and  Eve,  ex- 
clusive of  eating  of  the  tree;  it  seems  most  elegible,  therefore,  to  suppose 
that  morality  was  the  penalty,  and  that  other  evils  arise,  either  as  the  at- 
tendants of  sin,  or  the  natural  consequences  thereof,  many  of  which  are 
communicated  by  ordinary  generation. 

It  is  pretty  plain  that  many  deaths  spoken  of  in  the  Scripture,  such  as 
famine,  pestilence,  captivity  ;  and  the  deaths  that  St.  Paul  and  others  were 
often  in,  as  well  as  the  death  of  Abel,  Absalom,  Haman,  etc.,  were  not 
contained  in  the  threatening  of  God  to  Adam ;  because  Adam  and  ten 
thousand  times  ten  thousand  besides  never  felt  them  :  and  yet  it  is  certain 
that  all  the  complicated  miseries  of  this  life,  death  and  damnation,  come 
in  at  the  door  of  sin,  either  as  the  attendants  or  natural  consequences  of 
sin,  or  what  are  inflicted  on  men  in  a  judicial  manner,  for  the  breach  of 
the  laws  of  nature  and  revelation. 

How  is  it  possible  that  corporeal  and  eternal  death  were  both  contained 
in  the  threatening  ?  The  first  says,  the  body  shall  die  and  turn  to  dust, 
the  last  says,  that  the  body  shall  endure  eternal  pain.  It  cannot  be  well 
supposed,  that  God  told  Adam,  that  if  he  should  eat  of  the  forbidden  tree, 
his  body  should  die,  and  that  he  would  send  his  son  into  the  world  to  die 
and  destroy  death,  and  raise  up  his  body  again  to  endure  eternal  pain :  If 
so,  then  the  whole  plan  of  salvation  was  made  known  to  Adam,  in  the  pre- 
cept given,  and  the  penalty  annexed  ;  which  would  be  strange  divinity  to 
imagine.  The  above  observation  therefore  seems  best ;  to  consider  dam- 
nation as  the  effect  of  sin,  in  a  final  issue,  and  as  not  being  contained  in 
the  threatening. 

Having  made  these  observations,  I  pass  on  to  the  chain  of  history, 
which  speaks  of  the  Judge  of  all  the  Earth  coming  into  the  garden,  and 
arraigning  the  criminals  at  his  bar  :  which  is  introduced,  thus : 

And  they  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord  God  walking  in  the  garden  in  the 
cool  of  the  day.  From  which  we  learn  that  sin  did  not  destroy  the  sense 
of  hearing.  By  the  voice  of  God  some  understand  thunder,  and  suppose 
that  sin  having  entered  the  world,  set  the  elements  at  war  in  peals  of  thun- 
der :  but  rather  God  spake  with  his  usual  tone,  which  Adam  and  Eve  knew  • 
and  as  he  spake,  he  appeared  to  be  walking  among  the  trees  of  the  gar- 
den, and  drawing  towards  them.  This  was  in  the  cool  of  the  day.  Satan's 
temptations  and  man's  rebellion  were  both  performed  before  on  the  same 
day  ;  and  in  the  cool  of  the  evening,  when  the  sun  was  nigh  down,  and  the 
cool  breezes  began  to  blow,  God  came  walking  towards  them. 

And  Adam  and  his  toife  hid  themselves  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord 
God  amongst  the  trees  of  the  garden.  As  they  had  lost  the  image  of  God 
they  could  not  be  happy  in  his  presence,  and  (if  Adam  spake  the  truth,) 
they  were  afraid  of  him,  as  well  they  might  be,  since  they  had  broken  the 


152  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

law  which  an  omnipotent  God  had  given  them.  Guilty  fear  appears  to  be 
the  first  evil  that  raged  after  the  fall ;  and  this  still  remains  in  all  Adam's 
posterity,  until  they  are  reconciled  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  are 
made  partakers  of  that  love  which  casts  out  fear.  This  fear  made  them 
flee  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  which  all  men  are  prone  to  while  unre- 
generate :  they  go  astray  as  soon  as  they  are  born,  giving  God  the  back 
and  not  the  face.  Blindness  of  mind  is  seen  in  this  procedure,  that  they 
should  imagine  that  God  was  local,  like  themselves,  and  that  they  could 
hide  from  him  :  But  of  this  error  they  were  soon  convinced,  for  the  Lord 
God  called  unto  Adam,  and  said  unto  him,  where  art  thou  ?  I  placed  you 
in  the  garden,  and  appointed  you  your  labor,  but  where  are  you  now  ? 
God  knew  where  Adam  was,  but  chose  to  make  Adam  confess  what  he 
had  done.  And  Adam,  said,  I  heard  thy  voice  in  the  garden  and  I  was 
afraid,  because  I  was  naked,  and  I  hid  myself. 

The  sins  that  appear  in  Adam's  answer,  were  dissimulation  and  self  ex- 
cuse. His  dissimulation  is  seen  in  endeavoring  to  conceal  from  God  the 
real  cause  of  his  fear,  which  was  his  eating  the  forbidden  fruit ;  whereas 
Adam  represents  it  to  be  his  nakedness ;  in  which  he  would  excuse  him- 
self, and  charge  God  with  the  cause  of  it,  in  not  making  him  with  a  cov- 
ering. 

And  God  said,  who  told  thee  that  thou  wast  naked?  Not  I.  When  thou 
wast  first  made  naked,  I  never  accused  thee  with  it ;  your  nakedness  did 
not  prevent  your  access  to  me,  nor  cause  me  to  reproach  you ;  nor  were 
you  ashamed  of  it  before  :  who  then  has  told  you  of  it  in  a  sneering  man- 
ner ?  If  any  one,  he  must  be  an  enemy  to  me  and  my  government,  Jtnd 
a  seducer  to  you  ;  and  therefore  I  ask  you  the  question,  Hast  thou  eaten  of 
the  tree  whereof  I  commanded  thee  that  thou  shouldst  not  eat  ? 

And  the  man  said,  the  woman  whom  thou  gavest  to  he  with  me,  she  gave 
me  of  the  tree  and  I  did  eat.  Here  Adam  makes  use  of  nineteen  words  instead 
of  saying  yes.  Fifteen  of  them  are  used  as  an  apology,  and  four  as  a  confes- 
sion. Long  apologies  and  short  confessions  have  prevailed  among  men  ever 
since.  What  Adam  said,  was  true  ;  and  yet  it  is  spoken  with  such  an  air  as 
to  cast  blame  on  the  woman,  and  finally  upon  God  himself.  He  sought  to 
screen  himself  by  the  seduction  of  the  woman,  and  finally  intimates 
that  if  God  had  not  imposed  that  woman  upon  him,  he  should  not  have  eaten. 

The  Judge  then  proceeded  to  examine  the  woman,  and  hear  of  her, 
whether  she  owned  the  charge  of  her  husband,  and  what  defence  she  had 
to  make  ;  and  said  unto  her,  what  is  this  that  thou  hast  done  ?  If  you  ac- 
knowledge the  accusation  of  your  husband,  what  is  this  great  wickedness 
that  thou  art  guilty  of?  The  woman  did  not  deny  the  charge  of  Adam, 
but,  like  him,  excused  herself,  by  accusing  her  tempter,  and  said,  the  ser- 
pent beguiled  me  and  I  did  eat.    As  fond  as  she  was,  before  this,  of  theser- 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  153 

pent,  (as  is  supposed  by  many)  being  naked  like  herself ;  yet  being  be- 
guiled by  hinn,  and  exposed  to  punishment,  she  would  fain  excuse  herself, 
and  expose  the  tempter. 

The  serpent,  who  had  received  his  doom  before,  was  not  interrogated 
at  this  time  by  the  Judge  ;  but  was  proceeded  against  with  some  denun- 
ciations in  addition  to  his  former  punishment.  In  transgression,  the  Devil 
was  first — next,  the  woman — and  last,  the  man.  The  inquest  began  first 
with  the  man — and  then  the  woman  ;  no  inquiry  being  made  of  the  ser- 
pent. But  judgment  was  denounced  on  them  according  to  the  order  of 
their  crimes, — first,  on  the  serpent ;  next,  on  the  woman ;  and  last,  on 
the  man. 

The  judge  addressed  the  serpent  as  follows  : — 

Because  thou  hast  done  this,  i.  e.  beguiled  the  woman,  thou  art  cursed 
above  all  cattle.  Those  that  were  tame,  and  to  live  among  men,  and 
above  every  beast  of  the  field,  such  as  were  or  should  be  wild ;  living  in 
the  forests  and  mountains,  not  to  assist  or  be  assisted  by  man.  Upon  thy 
belly  shall  thou  go,  without  wings  or  legs,  and  dust  shalt  thou  eat  all  the 
days  of  thy  life.  As  this  respects  the  instrument  (the  snake)  it  strongly 
indicates,  that  before  this,  the  serpent  was  the  favorite  of  Eve,  among  all 
the  cattle  and  beasts ;  but  now  it  should  be  abhorred  above  them  all :  and 
also,  that  before  this  action,  the  serpent  used  to  fly,  go  on  legs,  or  creep 
erect ;  but  now  he  should  be  degraded  to  creep  his  whole  length  on  the 
ground,  and  lick  the  dust  as  long  as  he  lived.  And  as  it  respects  the 
agent  (the  Devil)  it  sets  forth  the  abhorrence  that  he  should  meet  with ; 
being  ever  spoken  of  with  contempt ;  that  he  should  never  soar  to  heaven 
or  walk  with  majesty  on  earth,  but  be  despised  by  all,  and  feed  on  the 
sordid  lusts  of  men  :  and  as  he  will  live  for  ever,  he  never  will  rise  from 
this  abject  state. 

And  I  will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the  woman.  Before  this  there 
was  great  friendship  and  intimacy  between  the  serpent  and  woman  ;  but 
now  the  friendship  was  broken,  never  to  be  restored  again.  Serpents  are 
ever  fearful  of  men,  and  men  are  at  constant  variance  with  serpents :  Wo. 
men,  in  particular,  cannot  endure  the  sight  of  them.  And  with  regard  to 
the  Devil,  though  men  are  fond  of  his  ways,  yet  they  are  always  averse 
to  his  name  and  character,  and  are  prone  to  call  every  disagreeable  thing 
that  frets  and  plagues  them,  by  his  name :  and  the  Devil  is  the  common 
enemy  of  men,  and  cannot  love  them,  even  when  they  weary  themselves  to 
death  in  his  vassalage. 

And  between  thy  seed  and  her  seed.  The  whole  serpentine  race,  and 
all  the  posterity  of  Eve  are  at  enmity,  as  has  been  observed ;  but  by  the 
seed  of  the  Devil,  we  are  not  to  understand  his  angels,  who  joined  him  in 
the  rebellion,  but  wicked  men,  who  are  called  the  children  of  the  wicked 
one  ;  and  are  said  to  be  of  their  father,  the  Devil :  particularly  Cain,  who 

20 


154  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

was  of  that  wicked  one,  and  slew  his  brother  ;  and  all  of  his  character. 
By  the  seed  of  the  woman,  is  meant,  not  only  the  generation  of  the  godly 
in  every  age  of  the  world,  between  whom  and  the  ungodly,  there  is  always 
an  irreconciliation,  but  principally  the  Messiah,  who  was  a  descendant  of 
Eve,  and  the  child  of  the  Virgin  Mary ;  who  took  not  on  him  the  nature 
of  angels,  but  the  nature  of  man  ;  that  through  death  he  might  destroy  the 
Devil.  At  this  seed  the  heathen  rage,  the  kings  of  the  earth  set  them- 
selves at  war,  and  all  the  ungodly  are  at  variance. 

It  shall  bruise  thy  head.  When  men  encounter  a  snake,  they  are  never 
contented  till  they  have  crushed  his  head  ;  even  after  ever  so  many  blows 
upon  his  back  :  so  it  was  with  Jesus;  after  all  the  blows  of  doctrine  and 
miracles  that  he  gave  Satan,  while  he  was  living  on  earth,  yet  he  never 
ceased  till  he  bruised  his  head  on  the  cross ;  where  he  destroyed  all  the 
projects,  disconcerted  all  the  schemes,  and  broke  the  power  of  the  Devil, 
and  took  the  wise  in  his  own  craftiness  ;  and  will  never  cease  till  he  has 
levelled  his  kingdom  to  the  ground,  and  brought  down  his  horn  to  the 
dust. 

And  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel.  As  this  refers  to  the  snake,  by  reason 
of  his  creeping  on  his  belly,  he  can  only  strike  the  heel,  at  most,  the 
lower  part  of  man  ;  and  as  it  concerns  the  Devil,  he  could  only  bruise  the 
heel  of  Christ;  i.  e.  his  human  nature,  which  is  inferior  to  his  God-head. 
This  heel  Satan  bruised  with  his  temptations,  and  raised  his  instruments 
to  bruise  him  to  death  on  the  cross. 

The  Judge  next  proceeded  against  the  woman,  and  said  unto  her  :— 

/  will  greatly  multiply  thy  sorrow  and  conception ;  or  in  thy  conception ; 
for  it  is  not  to  be  understood  that  Eve  was  to  conceive  more  children  for 
her  transgression ;  but  that  her  sorrows,  in  conception,  should  be  greatly 
multiplied.  It  is  not  likely  that  women  would  have  had  many  if  any  sor- 
rows in  bearing  children,  if  sin  had  not  entered  the  world  ;  but  now  they 
bring  forth  their  children  with  multiplied  sorrows.  But,  notwithstanding 
their  sorrows  are  so  great  in  bearing  and  bringing  forth  children,  yet, 
(said  God) 

Thy  desire  shall  be  to  thy  husband.  That  women  in  general  have  a  de- 
sire to  enjoy  husbands  and  conceive  by  them,  is  evident,  from  the  discon- 
tent of  those  who  have  no  husbands ;  and  those  who  have  husbands  and 
no  children.  But  as  the  same  word  is  used  in  the  affair  of  Cain  and  Abel, 
chap.  iv.  7,  it  seems  rather  to  respect  her  subjection  to  her  husband.  Ru- 
lers address  their  subjects  by  command  ;  but  subjects  address  their  rulers 
by  desire,  in  a  supplicative  manner ;  and  as  Eve  was  first  in  the  trans- 
gression, and  a  tempter  to  Adam,  she,  and  all  her  sex  arc  reduced  to  the 
subjection  of  desiring  their  husbands  instead  of  commanding  them.  In- 
deed, by  the  order  of  Nature,  the  man  being  first  made,  the  woman  was 
to  be  in  some  subordination  ;  but  by  reason  of  the  order  of  sin,  the  woman 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  155 

being  first  in  the  transgression,  this  subjection  is  greatly  increased  ;  for  so 
it  follows, — 

He  shall  rule  over  thee — In  a  lordly,  cruel  manner ;  which  is  the  case 
of  women  in  general,  and  a  great  curse  it  is  j  and  when  they  meet  with  it 
they  should  remember  that  it  is  for  their  sin. 

Next  the  man  is  called  to  the  bar,  and  proceeded  against  as  follows : — 

Because  thou  hast  hearkened  unto  the  voice  of  thy  wife.  This  shows  that 
Eve  used  her  voice  to  persuade  Adam  to  eat.  To  hear  the  voice  of  a 
wife,  as  a  counsellor,  is  becoming  a  husband  ;  but  to  be  enticed  by  a  wife 
to  transgress  a  divine  command,  is  the  first  imprudence  that  Adam  was 
charged  with.  It  is  no  crime  for  a  man  to  be  tempted,  if  he  withstands 
the  temptation  ;  but  the  guilt  of  the  tempter  will  not  expiate  the  crime  of 
the  man  who  is  overcome  by  the  temptation.  And  this  was  Adam's  case. 
See  what  follows  : 

And  thou  hast  eaten  of  the  tree  of  which  I  commanded  thee,  saying, 
tJwu  shall  not  eat  of  it :  meaning  the  tree  of  kno-.vledge  of  good  and  evil, 
of  which  so  much  is  said.  It  is  not  likely  that  this  tree  bore  the  same 
name  before  Adam  ate  thereof,  but  took  its  name  from  the  crime  of  Adam : 
Adam  and  Eve  knew  good  before  the  fall,  but  by  eating  of  that  tree  they 
Avere  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  evil.  It  is  true,  that  the  tree  is  called 
by  that  name  before  the  fall,  but  it  is  most  likely  it  was  so  called  by  antici- 
pation— Moses  giving  it  the  same  name  that  it  was  called  by  after  the  fall. 
This  tree  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  near  the  tree  of  life ;  but  the 
fruits  of  the  two  trees  differed  widely :  the  first  bore  fruit  to  morlalize, 
the  last  to  immortalize. 

It  is  evident  that  Adam  and  Eve  apostatized  before  they  ate  of  the  tree, 
but  the  prohibition  of  that  tree  being  the  test  of  their  obedience,  for  the 
breach  of  that,  God  gives  out  the  doom  :  Cursed  is  the  ground  for  thy 
sake. 

Some  suppose  that,  if  sin  had  never  entered  the  world,  the  earth  would 
have  produced  her  increase  spontaneously  ;  but,  in  chap,  ii.,  5,  it  looks  as 
if  man  at  first  was  made  to  till  the  ground  ;  and  yet  it  is  clear  that  sin  has 
brought  a  great  curse  upon  the  earth.  I  conclude  that  a  little  labor  for 
recreation  would  have  been  sufficient,  had  not  sin  marred  the  face  of  the 
earth  :  but  now,  says  God,  In  sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all  the  days  of  thy 
life. 

Adam  lived  nine  hundred  and  thirty  years ;  and  so  many  years  he  ate 
the  fruits  of  the  earth  in  sorrow,  sweat,  labor  and  pain  ;  which  grievous 
debt  is  entailed  on  his  offsprings.  The  profit  of  the  earth  is  for  all — the 
king  himself  is  served  by  the  field — all  live  upon  the  fruits  of  the  earth, 
and  all  eat  thereof  in  sorrow.  Let  men  live  where  they  choose,  follow 
what  calling  they  please,  yet  sorrow  attends  them  all  the  days  of  their 
lives. 


156  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Thorns  also  and  thistles  shall  it  bring  forth  to  thee.  The  earth  brings 
forth  herbage  for  beasts  spontaneously,  but  men  have  to  till  the  ground, 
labor  in  the  field,  toil  and  sweat  to  kill  the  thorns  and  thistles,  and  noxious 
weeds  in  general,  to  raise  vegetables  and  bread  for  themselves  ;  and  this 
fatigue  lasts  until  they  return  to  dust. 

For  dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return.  Adam's  body  was 
made  out  of  the  earth,  his  animal  spirit  distilled  from  it;  and  when  God 
recalled  the  soul  that  he  breathed  int&  him,  the  animal  spirit  was  extin- 
guished,  and  his  body  turned  to  dust.  The  same  fate  follows  all  his  off- 
springs. 

In  this  manner  God  explains  the  threatening  that  he  gave  to  Adam  be- 
fore, and  he  is  not  a  man  that  he  should  lie,  but  was  as  good  as  his  word  ; 
and  it  appears  to  me,  that  whatever  was  contained  in  these  words,  "  In  the 
day  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die,"  was  fully  inflicted  on  Adam, 
and  was  not  mitigated  by  the  Mediator  ;  for  God  appeared  as  a  judge  to 
execute  his  law,  and  never  so  much  as  mentioned  a  Mediator  to  Adam 
and  Eve  in  the  whole  process.  I  am  also  as  well  convinced  that  many 
evils  befel  Adam,  and  do  befall  us,  that  were  never  contained  in  the 
threatening,  as  I  have  observed  before. 

The  seed  of  the  icoman  was  spoken  of  to  Satan,  not  as  a  saviour,  but 
as  a  destroyer  ;  to  convince  him,  and  all  his  species,  that  though  they  re- 
fused  to  worship  an  incarnate  God,  and  had  prevailed  over  Adam  and  Eve, 
yet  he  should  proceed  from  the  woman,  and  wear  a  human  form,  and 
prove  an  over  match  for  them  all. 

Adam  and  Eve,  who  stood  by  when  God  spake  these  words  to  the  ser- 
pent, might  yet  hope  at  least  of  temporal  life,  and  perhaps  of  eternal  life, 
through  the  seed  ;  but  this  no  way  diverted  the  threatening. 

And  Adam  called  his  wife's  name  Eve ;  which  name  signifies  to  live 
or  she  liveth.  As  she  was  not  annihilated,  as  he  might  expect,  with  him- 
self, he  gave  her  this  name  to  perpetuate  the  action.  Adam,  before  this, 
had  given  names  to  all  the  beasts,  and  the  name  of  woman  to  his  wife ; 
but  now,  hearing  that  she  was  to  bear  a  seed,  and  seeing  her  still  alive, 
gave  her  a  new  name — Eve. 

Because  she  laas  the  mother  of  all  living  :  i.  e.,  of  human  kind.  These 
words  were  added  by  Moses,  which  he  offered  as  a  reason  why  Adam 
gave  his  wife  that  name,  or  spoken  by  Adam,  knowing  that  she  w^as  the 
only  woman  in  the  world,  and  that  from  her  the  whole  human  race  would 
proceed.  All  nations  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  though  bearing  different 
colors  and  shapes,  and  in  a  multitude  of  conditions,  must  own  Eve  for 
their  mother. 

And  the  Lord  God  made  coats  of  skins  and  clothed  Adam  aiid  his  wife. 
These  skins  were  taken  from  beasts ;  but  on  what  account  the  beasts 
were  slain,  is  uncertain.     It  is  the  opinion  of  some,  that  before  Adam  fell 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  157 

the  beasts  came  to  him  by  instinct,  and  willingly  offered  their  lives  to 
serve  him  ;  and  that,  if  sin  had  never  entered  the  world,  man  would  have 
lived  upon  animal  food  ;  and  this  opinion  is  supported,  by  observing  that 
the  earth  would  soon  have  been  overstocked  with  beasts  and  fowls  if  none 
of  them  had  died ;  and  further,  they  remark  that  some  beasts  and  fowls 
were  made  to  slay  others,  and  live  upon  them  ;  that  the  very  shape  of  some 
of  them  indicates  that  they  were  made  to  devour ;  that  claws,  long  teeth 
and  hooked  bills,  would  have  been  useless  and  troublesome  to  creatures 
designed  to  live  alone  upon  vegetables  ;  and,  finally,  they  cannot  believe 
that  the  sin  of  man  should  bring  death  upon  beasts. 

If  these  things  can  be  maintained,  it  is  not  difficult  to  say  where  God 
found  these  skins  to  clothe  Adam  and  his  wife  with.  Adam  and  Eve  hav- 
ing  killed  these  beasts  to  eat  their  flesh,  flayed  off  their  skins,  in  some 
such  way  as  savages  do,  without  knives,  and  laid  them  by  as  useless;  but 
now  God  taught  them  that  their  skins  were  as  good  for  clothing  as  their 
flesh  was  for  food.     But  these  things  are  questionable. 

It  is  not  certain  that  animal  flesh  was  ever  eaten  by  man  till  after  the 
flood.  The  fruits  of  the  garden,  the  herbs,  and  every  tree  yielding  seed, 
are  all  that  were  given  to  Adam  and  Eve  to  eat,  in  their  first  charter  ; 
and  after  the  fall,  they  were  to  eat  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brows. 
And  how  beasts  could  lay  down  their  lives  without  pain,  is  inconceivable  ; 
and  to  suppose  that  they  would  have  come  instinctively  and  laid  down  their 
lives,  without  pain,  for  man,  is  strange. 

But  one  thing  further  is  certain,  that  the  sin  of  man  occasions  the  death 
of  brutes  ;  if  not  causally,  in  the  first  instance,  yet  it  does  eventually — 
the  cruelty  and  wantonness  of  man  reduce  the  beasts  to  death.  And  it 
seems  to  strike  as  directly  against  the  goodness  of  God,  to  suppose  that 
the  species  of  brutes  should  toil,  groan  and  die,  to  satisfy  the  pride,  lust 
and  cruelty  of  man,  as  it  does  to  suppose  that  animals  at  first  were  made 
to  be  mortal,  and  die  to  satisfy  the  hunger  of  man. 

But  if  beasts  were  not  eaten  before  the  fall,  nor  even  before  the  flood, 
it  is  supposable  that  these  beasts  were  slain  for  sacrifices,  which  ceremony 
was  certainly  in  force  in  the  days  of  Cain  and  Abel,  and  likely  was  or- 
dained soon  after  the  fall,  but  not  before  the  beasts  had  begun  to  multiply  ; 
for  if  the  first  beasts  had  been  slain,  their  species  would  have  been  extin- 
guished. From  this  early  institution  of  sacrificing  lambs,  Christ  is  called 
a  Lamb,  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  How  long  it  was  after 
the  fall  before  God  clothed  Adam  and  his  wife  with  skins,  is  unknown ; 
but  the  first  clothing  that  he  made  for  them  was  out  of  skins,  from  which, 
it  is  most  likely,  the  hair  was  not  taken  ofi*:  so  the  Tartars,  Laplanders, 
and  various  nations  clothe  themselves  unto  this  day. 

As  the  fig  leaves  that  Adam  and  Eve  sewed  together  to  make  them- 
selves  aprons  of,  were  emblems  of  the  vain  ways,  foolish  hopes,  and  self- 


158  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

righteousness  of  the  ungodly ;  so  these  coats  of  skins  were  figurative  of 
the  righteousness  of  Christ,  that  robe  of  righteousness  and  garnoent  of  sal- 
vation, with  which  the  Almighty  adorns  the  souls  of  penitents. 

And  the  Lord  God  said,  behold  the  man  is  become  like  one  of  us,  to 
know  good  and  evil.  This  phrase  respects  both  Adam  and  Eve,  though 
but  one  of  them  is  mentioned.  If  these  words  were  seriously  spoken,  the 
sense  is,  that  now  Adam  and  his  wife  had  become  like  one  of  the  divine 
reasons  in  knowledge.  Before  the  fall,  God  knew  good  and  evil,  and 
good  from  evil ;  evil,  not  by  possession,  but  by  understanding  its  nature 
and  consequences ;  but  Adam  and  Eve  did  not ;  they  knew  good,  by  pos- 
session, but  had  no  just  idea  of  evil  ;  but  now  being  fallen  into  evil,  and 
convinced  of  its  nature  and  effects,  in  that  respect  they  became  as  God. 
How  applicable  are  the  words  of  Solomon  in  this  affair  !  "  He  that  in- 
creases knowledge,  increases  sorrow." 

Or  else  the  meaning  is,  that  now,  since  the  Lord  had  graciously  made 
known  to  them  the  Messiah,  the  seed  of  the  woman,  and  brought  them  to 
a  sense  of  their  sin,  and  also  clothed  them  with  skins,  (representing  the 
righteousness  of  Christ,)  that  they  were  like  the  angels,  being  in  favor 
with  God,  and  ready  and  willing  to  obey  him  ;  or  rather  that  they  were 
like  God  himself,  being  created  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  having  put  on  the  new 
man,  created  in  righteousness  and  holiness,  after  the  image  of  him  who 
created  him. 

But  it  seems  best  to  understand  the  words,  as  spoken  ironically  ;  reprov> 
ing  while  they  seem  to  applaud.  It  was  the  vain  hope  and  wish  of  Adam 
and  Eve,  that,  by  eating  the  forbidden  fruit,  they  should  be  as  Gods ; 
and  here  God  retorts  upon  them  :  "  Now  the  man  is  become  like  one  of 
us,  is  he  ?  look  and  see  his  wretchedness  !  see  what  his  pride  has  reduced 
him  to  !  His  knowledge  is  increased,  it  is  true,  but  wherein  is  he  the  bet- 
ter ?  Innocence  was  far  better  :  nor  has  his  misfortune  humbled  his  heart 
entirely,  aspiring  thoughts  yet  dwell  within  him." 

And  now,  lesi  he  put  forth  his  hand,  and  take  of  the  tree  of  life  and  eat 
and  live  forever.  God  first  treated  Adam  as  a  free  agent ;  he  left  him  to 
his  own  choice,  to  eat  or  not  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  knowledge,  using  no  oth- 
er means  to  keep  him  from  eating,  but  a  moral  prohibition,  as  a  test  of  his 
obedience  ;  but  not  so  with  the  tree  of  life.  That  tree  was  guarded  with 
cherubims  and  a  fiery  sword.  God,  in  the  character  of  a  legislator,  never 
forces  or  prevents  the  human  will  ;  but  in  the  character  of  a  judge,  dealing 
with  culprits,  he  subjects  them  to  afflictions  contrary  to  their  wills. 

As  it  is  probable  that  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  was  poisonous, 
and  that  it  naturally  reduced  Adam  to  pain,  sickness  and  death  ;  so  also 
it  is  likely  that  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  life  was  of  the  nature  to  immortal- 
ize. And  now,  Adam  having  eaten  of  the  first,  by  which  he  incurred  death, 
(both  physically  and  judicially,)  was  prevented  from  staying  in  the  garden, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  159 

lest  he  should  lake  of  the  ti-ee  of  life,  and  thereby  immortalize  himself  and 
so  live  forever.  Some  have  thought,  that  if  sin  had  never  entered  into  the 
world,  yet  men  would  have  been  subject  to  decay ;  to  remedy  which  the 
tree  of  life  was  planted,  and  bore  fruit  of  that  quality  to  remove  or  rather 
prevent  all  weakness  of  the  limbs,  wrinkles  in  the  face,  and  everything  of 
the  kind. 

Another  reason  assigned  as  the  cause,  why  this  tree  was  called  the  tree 
of  life,  is,  that  it  was  ever  verdant,  constantly  circulating  sap  and  bearing 
fruit  all  the  year  ;  and  this  seems  probable  enough  from  Rev.  xxii.,  2,  where 
reference  is  had  to  this  tree.  And  the  Devil  might  have  suggested  to  Ad- 
am, that  there  could  be  no  malignity  in  the  prohibited  tree,  which  grew  so 
near  the  tree  of  life,  and  if  there  was,  they  might  easily  take  of  the  fruit  of 
the  tree  of  life,  which  would  be  a  sufficient  antidote ;  but  to  prevent  all 
such  vain  hopes  in  Adam  and  Eve,  and  to  convince  them  that  they  were 
not  at  liberty  to  follow  the  machinations  of  Satan,  The  Lord  God  drove 
them  out  of  the  garden  of  Eden,  to  till  the  ground  from  whence  Adam  was 
taken. 

Before  this,  I  conclude  Adam  had  not  begun  to  till  the  ground,  but  had 
lived  upon  the  spontaneous  fruits  of  the  garden,  what  time  he  had  lived, 
which  was  not  long,  as  it  seems.  The  garden  was  planted  in  the  east 
part  of  Eden,  and  it  looks  as  if  Adam  was  driven  entirely  out  of  the  land 
of  Eden  ;  for  the  cherubic  guard  was  placed  at  the  east  of  the  garden,  to 
keep  Adam  and  Eve  from  returning  to  the  garden  and  eating  of  the  tree 
of  life.  The  Lord  drove  them  out  of  the  garden  (which  they  left  with  re- 
luctance, as  is  probable)  to  till  the  ground  from  whence  Adam  was  taken, 
and  raise  their  bread  in  sweat,  labor  and  pain.  The  ground  that  he  was 
to  till,  was  that  out  of  which  he  was  taken  :  from  which  it  appears,  that 
Adam  was  made  out  of  the  ground  east  of  Eden,  and  taken  from  thence 
by  the  Lord,  and  placed  in  the  garden  of  Eden  ;  but  as  he  was  rebellious  in 
the  garden,  he  was  driven  back  to  the  place  where  he  was  made,  to  spend 
his  days  in  sweat,  sorrow  and  pain,  until  he  returned  to  dust. 

From  Adam's  being  taken  from  the  spot  where  he  was  made  and 
placed  in  Eden's  garden,  (if  he  had  been  obedient,)  it  is  probable  that  he 
would  have  been  raised,  in  gradual  stages,  to  the  same  enjoyment  that  the 
glorified  saints  will  eternally  enjoy  ;  but  the  life  he  possessed  in  the  garden, 
did  not  capacitate  him  to  rise  any  higher  than  he  then  was ;  nor  had  he 
any  reason  to  believe  that  his  best  obedience  would  merit  a  higher  station  : 
yet,  I  conclude,  it  is  not  extravagant  to  suppose,  that  God  would  have  ex- 
alted him  to  the  same  pinnacle  of  glory,  that  all  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord 
will  hereafter  inherit ;  for,  as  sin  will  never  prevent  the  purposes  of  God's 
grace,  so  likewise,  it  is  never  the  cause  of  human  exaltation,  before  God. 
Sin  is  the  cause  of  pain  and  sickness,  want  and  woe,  horror  and  shame 
hardness  and  impenitence,  anger  and  rage,  strife  and  contention,  war  and 


160  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

bloodshed,  death  and  damnation.  If  sin  had  never  entered  the  world,  there 
would  have  been  no  cause  of  Christ's  death  ;  but  sin  was  not  the  cause  of 
the  incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ,  nor  does  it  cause  the  communication  of 
eternal  life  into  the  human  heart. 

No  man  will  ever  return  to  the  state  that  Adam  was  in  while  in  the 
garden :  those  who  are  regenerated  will  rise  much  higher,  and  those  who 
die  in  rebellion  will  sink  much  lower. 

Or,  perhaps,  the  meaning  of  the  clause,  To  till  the  ground  out  of 
which  he  was  taken,  does  not  respect  the  particular  spot  where  Adam  was 
made  and  taken  from ;  but  the  ground  in  general,  out  of  which  element 
Adam  was  formed. 

And  the  Lord  God  placed  at  the  east  of  the  garden  of  Eden  cheruhims, 
and  a  flaming  sword  which  turned  every  way,  to  keep  the  way  of  the  tree 
of  life.  Frequent  accounts,  in  Scripture,  are  given,  both  of  living  and 
lifeless  cherubims.  About  the  ark  and  mercy-seat,  and  on  the  walls  of 
the  holy  place,  in  the  temple,  were  lifeless  images,  called  cherubims. 
The  living  cherubims  are  called  seraphims,  living  creatures,  four 
beasts,  and  cherubims.  These  creatures,  in  Scripture,  generally  intend 
gospel  ministers  ;  but  not  always.  Where  it  is  said  that  Jehovah  rode 
upon  a  cherub  and  did  fly,  it  is  better  to  understand  it  of  an  angel,  than  of 
a  human  minister.  Perhaps  the  name  may  be  given,  with  propriety,  to 
any  messenger  of  the  Lord,  from  the  greatest  angel  to  the  smallest  insect. 
In  the  text  now  under  consideration,  they  seem  to  intend  angels,  and  not 
ministers  of  the  gospel.  Angels  were  then  in  existence,  but  gospel  min- 
isters were  not.  These  angelical  ministers  were  xn^^e  Sl  flame  of  fire : 
streams  of  fire  proceeded  from  them,  resembling  swords,  like  the  beams 
of  the  sun,  in  every  direction,  to  strike  the  rebel  through  who  should  dare 
to  approach  the  tree  of  life. 

Some  think  this  wonderful  appearance  was  designed  by  God,  to  convince 
Adam,  and  keep  in  his  mind,  that  no  life  was  ever  after  the  fall  to  be  had 
by  the  deeds  of  the  law.  That  the  flaming  sword  of  justice  stands  pointed 
against  every  soul  that  seeks  salvation  by  works  of  righteousness  that  he 
can  do. 

Others  are  of  opinion,  that  as  the  tree  of  life  was  an  emblem  of  Jesus 
Christ,  (who  is  often  compared  to  the  tree  of  life,)  so  these  cherubims 
were  heiroglyphical  of  gospel  ministers,  who  handle  the  word  of  God, 
which  is  quick  and  powerful,  sharper  than  a  two-edged  sword  ;  which  turns 
every  way  to  detect  the  hypocrite,  alarm  the  profane,  and  point  out  to 
penitents  the  way  of  salvation,  by  faith  in  the  Redeemer.  But  it  appears 
to  me,  that  these  cherubims  were  not  merely  visionary  appearances,  but 
real  subsistences,  and  therefore  the  first  sense  given  seems  most  probable. 

How  long  these  angels  continued  there,  as  guards  to  the  tree,  is  uncer- 
tain.    If  the  tree  of  life  died  as  soon  as  common  trees  do,  (in  about  one 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  161 

hundred  years,)  or  if  they  guarded  the  tree  until  the  flood,  when  men 
were  removed  from  that  part  of  the  world,  they  were  happy  in  their  post, 
doing  the  will  of  God.  The  flood  has  so  altered  the  face  of  the  earth  (to- 
gether with  earthquakes  and  other  causes)  that  no  man  can  tell  where  the 
garden  or  any  part  of  Eden  lay  ;  and  what  became  of  the  trees  in  the  gar- 
den, particularly  the  tree  of  death  and  tree  of  life ;  whether  they  were 
used  for  firewood  or  timber — whether  they  died  with  age  or  are  now  liv- 
ing— or  whether  the  first  was  transplanted  in  hell,  and  the  last  in  paradise, 
to  me,  is  unknown. 


APPENDIX. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

The  nature  of  God  is  just,  and  therefore  his  ways  are  all  equal  ;  and  as 
love  and  goodness  proceed  from  him,  consequently  malevolence  and  sin 
cannot ;  otherwise,  his  ways  would  be  unequal. 

Some  suppose  that  it  was  necessary  that  sin  should  emerge  among  the 
creatures  of  God,  that  the  divine  glory  might  be  more  effulgently  displayed 
than  otherwise  it  could  have  been.  But  is  the  supposition  well  founded  ? 
what  idea  should  we  form  of  a  man  who  should  charge  his  son  not  to  run 
into  the  fire,  and  with  one  hand  brace  him  from  it,  and  at  the  same  time, 
with  the  other  hand,  secreted  by  a  screen,  pull  the  forbidden  child  into  the 
flame,  that  he  might  show  his  compassion  to  his  little  favorite  in  pulling 
him  out  of  the  burning  coals  ?  Would  such  compassion  be  amiable  ?  But 
suppose  the  same  man  should  serve  ten  sons  in  the  same  manner,  and  pull 
but  five  of  them  out,  and  leave  the  rest  therein  forever,  that  those  five  who 
were  graciously  delivered,  and  the  five  who  were  unfortunately  forsaken 
might  see  his  justice,  could  God  or  man  love  such  a  character  ? 

If  goodness,  love  and  justice,  cannot  be  displayed,  known  and  enjoyed, 
without  a  previous  knowledge  and  possession  of  evil,  then  Adam,  in  inno- 
cency,  could  not;  angels  in  heaven,  and  the  God  of  angels,  cannot  either 
know,  enjoy,  or  display  goodness,  love  and  justice. 

That  sin  adds  anything  to  the  glory  of  the  Divine  Essence,  is  inadmis- 
sible. If  any  beings,  therefore,  are  profited  by  it,  sinners  themselves  are; 
and  if  infinite  wisdom  could  contrive  no  way  to  add  to  creatures,  but  a 
way  that  damns  a  great  part  of  them,  what  shall  we  say  of  such  wisdom  ? 
Could  not  justice  shine  to  men  as  transpicuous  without  their  guilt  as  it 

21 


162  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

now  can  ?  Is  it  noi  as  ^eat  justice  to  clear  the  innocent  as  it  is  to  con- 
demn  the  guilty  ?     These  things  are  so. 

What  has  goodness  to  say,  if  the  justice  of  God  could  not  so  fully  be 
made  known  without  the  damnation  of  millions  of  millions  ?  Is  it  possible 
for  the  best  of  creatures,  yea,  for  God  himself,  to  love  such  sovereign 
justice  ? 

How  can  the  mouths  of  the  damned  be  stopped  by  that  justice  which 
could  not  be  displayed  without  their  exquisite  tornnent  ?  And  how  can  the 
saints  triumph  in  that  character  which  wantonly  glories  in  the  misery  of 
their  fellow  creatures  ? 

Had  sin  never  entered  the  world,  the  justice  of  God  could  have  ap- 
peared  as  glorious  as  it  now  does,  or  ever  will ;  and  if  creatures  are  to  be 
raised  to  a  higher  state  of  glory  than  they  could  have  been  without  sin, 
all  the  praise  of  this  superabundant  glory  belongs  to  sin,  and  all  creatures 
should  love  the  death  of  the  wicked,  which  the  Creator  takes  no  plea- 
sure in. 

The  Lord  God  is  omnipotent :  nothing  (consistent  with  his  nature)  is  too 
hard  for  him  to  effect ;  but  he  acts  upon  a  scale  so  exalted,  from  a  prin- 
ciple so  good,  that  he  cannot  do  those  mean,  dirty  things  that  men  can. 
If  it  should  be  thought  a  pesumptuous  impeachment  of  divine  power  to  say 
that  "  God  could  not  have  prevented  sin  in  the  first  instance,"  it  certainly 
operates  as  much  against  his  goodness,  to  say  that  he  could  have  prevented 
it.  The  omniscient  Jehovah  made  creatures  without  their  own  consent, 
and  foresaw  all  the  evils  that  ever  they  would  fall  into.  Now,  if  he  could 
have  prevented  their  sin  by  one  of  his  fingers,  and  would  not  put  that  fin- 
ger forth,  who  can  justify  his  goodness  ? 

Eternal  power  is  limited  by  nothing  but  the  nature  of  the  divine  Esse, 
which  is  so  good  and  benevolent,  that  Omnipotence  could  not  make  crea- 
tures miserable  by  destroying  the  liberty  of  their  wills,  which  was  the  only 
way  supposable  to  prevent  their  crimes. 

"But  was  it  possible  for  the  Almighty  ever  to  discover  the  attribute  of 
mercy  to  his  creatures,  without  their  apostacy  ?  Does  not  mercy  always 
presuppose  need  or  misery  ?  If  so,  then  sin,  on  the  creature's  part,  has 
proved  the  way  for  the  discovery  of  that  perfection  which  otherwise  would 
ever  have  been  dormant." 

This  remark  has  real  weight,  and  merits  a  fair  investigation.  It  is  a 
principal  hinge  for  turning  the  disputes  of  the  present  day  ;  and,  therefore, 
is  not  to  be  slightly  canvassed. 

The  word  attribute,  is  as  great  a  stranger  in  the  Bible,  as  the  word 
moral ;  and  what  two  words  are  more  frequently  used  by  divines,  or  more 
variously  understood. 

If  by  an  attribute  is  understood  an  essential  property  of  Deity  ;  that, 
without  which  the  Almighty  would  be  imperfect ;  and  further,  if  it  is  sup- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  163 

posed  that  all  the  attributes  of  Jehovah  can  have  an  ample  circulation  in 
the  divine  Essee,  without  the  existence  of  creatures,  so  that  the  infinite 
God  is  independantly  glorious  :  I  conclude  that  mercy  is  not  an  attribute. 
For  ii  mercy  always  presupposes  need  or  misery,  how  could  it  circulate  in 
a  being  where  no  need  or  misery  was  to  be  found  ? 

Learned  men  say  that  the  attributes  of  God  are  ever  spoken  of  in  the 
single  number,  thus  :  love,  power,  holiness,  ^-c,  and  will  not  admit  of  their 
plurals,  loves,  powers,  holinesses,  ^c.  If  this  observation  has  any  weight 
in  it,  then  mercy  cannot  be  an  attribute,  for  mercy  is  plural  (mercies)  in  a 
variety  of  places  in  the  Bible. 

In  the  above  view  of  things,  i?  mercy  is  an  attribute,  God  was  dependant 
on  creatures  to  do  that  which  was  contrary  to  his  nature  and  law — that, 
which  he  could  not  do  himself  or  tempt  them  to — to  bring  themselves  into 
a  situation  in  which  alone  he  could  make  a  full  discovery  of  himself  unto 
them.     How  dependant  was  God,  in  this  point  of  view  ! 

God  is  a  spirit  of  light,  life  and  love,  and  some  think  that  his  attributes 
are  naught  but  the  manifestations  of  himself  to  his  creatures,  in  his  word 
and  works.  The  invisibility  of  the  eternal  power  and  godhead  was  made 
known  in  creation,  and  is  clearly  seen  by  the  things  that  are  made. 
Wisdom,  power  and  goodness,  were  exhibited  in  creation,  but  grace  and 
mercy  were  not.  Here  then  the  question  arises :  viz.,  was  not  sin  neces- 
sary ?  etc.  Can  any  man  suppose  that  fury,  wrath  or  vengeance,  are  es- 
sential properties  of  the  God  of  love  and  goodness  ?  Are  they  not  the  dis- 
plays of  justice  on  criminals  ?  Just  so  mercy  is  the  stream  of  love.  God 
is  love,  and  eternally  loved  his  people;  nor  could  all  their  sins  either 
heighten  or  destroy  it.  And  love,  the  fountain,  could  and  would  have 
raised  them  to  the  same  enjoyment,  that  mercy,  the  stream,  now  will,  if 
they  never  had  sinned. 

If,  therefore,  creation  was  a  work  of  necessity,  for  a  display  of  the  per- 
fections of  God,  yet  sin  was  not ;  for  no  perfection  of  God  is  now  made 
known  to  creatures,  but  what  could  have  been  made  known  as  fully  with- 
out sin:  justice  could  have  shone  as  effulgent,  and  love  appeared  as  strong 
as  they  now  do.  The  universe  is  as  much  worse  for  sin,  as  all  the  groans 
of  the  creation  and  all  the  damnation  of  men  and  devils  amount  to,  and  in 
no  instance,  upon  a  general  scale,  the  better  for  it. 

Those  who  go  to  heaven  are  raised  entirely  upon  the  scale  of  love  and 
goodness,  but  saved  from  hell  upon  the  scale  of  justice. 

Another  question  arises,  which  is  this :  "  Do  not  the  saints  in  heaven 
admire  redeeming  love  more  than  angels  do,  or  more  than  they  possibly 
could  have  done,  if  they  had  not  sinned  and  been  redeemed  ?" 

Redeeming  love,  by  that  name,  would  never  have  been  known  on  earth 
or  in  heaven,  if  creatures  had  not  sinned  ;  but  from  this  it  does  not  appear 
that  creatures  on  earth  or  in  heaven  are  happier  than  they  could  othe^yyise 


164 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


have  been.  That  saints  in  heaven  will  be  more  exalted  than  angels,  is 
what  I  believe ;  but  this  exaltation  arises  from  the  likeness  of  nature,  and 
not  from  the  redemption  from  sin  ;  for  Jesus  Christ  has  done  the  human 
nature  more  honor  than  he  has  the  angelic,  in  that  he  put  on  the  first  and 
not  the  last. 

To  solve  the  question,  let  me  ask  any  godly  man,  who  understands  the 
nature  of  grace  in  his  heart,  whether  (in  times  when  his  soul  is  most  full 
of  the  love  of  God)  he  admires  redemption  from  hell  or  the  enjoyment  of 
God's  love  the  most  ?  If  I  judge  right  when  souls  enjoy  most  ot  God, 
they  are  the  most  swallowed  up  in  admiring  the  perfections  of  God,  with- 
out poring  so  much  upon  what  he  has  done  for  them. 

That  the  act  of  redemption  calls  loudly  upon  all  on  earth  and  all  in 
heaven  to  adore  trre'Hedeemer  is  unquestionable;  at  the  same  time,  if  we 
trace  things  to  their  origin,  thjb  principle  that  this  act  proceeds  from,  is  to 
be  principally  adored  ;  and  this  principle  could  have  been  as  well  known 
and  as  fully  enjoyed  without  sin,  as  it  now  can. 

All  the  works  of  God  are  the  effects  of  divine  power  and  goodness, 
love,  and  justice  in  concert ;  and  he  always  acts  from  motive  in  himself; 
and  is  noways  biased  by  the  conduct  of  his  creatures :  yet  the  actions  of 
men  vary  the  operation  of  his  hand  in  numberless  instances.  A  benevo- 
lent father  loves  his  child,  and  always  acts  from  a  principle  of  love  towards 
him;  but  as  the  behaviour  of  the  child  is  sometimes  filial  and  sometimes 
froward ;  the  same  stimulus  of  love  that  moves  the  father  at  some  times  to 
give  a  plaudit  and  bestow  an  encomium,  at  other  times  induces  him  to  give 
a  reproof  and  inflict  a  punishment.     The  application  is  easy. 

To  say  that  Jesus  Christ  did  not  die  for  sinners,  but  for  the  glory  of 
God,  is  just  as  good  divinity,  as  it  is  to  say,  that  rain,  and  fruitful  sea- 
sons, bread,  and  all  the  blessings  of  nature,  are  not  given  to  men  for  their 
good,  but  for  the  glory  of  God.  That  Jesus  shed  his  blood  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins,  was  wounded  for  transgressions,  and  bruised  for  iniquity, 
died  for  sins,  and  laid  down  his  life  for  his  sheep,  is  abundantly  proven 
in  scripture. 

The  nature  of  God,  and  the  nature  of  sin  are  such,  that  sin  must  be 
punished  somewhere,  in  some  being;  for  it  cannot  be  punished  in  itself: 
the  criminal  or  the  surety  must  smart  for  it.  If  the  surety  pays  the 
whole  debt,  bears  the  full  punishment,  then  the  criminal  is  freed,  upon  the 
scale  of  law  and  justice  ;  and  the  creditor  cannot  demand  the  sum,  nor 
the  law  its  penally  from  both  the  debtor  or  criminal,  and  the  surety. 
Now  if  the  satisfaction  of  Christ  consists  in  suffering  for  sin,  (which  is  the 
light  in  which  the  New  Testament  holds  it  forth,)  he  ehher  made  universal 
satisfaction  to  God,  for  the  sins  of  all  Adam's  race,  or  he  did  not.  If  the 
atonement  is  universal,  how  can  any  be  damned,  upon  the  scale  of  justice  ? 
If  the  answer  is,  "  because  men  will  not  repent,  believe,  and  return  and 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  165 

submit  to  the  deliverer."  The  next  question  is,  are  the  acts  of  impen- 
itence, unbelief,  inattention  and  obstinacy,  sins  or  no  sins  ?  If  no  sins, 
then  men  can  be  saved  in  them.  If  they  are  sins,  then  they  were  atoned 
for,  or  they  were  not ;  if  they  were  atoned  for,  how  can  men  be  damned 
for  them  ?  If  they  were  not  atoned  for,  then  the  atonement  was  not  uni- 
versal. If,  therefore,  the  atonement  is  proved  to  be  universal,  it  follows, 
of  course,  that  salvation  is  universal;  but  if  the  last  is  confuted,  the  first 
inevitably  falls. 

It  is  a  question,  whether  Jesus  the  son  of  Mary  went  to  heaven  upon 
the  scale  of  nature,  obedience,  God-head  or  grace.  His  nature  was  free 
from  sin,  but  not  spiritual  enough  for  heaven,  till  after  his  resurrection. 
His  obedience  was  as  perfect  as  the  law  required ;  he  magnified  the  law 
and  made  it  honorable.  The  searching  eye  of  omniscience  could  see  no 
imperfection  in  him  ;  but  his  obedience  entitled  him  to  no  higher  station 
than  Adam  was  in  before  the  fall.  To  suppose  that  he  overcame  and  rose 
to  heaven  merely  by  his  own  God-head,  would  destroy  the  idea  of  his  per- 
fect human  virtue,  and  represent  the  man  of  sorrow  as  having  no  trials 
at  all :  for  what  proof  of  a  giant's  skill  would  it  be  to  conquer  a  pigmy,  or 
what  danger  would  a  hero  be  in,  beset  only  by  a  child.  It  seems  best 
therefore  to  suppose  that  Jesus  went  to  heaven  by  grace.  That  the  babe 
that  was  conceived  in  the  virgin's  womb,  was  in  the  same  predicament 
and  texture  of  innocent  Adam,  we  have  great  reason  to  believe  ;  but  with- 
out the  grace  of  God,  it  is  more  likely  that  he  would  have  fallen  than  that 
Adam  should,  as  temptations  had  increased  a  thousand  fold.  That  John 
the  Baptist  was  regenerate  in  his  mother's  womb,  is  pretty  clear ;  and 
likely  it  is  the  case  with  many  others.  So  likewise  the  child  Jesus,  came 
into  the  world  an  innocent  Adam  and  a  regenerate  soul,  and  in  that  char- 
acter was  proof  against  all  the  temptations  that  befell  him,  and  perfectly  .  (*  ^ 
obedient  to  the  law  ;  and  after  dying  and  suffering  for  sins,  not  his  own,  ,;; 
he  was  raised  with  a  spiritual  body  capable  of  entering  heaven,  which  was 
not  the  case  of  Adam's  body  before  the  fall.  If  these  things  are  facts, 
then  Jesus  called  God  his  father,  as  Christians  do,  being  his  son  by  re- 
generation, (I  mean  in  some  places,)  and  I  shall  leave  the  reader  to  judge, 
whether  the  words,  "ye  who  have  followed  me  in  the  regeneration  of  this 
life,"  are  not  applicable  to  the  above  sentiment. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  some,  that  depravity  consists  alone  in  the  will,  being 
the  reverse  to  all  that  is  good.  That  when  the  hlindness  of  the  mind,  and 
the  darkness  of  the  understanding  are  spoken  of,  we  are  to  form  the  idea, 
that  the  will  is  so  perverse,  that  men  will  not  attend  to  the  means  of  in- 
formation,  and  therefore  the  mind  is  left  in  ignorance.  This  observation 
is  supported  by  great  men  and  great  argument ;  nor  am  I  disposed,  at  this 
time,  to  call  it  in  question  ;  but  one  thing  I  shall  contend  for,  viz.  that 
moral  agency  and  the  violation  of  the  will,  have  nothing  to  do  in  the  work 


?►. 


166 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


of  regeneration.  The  reception  of  divine  grace,  or  the  new-birth,  is  not 
according  to  the  will  of  man :  it  is  not  of  him  that  willeth  but  of  God. 

To  tell  a  congregation  of  people,  that  they  may  all  come  to  Christ  as  a 
mediator,  and  receive  eternal  life,  if  they  will,  is  incoherent  divinity  ; 
Adam  in  innocncey  had  not  that  power.  Paul,  whose  will  was  present, 
could  not  do  as  he  would  ;  and  all  the  saints  in  every  part  of  the  world, 
when  their  wills  are  most  swallowed  up  in  the  divine  will,  find  the  need 
of  spiritual  strength  to  perform  things  that  they  would. 

That  men  are  moral  agents,  since  the  fall,  is  evident ;  otherwise  they 
could  not  sin  at  all ;  but  let  those,  who  believe  that  salvation  turns  upon 
man's  acceptance,  remember  that  the  tree  of  life  in  the  garden,  was  not 
to  be  eaten  of  at  the  will  of  man  after  the  fall :  and  those  who  suppose 
that  the  promised  seed,  (or  rather  the  seed  of  the  woman,  spoken  of  as  a 
conqueror  to  the  serpent,)  restored  fallen  man  to  free  agency,  consider 
that  the  guardian  prohibition  of  this  tree,  was  after  the  seed  of  the  woman 
was  spoken  of. 

When  will  man  duly  consider,  that  the  most  perfect  obedience  of  a 
moral  subject  entitles  him  to  no  higher  station,  than  the  state  where  he 
is  fixed  ? 

If  Christ  had  died  for  all,  and  there  is  a  fulness  of  grace  for  all ;  how 
comes  it  to  pass  that  some  ai-e  saved  and  not  all  ?  "  because  some  will 
not  come." 

Are  there  not  many  who  had  this  will  not  for  a  number  of  years,  and 
afterwards  repented  and  went  1  "  beyond  all  doubt." 

Was  not  their  obstinacy  of  will  atoned  for  as  well  as  the  rest  of  their 
sins  ?  "  To  be  sure." 

Are  the  sins  of  obstinacy  in  other  sinners  atoned  for  or  not  ?  '^  they 
are,  how  can  they  be  damned  for  sins  already  atoned  for,  upon  the  scale 
of  justice  ?  If  they  are  not  atoned  for,  how  can  such  find  pardon  ?  "  But 
the  sins  of  men  are  atoned  for  conditionally." 

What  are  those  conditions  1 

"The  conditions  are,  that  every  one  that  will  repent  of  his  sins  and  be- 
lieve in  Jesus  Christ  shall  be  saved  ;  but  every  one  that  will  not  repent  and 
believe,  shall  die  under  the  curse  of  the  law,  and  have  an  aggarvated 
damnation  for  refusing  to  submit  to  an  otfered  Saviour." 

Can  men  comply  with  those  conditions  ?  If  one  man  can,  so  can  all, 
except  one  is  made  better  than  another.  If  God  has  made  one  man  better 
than  another,  how  can  he  require  as  much  of  one  as  of  another,  in  jus- 
tice ?  If  all  men  are  in  one  predicament,  then  one  can  do  what  another 
can ;  and  if  all  men  have  power  to  repent  and  believe,  how  comes  it  to 
pass  that  some  do  and  others  do  not  ?  "  Because  one  uses  the  means  and 
others  do  not."  But  why  does  one  use  the  means  and  not  another  ?  "Be- 
cause one  will  and  another  will  not."     But  how  comes  one  to  have  a  will 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  167 

and  not  another  ?    Does  this  better  will  proceed  from  nature  or  from  grace  ? 
If  from  either,  God  is  the  author  of  it.* 

If  Jesus  Christ  was  delivered  up  to  death  by  an  original  statute,  sin  was 
certainly  included  in  the  moral  system  ;  for  on  no  other  account  did  Jesus 
die,  but  for  the  sins  of  his  people.  That  he  was  delivered  by  the  determin- 
ate  counsel  of  God,  is  evident ;  but  that  this  delivery  includes  death,  is  very 
questionable.  There  is  no  way  supposable,  that  God  could  have  raised 
human  creatures  to  heaven,  but  by  delivering  his  Son  to  become  incarnate  j 
for  the  union  of  the  two  natures  in  the  Mediator,  is  the  ground- work  of  the 
exaltation  of  human  creatures  to  the  divine  glory. 

The  best  mode  of  thinking  is  this  :  That  God  originally  determined  to 
deliver  his  son  to  be  incarnate  ;  and  secondarily,  from  a  knowledge  of  crea- 
tures' sin,  delivered  him  to  death  ;  the  last  being  a  consequence  of  the  first, 
depending  on  the  moral  agency  of  creatures,  and  not  arising  from  an  orig- 
inal statute. 

There  is  no  kind  of  violence  or  cruelty  under  the  sun,  but  what  may 
be  reconciled  to  tyrannical  sovereignty ;  but  has  the  God  of  love  and  good- 
ness a  sovereign  right  to  do  wrong?  "It  must  be  right  because  God  has 
done  it,"  is  not  a  sound  as  harmonical  as  to  say,  "  It  is  wrong,  and  there- 
fore God  is  not  the  author  of  it." 

The  whole  universe  is  composed  of  a  multitude  of  units ;  if  the  human 
world  is  therefore  the  better  for  sin,  the  advantage  must  be  found  among 
some  or  all  these  units  ;  but  where  is  there  a  judicious  individual  in  the 
universe,  that  can  say,  he  is  better  for  sin  ? 

That  wicked  men  are  physically  impelled  to  sin,  excited  thereto  by  mor- 
al suasion ;  or  called  upon  to  rebel  by  the  dispensations  of  God's  mercies 
and  judginpnts,  is  inadmissible.  But  that  their  corrupt  natures  are  in  that 
predicament  that  they  are  under  a  natural  necessity  to  sin  until  they  are 
changed  by  grace,  is  incontestible.  Consequently  if  there  is  a  single  ac- 
tion o^  spiritual  good  to  be  performed  by  them,  prior  to  their  receiving  the 
grace  of  God,  it  will  forever  remain  undone.  The  truth  is,  that  in  the 
simple  work  of  regeneration,  men  neither  assist  nor  resist. 

In  the  foregoing  exposition  and  apendix,  there  are  a  number  of  hints 
given,  that  the  predicament  of  innocent  Adam,  was  different  from  that  of  a 
regenerate  saint  on  earth,  and  of  a  glorified  saint  in  heaven ;  and  as  this 
distinction  is  called  in  question  by  many,  I  shall  say  something  more  on 
the  subject. 

It  is  true,  God  may  justly  require  more  of  his  creatures  now,  than  he 
required  of  Adam  in  the  garden.  The  obedience  and  faith  of  a  creature, 
should  always  be  tantamount  to  the  commands  and  revelation  of  the  crea- 
tor.    If  the  creator,  therefore,  commands  his' creatures  any  thing  more 

*This  mode  of  reasoning  is  just  in  the  plan  of  salvation^  but  inadmissible  in  the  moral 
system. 


168  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

than  he  commanded  Adam,  they  are  under  bonds  to  obey  ;  and  that  crea- 
tures, since  the  fall,  are  commanded  to  make  themselves  new  hearts  and 
cleanse  themselves  from  all  unrighteousness,  be  unfeignedly  sorry  for  their 
sins  and  love  God  with  a  pure  heart  fervently,  admits  of  no  doubt.  And 
further,  if  God  has  revealed  more  to  his  fallen  creatures  than  he  revealed 
to  Adam  in  the  garden,  they  should  believe  more  than  he  did,  with  an  un- 
shaken faith.  When  Jesus  was  on  earth,  he  gave  as  full  proof  of  his  di- 
vinity and  Messiahship,  as  the  Almighty  did  of  his  God-head  in  creation  ; 
and  therefore  people  who  saw,  and  those  who  have  heard  of  him,  are  as 
strongly  bound  to  believe  in  him  as  the  Almighty  Saviour  as  they  are  to 
believe  in  the  God-head  of  the  creator. 

But  still  the  question  is,  whether  grace  does  not  raise  men  to  a  higher 
state  than  they  fell  from — do   more  for  them  than  the  law  requires? 

It  cannot  be  supposed,  that  the  law  requires  man  to  rise  to  a  more  ex- 
alted state  than  Adam  was  in,  when  in  Eden  :  now  if  it  can  be  demon- 
strated that  grace  raises  men  higher  than  Eden's  garden,  then  the  hy- 
pothesis is  maintained. 

Adam  was  on  earth :  saints  will  be  raised  to  heaven.  Adam  was  to 
propagate  :  saints  will  be  like  angels  in  respect  of  propagation.  Adam 
was  to  dress  the  garden  and  eat  thereof:  saints  will  be  fed  by  God  with- 
out  their  hand  labor. 

The  presumption  is  strong  that  Adam  was  made  to  till  the  ground  : 
saints  will  live  where  there  will  be  no  ground  to  till.  The  point  then 
is  proved. 

As  for  the  predicament  of  Adam's  soul,  before  the  fall,  it  is  as  diffi- 
cult to  describe,  as  it  is  to  describe  where  the  garden  of  Eden  was,  for 
much  the  same  reason.  Sin  drove  him  from  that  garden,  and  extinguish- 
ed that  life  in  his  soul,  that  neither  he,  nor  any  of  his  progeny  will  ever 
regain.  When  wandering  souls  are  brought  home  to  God,  it  is  not  to 
Eden's  garden,  or  to  that  life  that  Adam  possessed  in  innocency;  but 
to  a  place  more  exalted,  to  a  life  more  sublime. 

That  Adam,  while  innocent,  took  complacency  in  the  divine  charac- 
ter, cordially  submitted  to  the  moral  government  of  Jehovah,  and  cheer- 
fully obeyed  his  God,  is  granted :  anything  short  of  this,  would  have  been 
hypocrisy  at  best.  This  exercise  is  still  enjoined  on  all  men ;  for  God 
has  not  lost  his  right  to  command,  because  men  are  depraved  and  fallen. 
But  after  all,  the  life  of  Adam's  soul  was  mutable ;  it  was  not  eternal 
life,  it  was  not  extinguished  by  sin,  and  ended  in  death ;  neither  Adam 
nor  any  of  his  children  will  ever  enjoy  the  same  life  again  :  but  those 
who  are  changed  by  grace,  are  made  partakers  of  an  immutable,  eternal 
life  that  can  never  be  extinguished. 

Another  idea  also  contended  for,  is  this,  viz.,  that  the  grace  of  God, 
in  regeneration,  is  bestowed  in  a  sovereign  manner :  that  God  in  giving 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND,  169 

that  grace,  works  not  according  to  the  laws  of  nature,  and  treats  with 
men,  not  as  moral  agents,  but  as  recipient  beings.  The  system  of  the 
Armenians  merits  regard,  so  far  as  it  respects  moral  government ;  in 
this  point,  they  have  the  advantage  of  those  who  suppose  that  sin,  and 
all  its  consequences,  emerge  in  consequence  of  some  grand  decree  in  Deity  ; 
but  when  they  intrude  the  moral  system  into  the  channel  of  grace,  and 
suppose  that  salvation  depends  upon  the  will  and  acceptance  of  the  area- 
lure,  prior  to  his  being  born  again,  they  make  wretched  work. 

In  vindication  of  the  first  mentioned  part  of  their  system,  it  may  be 
said,  that  if  angels  and  men  cannot  act,  but  as  they  are  acted  upon;  if 
spirits  have  no  kind  of  self  motion,  but  are  always  used  as  pullies,  weights 
and  wheels  in  a  machine  ;  and  that  they  act  voluntarily  also,  it  not  only 
represents  Jehovah  as  the  original  agent  of  their  wicked  actions,  but  the 
author  of  their  corrupt  wills  ;  by  making  use  of  motives  behind  the  screen, 
to  influence  them  to  act.  Should  a  monarch  put  a  knife  into  a  child's  hand, 
and  directing  the  child's  hand  with  his  own  arm,  thrust  the  blade  into  an- 
other  and  kill  him^  who  would  punish  the  child  and  exculpate  the  monarch  ? 
and  if  the  monarch  made  use  of  motives  visible  or  clandestine,  to  influence 
the  child  to  act  willingly,  would  the  violation  of  the  child  clear  the  char- 
acter of  the  monarch  ? 

But  in  opposition  to  the  last  mentioned  part  of  their  system,  viz.,  that 
salvation  depends  upon  moral  agency  ;  let  it  be  noticed,  that  if  the  grace 
of  the  gospel  only  re- Adams  men,  there  is  a  thousand  times  as  great  rea- 
son to  believe  that  all  men  will  be  damned,  as  there  was  to  believe  that 
Adam  would  fall.  The  sure  standing  or  final  falling  of  a  soul,  rests  either 
upon  the  unchangeableness  of  God,  or  the  unchangeableness  of  the  crea- 
ture ;  if  on  the  unchangeableness  of  God,  their  standing  is  sure  ;  for 
God  changes  not ;  but  if  their  standing  rests  on  the  unchangeableness  of 
the  creature,  their  falling  is  not  only  possible,  but  probable ;  not  only 
probable,  but  certain.  In  this  point  of  sight,  every  argument  that  is  brought 
to  prove  the  possibility  of  falling  away  finally,  operates  with  a  thousand 
times  as  much  weight,  to  prove  that  falling  away  is  certain. 

The  truth  is,  that  holy,  mutable  creatures  had  power  to  do  evil,  and 
evil  creatures  have  natural  power  to  do  good  ;  to  do  as  much  as  the  law 
requires,  (so  far  as  it  respects  their  future  conduct,)  for  sin  has  not  de- 
stroyed their  natural  powers ;  but  they  have  no  more  power  than  will,  to 
perform  spiritual  services  in  a  gracious  manner.  This  spring  of  soul, 
Adam  had  not ;  this  spring,  sin  never  broke;  this  spring  is  effected  in  the 
work  of  grace;  sin  is  not  the  cause  of  it,  nor  shall  sin  prevent  its  being 
formed  in  the  heart,  nor  shall  sin  ever  entirely  break  it. 

To  close  the  appendix,  I  shall  observe,  that  sin  arose  at  first,  either 
from  the  agency  of  God,  or  the  agency  of  creatures.  If  it  arose  from 
the  agency  of  God,  there  is  either  no  evil  in  it,  or  an  eternal  root  of  evil 

22 


170  THE   WRITINGS    OF 

was  in  God,  for  nothing  can  arise  in  the  agency  of  God,  but  what  had 
root  in  himself;  and  if  God  is  such  a  being,  and  by  his  power,  mixed  with 
love  and  hate,  good  and  evil,  he  made  creatures,  and  demands  their  ad- 
miration ;  then  it  must  be  given  him  :  but  one  thing  is  certain,  if  this  be 
the  case,  viz.,  the  more  holy  creatures  are,  the  less  they  love  such  a  char- 
acter, and  when  they  are  made  like  him,  they  will  not  be  free  from  roots 
of  bitterness.  Let  the  wire-drawer,  or  the  hair-splitter,  who  believes  that 
sin  was  designed  by  God,  and  that  it  answers  valuable  purposes,  show  the 
difference  between  cause  and  occasion,  if  he  can  ;  and  how  he  can  main- 
tain his  point,  without  holding  to  two  eternal  opposite  causes,  I  know  not. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  171 


LETTER    OF    V  A  X.ED  ZC  TX  OXf , 


LEATING  VIRGINIA,  IN  1791. 


MEN,    BRETHREN,   AND   FATHERS : 

In  leaving  the  state,  where  I  have  contracted  a  large  acquaintance — 
where  I  have  spent  fourteen  years  of  the  prime  of  my  life  ;  in  which  time 
I  have  baptized  seven  hundred  persons  (the  chiefest  of  whom,  God  has 
graciously  given  me  as  the  seals  of  my  ministry,)  it  may  reasonably  be 
supposed  that  I  feel  an  unusual  perturbation  of  mind ;  especially  when  I 
consider  the  kind  acceptance  I  have  had  among  the  people,  as  well  as  the 
confidence  which  the  Baptist  society  have  reposed  in  me.  When  all  these 
endearing  bonds  present  themselves  before  me,  they  strangely  agitate  my 
throbbing  breast.  A  total  divesture  of  these  sensations  would  render  me 
and  odious  stoic,  among  men  formed  for  friendship  :  but  an  excess  of  these 
tender  emotions,  would  appear  too  effeminate  for  a  man  of  business,  an4 
inadmissable  for  the  hazardous  voyage  before  me. 

I  cannot  say  that  I  had  any  particular  call  to  come  to  Virginia,  like 
Paul  to  go  to  Macedonia ;  but  came  voluntarily,  of  my  own  accord ;  and 
hope  kind  Providence  has  overruled  it  for  the  best.  Now  I  meditate  a  re- 
turn to  my  native  land,  upon  a  principle  as  voluntary  as  I  came.  May 
Heaven  send  me  good  speed,  and  prosper  me  in  every  lawful  undertaking. 
The  thoughts  of  death,  in  general,  are  not  as  painful  as  the  thoughts  of 
living  for  nothing. 

My  friends  in  general,  and  those  in  particular  who  acknowledge  my 
weak  efforts  as  a  means  of  their  salvation,  will  receive  this  final  valedic- 
tion as  a  proof  of  my  love ;  and  as  I  cannot  visit  them  all  to  take  a  formal 
parting,  I  hope  this  letter  will  be  as  pleasing  and  more  profitable.  When 
I  came  first  into  Virginia,  I  shared  the  common  lot  of  strangers  ;  many 
were  afraid  of  me,  that  I  was  not  sincere  :  and  some  better  characters  than 
myself,  seemed  to  defame  ;  but  I  always  was  prevented  from  retorting,  by 
the  words  of  David,  "  Who  can  stretch  forth  his  hands  against  the  Lord's 
anointed  and  be  innocent :"  and  amidst  all  my  troubles,  these  words  were 
my  support,  "  The  Lord  said,  verily  it  shall  be  well  with  thy  remnant  of 
days ;  verily  I  will  cause  the  enemy  to  entreat  thee  well  in  time  of  afflic- 


172  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

tion,  and  in  time  of  evil."  No  man  can  conceive  the  difficulty  that  a  stran- 
ger in  a  strange  land  has  to  endure,  but  those  who  have  tried  it.  Thus  I 
was ;  in  the  day  the  draught  consumed  me,  and  the  frost  by  night ;  my 
head  has  often  been  filled  with  dew,  and  my  locks  with  the  drops  of  the 
night.  The  love  af  my  God,  and  the  worth  of  immortal  souls,  has  stimu- 
lated my  heart  and  borne  me  up  under  all  the  pressure  of  mobs,  tumults, 
reproaches,  and  contentions ;  and  having  obtained  help  of  God,  I  remain 
until  this  very  day. 

The  union  that  has  taken  place  among  the  Baptists  has  been  very  pleas- 
ing to  me,  and  a  continuation  of  the  same,  is  an  object  that  engrosses  my 
desire.  For  this  desirable  end,  I  have  been  willing  to  sacrifice  a  number 
of  little  peculiarities,  and  think  myself  a  gainer  in  the  bargain.  y\ 

Ye  are  not  strangers,  my  dear  brethren  and  children,  to  the  difference  J 
of  opinions  now  subsisting  among  the  Baptists  in  Virginia ;  some  pleading 
for  predestination,  and  others  for  universal  provision.  It  is  true  that  the 
schemes  of  both  parties  cannot  be  right ;  and  yet  both  parties  may  be  right 
in  their  aims,  each  wishing  to  justify  wisdom,  and  make  God  righteous 
when  he  judgeth.  He  cannot  be  wrong,  whose  life  and  heart  are  right. 
He  cannot  walk  amiss  who  walks  in  love.  I  have  generally  observed,  that 
when  religion  is  lively  among  the  people  no  alienation  of  affection  arises 
from  a  difference  of  judgment ;  and  whoever  considers  that  the  Devil  is  or- 
thodox  in  judgment,  and  that  the  Bible  is  not  written  in  form  of  a  system, 
will  surely  be  moderate  in  dealing  out  hard  speeches  towards  his  heterodox 
brother.  I  conclude  that  the  eternal  purposes  of  God,  and  the  freedom  of 
tJie  human  toill,  are  both  truths  ;  and  it  is  a  matter  of  fact,  that  the  preach- 
ing that  has  been  most  blessed  of  God,  and  most  profitable  to  men,  is  tlie  doc- 
trine of  sovereign  grace  in  the  salvation  of  souls,  mixed  with  a  little  of  what  is 
called  Arminianism.  These  two  propositions  can  be  tolerably  well  reconciled 
together,  but  the  modern  misfortune  is,  that  men  often  spend  too  much  time 
in  explaining  away  one  or  the  other,  or  in  fixing  the  lock-link  to  join  the 
others  together  ;  and  by  such  means,  have  but  little  time  in  a  sermon  to  in- 
sist on  those  two  great  things  which  God  blesses.  I  do  not  plead  for  implicit 
faith  ;  let  each  man  believe,  speak,  and  act  for  himself;  but  when  it  is  con- 
fessed  that  nine  tenthsof  the  scripture  is  best  explained  without  descending 
to  those  cutting  points,  a  man  must  appear  contracted  who  spends  all  his  time 
in  disputing  about  them  ;  and  more  malevolent  when  he  finds  it  tends,  not  to 
promote  love  and  union,  but  rather  a  rancorous  spirit.  Let  us  then  follow 
after  the  things  that  make  for  peace,  and  the  things  whereby  one  may  edify 
another,  and  strive  who  shall  be  the  most  humble,  and  love  over  the 
greatest  affronts.  • 

My  children,  I  am  afraid  that  after  my  departure,  you  will  forget  the 
weak  advice  that  I  have  given  you ;  and  what  is  infinitely  more  the  in- 
str action  of  that  gracious  redeemer  who  bought  you  with  his  blood.     Where 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  173 

fore  watch,  and  remember  that  for  the  space  of  fourteen  years  I  ceased 
not  to  warn  you  night  and  day,  and  taught  you  publicly,  and  from  house 
to  house.  And  now  behold  I  go,  with  submission  to  Providence,  to 
New  England,  not  knowing  what  things  will  befall  me  there.  Perhaps  the 
faithless  seas  may  be  my  tomb,  or  I  may  live  to  experience  more  severe 
trials  than  ever  I  have  sustained. 

I  know  myself  to  be  a  feeble,  sinful  worm.  A  retrospective  view  of  my 
past  conduct  is  not  altogether  pleasing,  and  perhaps  it  is  owing  to  your  par- 
tiality that  I  have  not  been  publicly  exposed  ;  for  my  own  pai  t,  I  have  no- 
thing to  fly  to  for  defence,  but  the  blood  and  righteousness  of  the  dear  Re- 
deemer ;  but  if  my  conduct  has  been  such  as  to  escape  the  censure  of  those 
men,  who  know  what  it  is  to  struggle  with  a  body  of  death,  any  calumny 
that  may  be  cast  on  me  after  my  departure,  will  be  unnoticed. 

I  have  preached  about  three  thousand  sermons  since  I  came  to  Vir- 
ginia; all  of  which  have  been  too  flat,  and  many  of  them  so  cold,  that  the 
sentences  would  almost  freeze  between  my  lips ;  and  yet,  many  times, 
when  I  have  attempted  to  instruct  and  comfort  others,  I  have  found  the 
same  blessings  for  myself.  And  now,  brethren,  I  commend  you  to  God 
and  the  word  of  his  grace,  which  is  able  to  build  you  up,  and  give  you  an 
inheritance  among  all  those  who  are  sanctified  ;  hoping  and  praying  that, 
if  we  meet  no  more  on  earth,  we  may  meet  in  heaven,  among  all  the  re- 
deemed of  the  Lord.  Though  the  company  is  large,  yet  there  is  room, 
— "  many  mansions" — places  for  you,  my  brethren,  a  place,  I  trust,  for 
worthless  me. 

Before  I  close,  I  wish  to  add  a  word  in  behalf  of  the  poor,  unhappy  ne- 
groes, and  speak  a  little  for  those  who  are  not  suffered  to  speak  for  them- 
selves. I  have  generally  been  quiet  on  this  head,  for  the  following  rea- 
sons : — 1st.  I  have  been  a  stranger  among  you,  and,  therefore,  judged  it 
indecent  to  meddle  with  the  customs  of  the  country.  2d.  I  have  had  no 
slaves  of  my  own,  and  so  concluded  that  if  I  said  anything  on  that  head,  it 
would  be  construed  to  my  disadvantage,  without  doing  any  good.  3d.  It 
has  ever  appeared  to  me  difficult  to  form  any  plan,  even  in  idea,  for 
their  manumission  ;  and,  to  expose  the  evil,  without  pointing  out  the  way 
of  escape,  would  be  doing  as  the  witch  did  to  Saul.  4th.  To  say  anything 
about  it  would  raise  the  passions  of  a  certain  class  of  citizens ;  and  from 
that  they  would  abuse  them  worse  than  before,  and  so  eventually  make 
those  in  misery  more  miserable.  But,  as  I  am  now  about  leaving  the 
state,  I  can  speak  with  more  freedom. 

I  am  heartily  glad,  that  I  can  say  that  the  spirit  of  masters  has  greatly 
abated  since  I  have  been  in  Virginia  ;  it  is  now  confessed,  by  many,  that 
negroes  can  feel  injuries,  hunger,  pain  and  weariness,  and  I  hope  this 
spark  of  good  fire  will  be  raised  to  a  flame,  in  due  time. 


174  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

I  confess,  that  I  am  not  as  much  shocked  to  see  them  naked,  gaunt  and 
trembling,  as  I  was  when  I  first  came  into  the  state  ;  the  distance  that  they 
are  kept  in,  the  abject  subordination,  and  things  relative  thereto,  do  not  af- 
fect me  as  they  once  did  :  so  fatal  are  bad  customs  ;  but  I  can  never  be 
reconciled  to  the  keeping  of  them ;  nor  can  I  endure  to  see  one  man  strip 
and  whip  another,  as  free  by  nature  as  himself,  without  the  interference  of 
a  magistrate,  or  any  being  or  thing  to  check  his  turbulent  will.  And,  as  I  am 
well  convinced  that  many  of  my  dear  brethren  have  the  same  feelings  with 
myself,  I  can  unbosom  myself  with  confidence.  It  is  not  my  intention  to 
drop  the  ministerial  vest,  and  assume  the  politician's  garb  to-day  ;  but,  af- 
ter adding  that  slavery,  in  its  best  appearance,  is  a  violent  deprivation  of 
the  rights  of  nature,  inconsistent  with  republican  government,  destructive 
of  every  humane  and  benevolent  passion  of  the  soul,  and  subversive  to  that 
liberty  absolutely  necessary  to  ennoble  the  human  mind,  let  me  ask  whe- 
ther Heaven  has  nothing  in  store  for  poor  negroes  better  than  these  gall- 
ing chains  ?  If  so,  ye  ministers  of  Jesus,  and  saints  of  the  Most  High,  ye 
wrestling  Jacobs,  who  have  power  with  God,  and  can  prevail  over  the  an- 
gel, let  your  prayers,  your  ardent  prayers,  ascend  to  the  throne  of  God  in- 
cessantly, that  he  may  pour  the  blessing  oi freedom  upon  the  poor  blacks. 
If  public  prayers  of  this  kind,  would  raise  the  anger  of  tyrants,  or  em- 
bolden the  slaves  in  insolence,  let  the  sable  watches  of  the  night,  in  lonely 
solitude,  be  witnesses  to  your  sincere  longings  after  the  liberty  of  your 
fellow  creatures. 

How  would  every  benevolent  heart  rejoice  to  see  the  halcyon  day  ap- 
pear— the  great  jubilee  usher  in,  when  the  poor  slaves,  with  a  Moses  at 
their  head,  should  hoist  up  the  standard,  and  march  out  of  bondage !  Or, 
what  would  be  still  more  elating,  to  see  the  power  of  the  gospel  so  effec- 
tual that  the  lion  and  the  lamb  should  lie  together — all  former  insults  and 
revenges  forgotten — the  names  of  master  and  slave  be  buried — every  yoke 
broken,  and  the  oppressed  go  free — free  but  not  empty  away. 

And  you,  my  black  brethren,  hear  a  word  from  your  parting  friend.  It 
is  not  only  a  general  complaint,  but  a  general  truth,  that  but  very  few  of 
you  will  do  your  duty  without  a  degree  of  severity.  That  your  masters 
have  the  right  to  chastise  you,  while  your  are  their  servants,  is  undoubted. 
You  cannot  conceive  what  pain,  what  distress  of  soul,  your  masters  endure 
for  your  sake.  How  glad  many  of  them  would  be,  if  you  would  bear  good 
usage.  Their  rest  forsakes  them  at  night,  and  their  comfort  by  day,  on 
account  of  your  indolence  and  roguery.  There  is  no  way  you  can  honor 
your  profession,  do  a  good  part  for  yourselves,  or  move  God  to  send  you 
deliverance  so  effectually,  as  to  obey  those  who  have  the  rule  over  you  in 
the  fear  of  God.  Though  our  skins  are  somewhat  different  in  color,  yet 
I  hope  to  meet  many  of  you  in  heaven  j  where  your  melodious  voices, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  175 

that  have  often  enchanted  nny  oars  and  warmed  my  heart,  will  be  inces- 
santly employed  in  the  praise  of  our  common  Lord.  In  hope  of  this 
immortal  joy,  you  may  well  be  patient  in  your  hardships,  and  wait  till 
your  change  comes. 

And  now  may  the  peace  of  God,  that  passeth  all  understanding,  dwell 
richly  in  all  your  hearts.     Amen, 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  CONSCIENCE  INALIENABLE, 

AND,    THEREFORE, 

RELIGIOUS    OPINIONS    NOT    COGNIZABLE    BY  LAW  ; 

OR, 
TBI]  HIGH-FZ.7IirG  CBmiCHia.AJfr, 

STRIPPED  OF  HIS  LEGAL  ROBE,  APPEARS  A  YAHO* 

I  know  not  to  give  flattering  titles  to  men. — Elicq. 


1791. 


*  First  published  in  New  London,  Connecticut,  on  his  return  from  Virginia. 


23 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  179 


TEI£    RIGHTS  OF   CON-SCIENCE,  &c. 

There  are  four  principles  contended  for,  as  the  foundation  of  civil  gov- 
ernment, viz.,  birth,  propefty,  grace,  and  compact.  Tlie  first  of  these  is 
practised  upon  in  all  hereditary  monarchies,  where  it  is  believed  that  the 
son  of  a  monarch  is  entitled  to  dominion  upon  the  decease  of  his  father, 
whether  he  be  a  wise  man  or  a  fool.  The  second  principle  is  built  upon 
in  all  aristocratical  governments,  where  the  rich  landholders  have  the  sole 
rule  of  all  their  tenants,  and  make  laws  at  pleasure  which  are  binding  upon 
all.  The  third  principle  is  adopted  by  those  kingdoms  and  states  that  re- 
quire a  religious  test  to  qualify  an  officer  of  state,  proscribing  all  non-con- 
formists from  civil  and  religious  liberty.  This  was  the  error  of  Constan- 
tine's  government,  who  first  established  the  Christian  religion  by  law,  and 
then  proscribed  the  Pagans,  and  banished  the  Arian  heretics.  This  error 
also  filled  the  heads  of  the  Anabaptists,  in  Germany,  who  were  re-sprink- 
lers. They  supposed  that  none  had  a  right  to  rule  but  gracious  men.  The 
same  error  prevails  in  the  See  of  Rome,  where  his  holiness  exalts  himself 
above  all  who  are  called  gods,  (i.  e.,  kings  and  rulers,)  and  where  no  Pro- 
testant heretic  is  allowed  the  liberty  of  a  citizen.  This  principle  is  also 
pleaded  for  in  the  Ottoman  empire,  where  it  is  death  to  call  in  question 
the  divinity  of  Mahomet,  or  the  authenticity  of  the  Alcoran. 

The  same  evil  has  entwined  itself  into  the  British  form  of  government, 
where,  in  the  state  establishment  of  the  church  of  England,  no  man  is  eli- 
gible to  any  office,  civil  or  military,  without  he  subscribes  to  the  thirty-nine 
articles  and  book  of  common  prayer  ;  and  even  then,  upon  receiving  a  com- 
mission for  the  army,  the  law  obliges  him  to  receive  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  supper,  and  no  non-conformist  is  allowed  the  liberty  of  his  con- 
science without  he  subscribes  to  all  the  thirtj'-nine  articles  but  about  four. 
And  when  that  is  done,  his  purse-strings  are  drawn  by  others  to  pay  preach- 
ers in  whom  he  puts  no  confidence,  and  whom  he  never  hears. 

This  was  the  case  in  several  of  the  southern  states,  until  the  revolution, 
in  which  the  church  of  England  was  established. 

The  fourth  principle,  (compact,)  is  adopted  in  the  American  states,  as 
the  basis  of  civil  government.  This  foundation  appears  to  be  a  just  one, 
by  the  following  investigation. 

Suppose  a  man  to  remove  to  a  desolate  island,  and  take  a  peaceable  pos- 
session of  it,  without  injuring  any,  so  that  he  should  be  the  honest  inher- 
itor of  the  isle.  So  long  as  he  is  alone,  he  is  the  absolute  monarch  of  the 
place,  and  his  own  will  is  his  law,  which  law  is  as  often  altered  or  repealed 
as  his  will  changes.  In  process  of  time,  from  this  man's  loins  ten  sons  are 
grown  to  manhood,  and  possess  property.     So  long  as  they  are  all  good 


180  THE   WRITINGS    OP 

men,  each  one  can  be  as  absolute,  free,  and  sovereign  as  his  father :  but 
one  of  the  ten  turns  vagrant,  by  robbing  the  rest.  This  villain  is  equal  to, 
if  not  an  over-match  for  any  one  of  the  nine  :  not  one  of  them  durst  engage 
him  in  single  combat.  Reason  and  safety  both  dictate  to  the  nine  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  confederation,  to  unite  their  strength  together  to  repel  or  de- 
stroy the  plundering  knave.  Upon  entering  into  confederation,  some  com- 
pact or  agreement  would  be  stipulated  by  which  each  would  be  bound  to  do 
his  equal  part  in  fatigue  and  expense.  It  would  be  necessary  for  these  nine 
to  meet  at  stated  times  to  consult  means  of  safety  and  happiness.  A  shady 
tree,  or  small  cabin,  would  answer  their  purpose,  and,  in  case  of  disagree- 
ment, four  must  give  up  to  five. 

In  this  state  of  things,  their  government  would  be  perfectly  democratic, 
every  citizen  being  a  legislator. 

In  a  course  of  years,  from  these  nine  there  arises  nine  thousand :  their 
government  can  be  no  longer  democratic — prudence  would  forbid  it.  Each 
tribe,  or  district,  must  then  choose  their  representative,  who,  for  the  term 
that  he  is  chosen,  has  the  whole  political  power  of  his  constituents.  These 
representatives,  meeting  in  assembly,  would  have  power  to  make  laws  bind- 
ing on  their  constituents,  and  while  their  time  was  spent  in  making  laws 
for  the  community,  each  one  of  the  community  must  advance  a  little  of 
his  money  as  a  compensation  therefor.  Should  these  representatives  dif- 
fer in  judgment,  the  minor  must  be  subject  to  the  major,  as  in  the  case 
above. 

From  this  simple  parable,  the  following  things  are  demonstrated  :  First, 
that  the  law  was  not  made  for  a  righteous  man,  but  for  the  disobedient. 
Second,  that  righteous  men  have  to  part  with  a  little  of  their  liberty  and 
property  to  preserve  the  rest.  Third,  that  all  power  is  vested  in,  and  con- 
sequently derived  from  the  people.  Fourth,  that  the  law  should  rule  over 
rulers,  and  not  rulers  over  the  law.  Fifth,  that  government  is  founded  on 
compact.  Sixth,  that  every  law  made  by  legislators,  inconsistent  with  the 
compact,  modernly  called  a  constitution,  is  usurping  in  the  legislators,  and 
not  binding  on  the  people.  Seventh,  that  whenever  government  is  found 
inadequate  to  preserve  the  liberty  and  property  of  the  people,  they  have 
an  indubitable  right  to  alter  it  so  as  to  answer  those  purposes.  Eighth, 
that  legislators,  in  their  legislative  capacity,  cannot  alter  the  constitution, 
for  they  are  hired  servants  of  the  people  to  act  within  the  limits  of  the 
constitution. 

From  these  general  observations,  I  shall  pass  on  to  examine  a  question 
which  has  been  the  strife  and  contention  of  ages.  The  question  is,  ^*  Are 
the  rights  of  conscience  alienable,  or  inalienable  ?" 

The  word  conscience,  signifies  common  science,  a  court  of  judicature 
which  the  Almighty  has  erected  in  every  human  breast :  a  censor  morum 
over  all  his  conduct.     Conscience  will  ever  judge  right,  when  it  is  rightly 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  181 

informed,  and  speak  the  truth  when  it  understands  it.  But  to  advert  to  the 
question,  "  Does  a  man,  upon  entering  into  social  compact,  surrender  his 
conscience  to  that  society,  to  be  controlled  by  the  laws  thereof;  or  can  he, 
in  justice,  assist  in  making  laws  to  bind  his  children's  consciences  before 
they  are  born  ?"     I  judge  not,  for  the  following  reasons  : 

First.  Every  man  must  give  an  account  of  himself  to  God,  and  there- 
fore every  man  ought  to  be  at  liberty  to  serve  God  in  a  way  that  he  can 
best  reconcile  to  his  conscience.  If  government  can  answer  for  individu- 
als at  the  day  of  judgment,  let  men  be  controlled  by  it  in  religious  mat- 
ters ;  otherwise,  let  men  be  free. 

Second.  It  would  be  sinful  for  a  man  to  surrender  that  to  man,  which  is 
to  be  kept  sacred  for  God.  A  man's  mind  should  be  always  open  to  con- 
viction, and  an  honest  man  will  receive  that  doctrine  which  appears  the 
best  demonstrated :  and  what  is  more  common  than  for  the  best  of  men  to 
change  their  minds  ?  Such  are  the  prejudices  of  the  mind,  and  such  the 
force  of  tradition,  that  a  man  who  never  alters  his  mind,  is  either  very 
weak  or  very  stubborn.  How  painful  then  must  it  be  to  an  honest  heart, 
to  be  bound  to  observe  the  principles  of  his  former  belief,  after  he  is  con- 
vinced of  their  imbecility  ?  And  this  ever  has,  and  ever  will  be  the  case, 
while  the  rights  of  conscience  are  considered  alienable. 

Third.  But  supposing  it  was  right  for  a  man  to  bind  his  own  conscience, 
yet  surely  it  is  very  iniquitous  to  bind  the  consciences  of  his  children — to 
make  fetters  for  them  before  they  are  born,  is  very  cruel.  And  yet  such 
has  been  the  conduct  of  men  in  almost  all  ages,  that  their  children  have 
been  bound  to  believe  and  worship  as  their  fathers  did,  or  suffer  shame 
loss,  and  sometimes  life,  and  at  best  to  be  called  dissenters,  because  they 
dissent  from  that  which  they  never  joined  voluntarily.  Such  conduct  in 
parents,  is  worse  than  that  of  the  father  of  Hannibal  who  imposed  an  oath 
upon  his  son,  while  a  child,  never  to  be  at  peace  with  the  Romans. 

Fourth.  Finally,  religion  is  a  matter  between  God  and  individuals :  the 
religious  opinions  of  men  not  being  the  objects  of  civil  government,  nor 
in  any  way  under  its  control. 

It  has  often  been  observed  by  the  friends  of  religion  established  by  hu- 
man laws,  that  no  state  can  long  continue  without  it ;  that  religion  will 
perish,  and  nothing  but  infidelity  and  atheism  prevail. 

Are  these  things  facts  ?  Did  not  the  Christian  religion  prevail  during 
the  first  three  centuries,  in  a  more  glorious  manner  than  ever  it  has  since 
not  only  without  the  aid  of  law,  but  in  opposition  to  all  the  laws  of  haughty 
monarchs  ?  And  did  not  religion  receive  a  deadly  wound  by  being  fostered 
in  the  arms  of  civil  power  and  regulated  by  law  ?     These  things  are  so. 

From  that  day  to  this,  we  have  but  a  few  instances  of  religious  liberty 
to  judge  by  ;  for,  in  almost  all  states,  civil  rulers,  by  the  investigation  of 
covetous  priests,  have  undertaken  to  steady  the  ark  of  religion  by  hu- 


182  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

man  lawsj    but  yet  we  have  a  few  of  them  without  leaving  our  own 
land. 

The  state  of  Rhode  Island  has  stood  above  one  hundred  and  sixty  years 
without  any  religious  establishment.  The  state  of  New  York  never  had 
any.  New  Jersey  claims  the  same.  Pennsylvania  has  also  stood  from 
its  first  settlement  until  now  upon  a  liberal  foundation  ;  and  if  agriculture, 
the  mechanical  arts  and  commerce,  have  not  flourished  in  these  states, 
equal  to  any  of  the  others,  I  judge  wrong. 

It  may  further  be  observed,  that  all  the  states  now  in  union,  saving  two 
or  three  in  New  England,  have  no  legal  force  used  about  religion,  in  di- 
recting its  course,  or  supporting  its  preachers.  And,  moreover,  the  I'ede- 
ral  government  is  forbidden  by  the  constitution,  to  make  any  laws,  estab- 
lishing  any  kind  of  religion.  If  religion  cannot  stand,  therefore,  without 
the  aid  of  law,  it  is  likely  to  fall  soon,  in  our  nation,  except  in  Connecti- 
cut and  Massachusetts. 

To  say  that  "  religion  cannot  stand  without  a  slate  establishment,"  is 
not  only  contrary  to  fact,  (as  has  been  proved  already,)  but  is  a  contradic- 
tion in  phrase.  Religion  must  have  stood  a  time  before  any  law  could 
have  been  made  about  it ;  and  if  it  did  stand  almost  three  hundred  years 
without  law,  it  can  still  stand  without  it. 

The  evils  of  such  an  eslabiishmcut,  are  many. 

First.  Uninspired,  tallible  men  make  their  own  opinions  tests  of  ortho- 
doxv,  and  use  their  own  systems,  as  Pocrustes  used  his  iron  bedstead,  to 
stretch  and  measure  the  consciences  of  all  others  by.  Where  no  toleration 
is  granted  to  non-conformists,  either  ignorance  and  superstition  prevail,  or 
persecution  rages  ;  and  if  toleration  is  granted  to  restricted  non- conform- 
ists, the  minds  of  men  are  biased  to  embrace  that  religion  which  is  fa- 
vored and  pampered  by  law,  and  thereby  hypocrisy  is  nourished  ;  while 
those  who  cannot  stretch  their  consciences  to  believe  anything  and  every- 
thing in  the  established  creed,  are  treated  with  contempt  and  opprobrious 
names  ;  and  by  such  means,  some  are  pampered  to  death  by  largesses, 
and  others  confined  from  doing  what  good  they  otherwise  could,  by  penury. 
The  first  lie  under  a  temptation  to  flatter  the  ruling  party,  to  continue  that 
form  of  government  which  brings  them  in  the  sure  bread  of  idleness  ;  the 
last  to  despise  that  government,  and  those  rulers,  that  oppress  them.  The 
first  have  their  eyes  shut  to  all  further  light,  that  would  alter  the  religious 
machine  ;  the  last  are  always  seeking  new  light,  and  often  fall  into  enthu- 
siasm.  Such  are  the  natural  evils  of  the  establishment  of  religion  by  hu- 
man laws. 

Second.  Such  establishments  not  only  wean  and  alienate  the  affections 
of  one  from  another,  on  account  of  the  different  usage  they  receive  in  their 
reli<^ious  sentiments,  but  are  also  very  impolitic,  especially  in  new  coun- 
tries •  for  what  encouragement  can  strangers  have  to  migrate  with  their 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  183 

arts  and  wealth  into  a  state,  where  they  cannot  enjoy  their  religious  senti- 
ments without  exposing  themselves  to  the  law  ?  when,  at  the  same  time, 
their  religious  opinions  do  not  lead  them  to  be  mutinous.  And  further, 
how  often  have  kingdoms  and  states  been  greatly  weakened  by  religious 
tests!  In  the  time  of  the  persecution  in  France,  not  less  than  twenty 
thousand  people  fled  for  the  enjoyment  of  religious  liberty. 

Third.  These  establishments  metamorphose  the  church  into  a  creature, 
and  religion  into  a  principle  of  state,  which  has  a  natural  tendency  to  make 
men  conclude  that  Bible  religion  is  nothing  but  a  trick  of  state  ;  hence  it  is 
that  the  greatest  part  of  the  well-informed  in  literature  are  overrun  with 
deism  and  infidelity  ;  nor  is  it  likely  that  it  will  ever  be  much  better,  while 
preaching  is  made  a  trade  of  emolument.  And  if  there  is  no  difference 
between  Bible  religion  and  state  religion,  I  shall  soon  fall  into  infidelity.] 

Fourth.  There  are  no  two  kingdoms  and  states  that  establish  the  same 
creed  and  formalities  of  faith,  which  alone  proves  their  debility.  In  one 
kingdom  a  man  is  condemned  for  not  believing  a  doctrine  that  he  would 
be  condemned  for  believing  in  another  kingdom.  Both  of  these  establish- 
ments cannot  be  right,  but  both  of  them  can  be,  and  surely  are,  wrong. 

First.  The  nature  of  such  establishments,  further,  is  to  keep  from  civil 
office  the  best  of  men.  Good  men  cannot  believe  what  they  cannot  be- 
lieve, and  they  will  not  subscribe  to  what  they  disbelieve,  and  take  an  oath 
to  maintain  what  they  conclude  is  error ;  and,  as  the  best  of  men  differ  in 
judgment,  there  may  be  some  of  them  in  any  state  :  their  talents  and  vir- 
tue  entitle  them  to  fill  the  most  important  posts,  yet,  because  they  differ 
from  the  established  creed  of  the  state,  they  cannot — will  not  fill  those 
posts ;  whereas  villains  make  no  scrnple  to  take  any  oath. 

If  these,  and  many  more  evils,  attend  such  establishments,  what  were, 
and  still  are,  the  causes  that  ever  there  should  be  a  state  establishment  of 
religion  in  any  empire,  kingdom,  or  state  ? 

The  causes  are  many — some  of  which  follow : 

First.  The  love  of  importance  is  a  general  evil.  It  is  natural  to  men 
to  dictate  for  others :  they  choose  to  command  the  bushel  and  use  the 
whip-row  :  to  have  the  halter  around  the  necks  of  others,  to  hang  them  at 
pleasure. 

Second.  An  over-fondness  for  a  particular  system  or  sect.  This  gave 
rise  to  the  first  human  establishment  of  religion,  by  Constantine  the  Great. 
Being  converted  to  the  Christian  system,  he  established  it  in  the  Roman 
empire,  compelled  the  Pagans  to  submit,  and  banished  the  Christian  here- 
tics ;  built  fine  chapels  at  public  expense,  and  forced  large  stipends  for 
the  preachers.  All  this  was  done  out  of  love  to  the  Christian  religion  ; 
but  his  love  operated  inadvertently,  for  he  did  the  Christian  church  more 
harm  than  all  the  persecuting  emperors  ever  did.  It  is  said,  that  in  his 
day  a  voice  was  heard  from  heaven,  saying  :  "  Now  is  poison  spued  into 


184  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

the  churches."  If  this  voice  was  not  heard,  it,  nevertheless,  was  a  truth  ; 
for,  from  that  day  to  this,  the  Christian  religion  has  been  made  a  stirrup 
to  mount  the  steed  of  popularity,  wealth  and  ambition. 

Third.  To  produce  uniformity  in  religion.  Rulers  often  fear  that  if 
they  leave  every  man  to  think,  speak,  and  worship  as  he  pleases,  that  the 
whole  cause  will  be  wrecked  in  diversity ;  to  prevent  which,  they  establish 
some  standard  of  orthodoxy,  to  effect  uniformity.  But,  is  uniformity  at- 
tainable ?  Millions  of  men,  women  and  children,  have  been  tortured  to 
death,  to  produce  uniformity,  and  yet  the  world  has  not  advanced  one  inch 
towards  it.  And  as  long  as  men  live  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  have 
different  habits,  education  and  interests,  they  will  be  different  in  judgment, 
humanly  speaking. 

Is  uniformity  of  sentiments,  in  matter  of  j-eligion,  essential  to  the  hap- 
piness of  civil  government?  Not  at  all.  Government  has  no  more  to 
do  with  the  religious  opinions  of  men,  than  it  has  with  the  principles  of 
mathematics.  Let  every  man  speak  freely  without  fear,  maintain  the 
principles  that  he  believes,  worship  according  to  his  own  faith,  either  one 
God,  three  Gods,  no  God,  or  twenty  Gods ;  and  let  government  protect 
him  in  so  doing,  i.  e.,  see  that  he  meets  with  no  personal  abuse,  or  loss  of 
property,  for  his  religious  opinions.  Instead  of  discouraging  him  with 
proscriptions,  fines,  confiscations  or  death,  let  him  be  encouraged,  as  a 
free  man,  to  bring  forth  his  arguments  and  maintain  his  points  with  all 
boldness  ;  then,  if  his  doctrine  is  false,  it  will  be  confuted,  and  if  it  is  true, 
(though  ever  so  novel,)  let  others  credit  it. 

When  every  man  has  this  liberty,  what  can  he  wish  for  more  ?  A  lib- 
eral man  asks  for  nothing  more  of  government. 

The  duty  of  magistrates  is,  not  to  judge  of  the  divinity  or  tendency  of 
doctrines ;  but  when  those  principles  break  out  into  overt  acts  of  violence, 
then  to  use  the  civil  sword  and  punish  the  vagrant  for  what  he  has  done, 
and  not  for  the  religious  phrenzy  that  he  acted  from. 

It  is  not  supposable  that  any  established  creed  contains  the  whole  truth, 
and  nothing  but  the  truth;  but  supposing  it  did,  which  established  church 
in  the  world  has  got  it  ?  All  bigots  contend  for  it,  each  society  cries  out, 
"  the  temple  of  the  Lord  are  we."  Let  one  society  be  supposed  to  be  in 
possession  of  the  whole,  let  that  society  be  established  by  law ;  the  creed 
of  faith  that  they  adopt,  be  consecrated  so  sacred  to  government,  that  the 
man  that  disbelieves  it  must  die ;  let  this  creed  finally  prevail  over  the 
whole  world.  I  ask,  what  honor  truth  gets  by  all  this?  None  at  all. 
It  is  famed  of  a  Prussian,  called  John  the  Cicero,  that  by  one  oration  he 
reconciled  two  contending  princes,  actually  in  war ;  but,  says  the  historian, 
"  it  was  his  six  thousand  horse  that  had  the  most  persuasive  oratory." 
So  when  one  creed  or  church  prevails  over  another,  being  armed  with  a 
coat  of  mail,  law  and  sword,  truth  gets  no  honor  by  the  victory.     Whereas 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  185 

if  all  stand  upon  one  footing,  being  equally  protected  by  law,  as  citizens, 
(not  as  saints,)  and  one  prevails  over  another  by  cool  investigation  and 
fair  argument,  then  truth  gains  honor  ;  and  men  more  firmly  believe  it, 
than  if  it  was  made  an  essential  article  of  salvation  by  law. 

Truth  disdains  the  aid  of  law  for  its  defence — it  will  stand  upon  its 
own  merit.  The  heathen  worshipped  a  goddess,  called  truth,  stark  naked, 
and  all  human  decorations  of  truth,  serve  only  to  destroy  her  virgin 
beauty.  It  is  error,  and  error  alone,  that  needs  human  support ;  and 
whenever  men  fly  to  the  law  or  sword  to  protect  their  system  of  religion, 
and  force  it  upon  others,  it  is  evident  that  they  have  something  in  their 
system  that  will  not  bear  the  light,  and  stand  upon  the  basis  of  truth. 

Fourth.  The  common  objection,  "  that  the  ignorant  part  of  the  com- 
munity  are  not  capacitated  to  judge  for  themselves,"  supports  the  Popish 
hierachy,  and  all  Protestant,  as  well  as  Turkish  and  Pagan  establishments 
in  idea. 

But  is  this  idea  just  ?     Has  God  chosen  many  of  the  wise  and  learned  ? 
Has  he  not  hid  the  mystery  of  gospel  truth  from  them,  and  revealed  it 
unto  babes  ?     Does  the  world  by  wisdom  know  God  ?     Did  many  of  the 
rulers  believe  in  Christ  when  he  was  upon  earth  ?     Were  not  the  learned 
clergy  (the  scribes)  his  most  inveterate  enemies  1     Do  not  great  mea 
differ  as  much  as  little  men  in  judgment  ?     Have  not  almost  all  lawless 
errors  crept  into  the  world  through  the  means  of  wise   men  (so  called)  ? 
Is  not  a  simple  man,  who  makes  nature  and  reason  his  study,  a  competent 
judge  of  things  ?     Is  the  Bible  written  (like  Caligula's  laws)  so  intricate 
and  high,  that  none  but  the  letter  learned  (according  to  common  phrase) 
can  read  it  ?     Is  not  the  vision  written  so  plain  that  he  that  runs  may  read 
it  ?     Do  not  those  who  understand  the  original  languages,  that  the  Bible 
was  written  in,  differ  as  much  in  judgment  as  others?     Are  the  identical 
copies  of  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and  John,  together  with  the  epistles  in 
every  university,  and  in  the  hands  of  every  master  of  arts  ?     If  not,  have 
not  the  learned  to  trust  to  a  human  transcription,  as  much  as  the  unlearn- 
ed have  to  a  translation  ?     If  these  questions,  and  others  of  the  like  nature, 
can  be  confuted ;  then  I  will  confess  that  it  is  wisdom  for  a  conclave  of 
bishops,  or  a  convocation  of  clergy  to  frame  a  system  out  of  the  Bible, 
and  persuade  the  legislature  to  legalize  it.     No ;  it  would  be  attended 
with  so  much  expense,  pride,  domination,  cruelty  and  bloodshed,  that  let 
me  rather  fall  into  infidelity ;  for  no  religion  at  all,  is  bett<ir  than  that 
which  is  worse  than  none. 

Fifth.  The  groundwork  of  these  establishments  of  religion  is,  clerical 
influence.  Rulers,  being  persuaded  by  the  clergy  that  an  establishment 
of  religion  by  human  laws,  would  promote  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel, 
quell  religious  disputes,  prevent  heresy,  produce  uniformity,  and  finally 
be  advantageous  to  the  state ;  establish  such  creeds  as  are  framed  by  the 

24 


186  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

clergy ;  and  this  they  often  do  more  readily,  when  they  are  flattered  by 
the  clergy ;  that  if  they  thus  defend  the  truth,  they  will  become  nursing 
fathers  to  the  church,  and  merit  something  considerable  for  themselves. 

What  stimulates  the  clergy  to  recommend  this  mode  of  reasoning  is: 

First.  Ignorance,  not  being  able  to  confute  error  by  fair  argument. 

Second.  Indolence,  not  being  willing  to  spend  any  time  to  confute  the 
heretical. 

Third.  But  chiefly  covetousness,  to  get  money,  for  it  may  be  observed 
that  in  all  these  establishments,  settled  salaries  for  the  clergy,  recoverable 
by  law,  are  sure  to  be  interwoven.;  and  was  not  this  the  case,  I  am  well 
convinced  that  there  would  not  be  many,  if  any  religious  establishments 
in  the  Christian  world. 

Having  made  the  foregoing  remarks,  I  shall  next  make  some  observa- 
tions on  the  religion  of  Connecticut. 

If  the  citizens  of  this  state,  have  anything  in  existence  that  looks  like 
a  religious  establishment,  they  ought  to  be  very  cautious ;  for  being  but 
a  small  part  of  the  world,  they  can  never  expect  to  extend  their  religion 
over  the  whole  of  it,  without  it  is  so  well  founded  that  it  cannot  be  con- 
futed. 

If  one-third  part  of  the  face  of  the  globe  is  allowed  to  be  seas,  the 
earthly  parts  would  compose  four  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty  such 
states  as  Connecticut.  The  American  empire  would  afford  above  two- 
hundred  of  them.  And  as  there  is  no  religion  in  this  empire,  of  the  same 
stamp  as  the  Connecticut  standing  order,  upon  the  Say-Brook  platform, 
they  may  expect  one  hundred  and  ninety-nine  against  one  at  home,  and 
four  thousand  five  hundred  and  forty-nine  against  one  abroad. 

Connecticut  and  New-Haven  were  separate  governments  till  the  reign 
of  Charles  II.  when  they  were  incorporated  together  by  a  charter  ;  which 
charter  is  still  considered,  by  some,  as  the  basis  of  government. 

At  present,  there  are  in  the  state  about  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
Presbyterial,  Congregational  and  Consociated  preachers ;  thirty-five  Bap- 
tist, twenty  Episcopalians,  ten  separate  Congregationals,  and  a  few  other 
denominations.  The  first  are  the  standing  order  of  Connecticut ;  to  whom 
all  othevs  have  to  pay  obeisance.  Societies  of  the  standing  order  are 
formed  hy  law ;  none  have  a  right  to  vote  therein  but  men  of  age,  who 
possess  prftperty  to  the  amount  of  £40,  or  are  in  full  communion  in  the 
church.  Their  choice  of  ministers  is  by  major  vote  ;  and  what  the  society 
agree  to  give  him  annually,  is  levied  upon  all  within  the  limits  of  the  so- 
ciety-bounds ;  except  they  bring  a  certificate  to  the  clerk  of  the  society, 
that  they  attend  worship  elsewhere,  and  contribute  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  society  where  they  attend.  The  money  being  levied  on  ll,ie  people,  is 
distrainable  by  law ;  and  perpetually  binding  on  the  society  till  the  min- 
ister is  dismissed  by  a  council,  or  by  death,  from  his  charge. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  187 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  give  a  detail  of  all  the  tumults,  oppression,  fines 
and  imprisonments,  that  have  heretofore  been  occasioned  by  this  law  re- 
1  igion.  These  things  are  partly  dead  and  buried,  and  if  they  did  not  rise 
of  themselves,  let  them  sleep  peaceably  in  the  dust  forever.  Let  it  suffice 
on  this  head,  to  say,  that  it  is  not  possible,  in  the  nature  of  things,  to  estab- 
lish religion  by  human  laws,  without  perverting  the  design  of  civil  law 
and  oppressing  the  people. 

The  certificate  that  a  dissenter  produces  to  the  society  clerk,  must  be 
signed  by  some  officer  of  the  dissenting  church,  and  such  church  must  be 
Christian ;  for  heathens,  deists,  and  Jews,  are  not  indulged  in  the  certifi- 
cate  law;  all  of  them,  as  well  as  Turks,  must  therefore  be  taxed  for  the 
standing  order,  although  they  never  go  among  them,  or  know  where  the 
meeting-house  is. 

This  certificate  law  is  founded  on  this  principle,  "  that  it  is  the  duty  of  all 
persons  to  support  the  gospel  and  the  worship  of  God."  Is  this  principle 
founded  in  justice  ?  Is  it  the  duty  of  a  deist  to  support  that  which  he  be- 
lieves to  be  a  cheat  and  imposition  ?  Is  it  the  duty  of  a  Jew  to  support 
■the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  when  he  really  believes  that  he  was  an  im- 
postor ?  Must  the  Papists  be  forced  to  pay  men  for  preaching  down  the 
supremacy  of  the  pope,  who  they  are  sure  is  the  head  of  the  church  ? 
Must  a  Turk  maintain  a  religion,  opposed  to  the  Alkoran,  which  he  holds 
as  the  sacred  oracle  of  heaven  ?  These  things  want  better  confirmation. 
If  we  suppose  that  it  is  the  duty  of  all  these  to  support  the  Protestant  Chris- 
tian religion,  as  being  the  best  religion  in  the  world ;  yet  how  comes  it 
to  pass,  that  human  legislatures  have  a  right  to  force  them  so  to  do  ?  I 
now  call  for  an  instance,  where  Jesus  Christ,  the  author  of  his  religion, 
or  the  apostles,  who  were  divinely  inspired,  ever  gave  orders  to,  or  inti- 
mated, that  the  civil  powers  on  earth,  ought  to  force  people  to  observe  the 
rules  and  doctrine  of  the  gospel. 

Mahomet  called  in  the  use  of  the  law  and  sword,  to  convert  people  to 
his  religion  ;  but  Jesus  did  not — does  not. 

It  is  the  duty  of  men  to  love  God  with  all  their  hearts,  and  their  neigh- 
bors  as  themselves;  but  have  legislatures  authority  to  punish  men  if  they 
do  not ;  so  there  are  many  things  that  Jesus  and  the  apostles  taught,  that 
men  ought  to  obey,  which  yet  the  civil  law  has  no  concern  in. 

That  it  is  the  duty  of  men,  who  are  taught  in  the  word,  to  communicate 
to  him  that  teaches,  is  beyond  controversy  ;  but  that  it  is  the  province  of 
the  civil  law  to  force  them  to  do  so,  is  denied. 

The  charter  of  Charles  II.,  is  supposed  to  be  the  basis  of  government 
in  Connecticut ;  and  I  request  any  gentleman  to  point  out  a  single  clause 
in  that  charter,  which  authorizes  the  legislature  to  make  any  religious 
laws,  establish  any  religion,  or  force  people  to  build  meeting-houses  or  pay 
preachers.     If  there  is  no  such  constitutional  clause,  it  follows,  that  the 


188  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

laws  are  usurpatory  in  the  legislatures,  and  not  binding  on  the  people.  I 
shall  here  add,  that  if  the  legislature  of  Connecticut,  have  a  right  to  es- 
tablish the  religion  which  they  prefer  to  all  religions,  and  force  men  to 
support  it,  then  every  legislature  or  legislator  has  the  same  authority  ;  and 
if  this  be  true,  the  separation  of  the  Christians  from  the  Pagans,  the  de- 
parture of  the  Protestant  from  the  Papists,  and  the  dissent  of  the  Presby- 
terians from  the  church  of  England,  were  all  schisms  of  a  criminal  na- 
ture ;  and  all  the  persecution  that  they  have  met  with,  is  just  the  effect  of 
their  stubbornness. 

The  certificate  law  supposes,  first,  that  the  legislature  have  power  to 
establish  a  religion  ;  this  is  false.  Second,  that  they  have  authority  to 
grant  indulgence  to  non-conformists;  this  is  also  false,  for  a  religious 
liberty  is  a  right  and  not  a  favor.  Third,  that  the  legitimate  power  of 
government  extends  to  force  people  to  part  with  their  money  for  religious 
purposes  ;  this  cannot  be  proved  from  the  New  Testament. 

The  certificate  law  has  lately  passed  a  new  modification.  Justices  of 
the  peace  must  now  examine  them  ;  this  gives  ministers  of  state  a  power 
over  religious  concerns  that  the  New  Testament  does  not.  To  examine 
the  law,  part  by  part,  would  be  needless,  for  the  whole  of  it  is  wrong. 

From  what  is  said,  this  question  arises,  "are  not  contracts  with  minis- 
ters, i.  e.,  between  ministers  and  people,  as  obligatory  as  any  contracts 
whatever  ?"  The  simple  answer  is,  yes.  Ministers  should  share  the  same 
protection  of  the  law  that  other  men  do,  and  no  more.  To  proscribe  them 
from  seats  of  legislation,  etc.,  is  cruel.  To  indulge  them  with  an  exemp- 
tion from  taxes  and  bearing  arms  is  a  tempting  emolument.  The  law  should 
be  silent  about  them  ;  protect  them  as  citizens,  not  as  sacred  officers,  for 
the  civil  law  knows  no  sacred  religious  officers. 

In  Rhode  Island,  if  a  congregation  of  people  agree  to  give  a  preacher  a 
certain  sum  of  money  for  preaching,  the  bond  is  not  recoverable  by  law.* 

This  law  was  formed  upon  a  good  principle,  but,  unhappily  for  the  ma- 
kers of  that  law,  they  were  incoherent  in  the  superstructure. 

The  principle  of  the  law,  is,  that  the  gospel  is  not  to  be  supported  by 
law ;  that  civil  rulers  have  nothing  to  do  with  religion,  in  their  civil  capa- 
cities ;  what  business  had  they  then  to  make  that  law  1  The  evil  seemed 
to  arise  from  blending  religious  right  and  religious  ojamzons  together.  Re- 
ligious right  should  be  protected  to  all  men,  religious  opinion  to  none  ; 
i.  e.  government  should  confirm  the  first  unto  all ;  the  last  unto  none:  each 
individual  having  a  right  to  differ  from  all  others  in  opinion  if  he  is  so  per  - 

*  Some  men,  who  are  best  informed  in  the  laws  of  Rhode  Island,  say,  if  ever  there  was 
such  an  act  in  that  state,  there  is  nothing  like  it  in  existence  at  this  day  ;  and  perhaps  it  is 
only  cast  upon  them  as  a  stigma,  because  they  have  ever  been  friends  to  religious  liberty. 
However,  as  the  principle  is  supposable,  I  have  treated  it  as  a  real  fact:  and  this  I  have 
done  the  more  willingly,  because  nine -tenths  of  the  people  believe  it  is  a  fact. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  189 

suaded.  If  a  number  of  people  in  Rhode  Island,  or  elswhere,  are  of  opinion 
that  ministers  of  the  gospel  ought  to  be  supported  by  law,  and  choose  to  be 
bound  by  a  bond  to  pay  him,  government  has  no  just  authority  to  declare 
that  bond  illegal;  for,  in  so  doing,  they  interfere  with  private  contracts, 
and  deny  the  people  the  liberty  of  conscience.  If  these  people  bind  no- 
body  but  themselves,  who  is  injured  by  their  religious  opinions  ?  But  if 
they  bind  an  individual  besides  themselves,  the  bond  is  fraudulent,  and 
ought  to  be  declared  illegal.  And  here  lies  the  mischief  of  Connecticut 
religion.  My  lord,  major  vote,  binds  all  the  minor  part,  unless  they  sub- 
mit to  idolatry  ;  i.  e.,  pay  an  acknowledgement  to  a  power  that  Jesus 
Christ  never  ordained  in  his  church  ;  I  mean  produce  a  certificate.  Yea 
further,  Jews,  Turks,  heathens  and  deists,  if  such  there  are  in  Connecticut, 
are  bound,  and  have  no  redress  ;  and  further,  this  bond  is  not  annually 
given,  but  for  life,  except  the  minister  is  dismissed  by  a  number  of  others, 
who  are  in  the  same  predicament  with  himself. 

Although  it  is  no  abridgement  of  religious  liberty  for  congregations  to 
pay  their  preachers  by  legal  force,  in  the  manner  prescribed  above,  yet  it 
is  anti  Christian  ;  such  a  church  cannot  be  a  church  of  Christ,  because 
they  are  not  governed  by  Christ's  laws,  but  by  the  laws  of  state  ;  and  such 
ministers  do  not  appear  like  ambassadors  of  Christ,  but  like  ministers  of 
state. 

The  next  question  is  this,  "  Suppose  a  congregation  of  people  have 
agreed  to  give  a  minister  a  certain  sum  of  money  annually,  for  life  or  du- 
ring good  behaviour,  and  in  a  course  of  time,  some  or  all  of  them  change 
their  opinions,  and  verily  believe  that  the  preacher  is  in  a  capital  error  ; 
and  really  from  conscience,  dissent  from  him,  are  they  still  bound  to  com- 
ply with  their  engagements  to  the  preacher?"  This  question  is  supposa- 
ble,  and  I  believe  there  have  been  a  few  instances  of  the  kind. 

If  men  have  bound  themselves,  honor  and  honesty  call  upon  them  to 
comply ;  but  God  and  conscience  call  upon  them  to  come  out  from  among 
them,  and  let  such  blind  guides  alone.*  Honor  and  honesty  are  amiable 
virtues ;  but  God  and  conscience  call  to  perfidiousness.  This  shows  the 
impropriety  of  such  contracts,  which  always  may,  and  sometimes  do  lead 
into  such  labyrinths.  It  is  time  enough  to  pay  a  man  after  his  labor  is 
over.  People  are  not  required  to  communicate  to  the  teacher  before 
they  are  taught.  A  man,  called  of  God  to  preach,  feels  a  necessity  to 
preach,  and  a  woe  if  he  does  not.  And  if  he  is  sent  by  Christ,  he  looks 
to  him  and  his  laws  for  support ;  and  if  men  comply  with  their  duty,  he 
finds  relief;  if  not,  he  must  go  to  his  field,  as  the  priests  of  old  did.  A  man 
cannot  give  a  more  glaring  proof  of  his  covetousness  and  irreligion,  than 

*  The  phrase  of  blind  guides,  is  not  intended  to  cast  contempt  upon  any  order  of 
religious  preachers,  for,  let  a  preacher  be  orthodox  or  heterodox,  virtuous  or  vicious,  he 
is  always  a  blind  guide  to  those  who  differ  from  him  in  opinion. 


190  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

to  say,  "  If  you  will  give  me  so  much,  then  I  will  preach,  but  if  not,  be  as- 
sured I  will  not  preach  to  you." 

So  that  in  answering  the  question,  instead  of  determining  which  of  the 
evils  to  choose,  either  to  disobey  God  and  conscience,  or  break  honor  and 
honesty,  I  would  recommend  an  escape  of  both  evils,  by  entering  into  no 
such  contracts  ;  for  the  natural  evils  of  imprudence  that  men  are  fallen  in- 
to, neither  God  nor  man  can  prevent. 

A  minister  must  have  a  hard  heart  to  wish  men  to  be  forced  to  pay  him, 
when  through  conscience,  enthusiasm,  or  private  pique,  they  dissent  from 
his  ministry.     The  spirit  of  the  Gospel  disdains  such  measures. 

The  question  before  us,  is  not  applicable  to  many  cases  in  Connecticut: 
the  dissenting  churches  make  no  contracts  for  a  longer  term  than  a  year, 
and  most  of  them  make  none  at  all.  Societies  of  the  standing  order,  rarely 
bind  themselves,  in  contract  with  preachers,  without  binding  others  beside 
themselves  ;  and  when  that  is  the  case  the  bond  is  fraudulent ;  and  if  those 
who  are  bound  involuntarily  can  get  clear,  it  is  no  breach  of  honor  or  hon- 
esty. 

A  few  additional  remarks  shall  close  my  piece. 
First.  The  Church  of  Rome  was  at  first  constituted  according  to  the  gospel ; 
and  at  that  time  her  faith  was  spoken  of  through  the  whole  world.  Being 
espoused  to  Christ,  as  a  chaste  virgin,  she  kept  her  bed  pure  for  her  hus- 
band almost  three  hundred  years ;  but  afterwards  she  played  the  whore 
with  the  kings  and  princes  of  this  world,  who,  with  their  gold  and  wealth, 
came  in  unto  her,  and  she  became  a  strumpet.  And,  as  she  was  the  first 
Christian  church  that  ever  forsook  the  laws  of  Christ  for  her  conduct,  and 
received  the  laws  of  his  rivals,  i.  e.,  was  established  by  human  law,  and 
governed  by  the  legalized  edicts  of  councils,  and  received  large  sums  of 
money  to  support  her  preachers  and  her  worship,  by  the  force  of  civil 
power,  she  is  called  the  mother  of  harlots  ;  and  all  Protestant  churches, 
who  are  regulated  by  law,  and  force  people  to  support  their  preachers, 
build  meeting-houses,  and  otherwise  maintain  their  worship,  are  daughters 
of  this  holy  mother. 

Second.  I  am  not  a  citizen  of  Connecticut — the  religious  laws  of  the 
state  do  not  oppress  me,  and  I  expect  never  will  personally ;  but  a  love  to 
religious  liberty  in  general,  induces  me  thus  to  speak.  Were  I  a  resident 
in  the  state,  I  could  not  give  or  receive  a  certificate  to  be  exempted  from 
ministerial  taxes ;  for,  in  so  doing,  I  should  confess  that  the  legislature 
had  authority  to  pamper  one  religious  order  in  the  state,  and  make  all 
others  pay  obeisance  to  that  sheaf.  It  is  liigh  time  to  know  whether  all 
are  to  be  free  alike,  and  whether  ministers  of  state  arc  to  be  lords  over 
God's  heritage. 

And  here  I  shall  ask  the  citizens  of  Connecticut,  whether,  in  the  months 
of  April  and  September,  when,  when  they  choose  their  deputies  for  the  as- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND,  191 

sembly,  they  mean  to  surrender  to  them  the  rights  of  conscience,  and  au- 
thorize them  to  make  laws  binding  on  their  consciences  1  If  not,  then  all 
such  acts  are  contrary  to  the  intention  of  constituent  power,  as  well  as  un- 
constitutional and  anti-Christian. 

Third.  It  is  likely  that  one  part  of  the  people  in  Connecticut  believe, 
in  conscience,  that  gospel  preachers  should  be  supported  by  the  force  of 
law  ;  and  the  other  part  believe  that  it  is  not  in  the  province  of  civil  law 
to  interfere,  or  any  ways  meddle  with  religious  matters.  How  are  both 
parties  to  be  protected  by  law  in  their  conscientious  belief  ? 

Very  easily.  Let  all  those  whose  consciences  dictate  that  they  ought 
to  be  taxed  by  law  to  maintain  their  preacher,  bring  in  their  names  to  the 
society  clerk,  by  a  certain  day,  and  then  assess  them  all,  according  to 
their  estates,  to  raise  the  sum  stipulated  in  the  contract,  and  all  others  go 
free.  Both  parties,  by  this  method,  would  enjoy  the  full  liberty  of  con- 
science, without  oppressing  one  another — the  laws  use  no  force  in  matters  of 
conscience — the  evil  of  Rhode  Island  law  be  escaped — and  no  person 
could  find  fault  with  it,  in  a  political  point  of  view,  but  those  who  fear  the 
consciences  of  too  many  would  lie  dormant,  and,  therefore,  wish  to  force 
them  to  pay.  Here  let  it  be  noted,  that  there  are  many  in  the  world  who 
believe,  in  conscience,  that  a  minister  is  not  entitled  to  any  acknowledege- 
ment  for  his  services,  without  he  is  so  poor  that  he  cannot  live  without  it  j 
and  thereby  convert  a  gospel  debt  to  alms.  Though  this  opinion  is  not 
founded  either  on  reason  or  scripture,  yet  it  is  a  better  opinion  than  that 
which  would  force  them  to  pay  a  preacher  by  human  law. 

Fourth.  How  mortifying  must  it  be  to  foreigners,  and  how  far  from 
conciliatory  is  it  to  citizens  of  the  American  states,  that  when  they  come 
into  Connecticut  to  reside,  they  must  either  conform  to  the  religion  of 
Connecticut,  or  produce  a  certificate  ?  Does  this  look  like  religious  lib- 
erty,  or  human  friendship  ?  Suppose  that  man,  whose  name  need  not  be 
mentioned,  but  which  fills  every  American  heart  with  pleasure  and  awe, 
should  remove  to  Connecticut  for  his  health,  or  any  other  cause,  what  a 
scandal  would  it  be  to  the  state,  to  tax  him  to  support  a  Presbyterian  min- 
ister, unless  he  produced  a  certificate,  informing  them  that  he  was  an 
Episcopalian. 

Fifth.  The  federal  constitution  certainly  had  the  advantage  of  any  of 
the  state  constitutions,  in  being  made  by  the  wisest  men  in  the  whole  na- 
tion, and  after  an  experiment  of  a  number  of  years  trial  upon  republican 
principles  ;  and  that  constitution  forbids  Congress  ever  to  establish  any 
kind  of  religion,  or  require  any  religious  test  to  qualify  any  officer  in  any 
department  of  federal  government.  Let  a  man  be  Pagan,  Turk,  Jew  or 
Christian,  he  is  eligible  to  any  post  in  that  government.  So  that  if  the 
principles  of  religious  liberty,  contended  for  in  the  foregoing  pages,  are 
supposed  to  be  fraught  with  Deism,  fourteen  states  in  the  Union  are  now 


Wfi  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

fraught  with  the  same.  But  the  separate  states  have  not  surrendered  that 
supposed  right  of  estabhshing  religion  to  Congress.  Each  state  retains 
all  its  power,  saving  what  is  given  to  the  general  government,  by  the  fed- 
eral  constitution.  The  assembly  of  Connecticut,  therefore,  still  undertake 
to  guide  the  helm  of  religion  ;  and  if  Congress  were  disposed,  yet  they 
could  not  prevent  it,  by  any  power  vested  in  them  by  the  states.  There- 
fore, if  any  of  the  people  of  Connecticut  feel  oppressed  by  the  certificate 
law,  or  any  other  of  the  like  nature,  their  proper  mode  of  procedure  will 
be  to  remonstrate  against  the  oppression,  and  petition  the  assembly  for  a 
redress  of  the  grievance. 

Sixth.  Divines  generally  inform  us  that  there  is  a  time  to  come,  (called 
the  Latter  Day  Glory,)  when  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  shall  cover  the 
earth,  as  the  waters  do  the  sea,  and  that  this  day  will  appear  upon  the 
destruction  of  antichrist.  If  so,  I  am  well  convinced  that  Jesus  will  first 
remove  all  the  hinderances  of  religious  establishments,  and  cause  all  men 
to  be  free  in  matters  of  religion.  When  this  is  effected,  he  will  say  to 
the  kings  and  great  men  of  the  earth  :  "  Now,  see  what  I  can  do  :  ye 
have  been  afraid  to  leave  the  church  and  gospel  in  my  hands  alone,  without 
steadying  the  ark  by  human  law,  but  now  I  have  taken  the  power  and 
kingdom  for  myself,  and  will  work  for  my  own  glory."  Here  let  me 
add  that,  in  the  southern  states,  where  there  has  been  the  greatest  freedom 
from  religious  oppression,  where  liberty  of  conscience  is  entirely  enjoyed, 
there  has  been  the  greatest  revival  of  religion  ;  which  is  another  proof 
that  true  religion  can,  and  will  prevail  best,  where  it  is  left  entirely  to 
Christ. 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND. 


193 


THE    nSODXSRXr    FHIEST. 


Ignatius,  bom  somewhere,  no  matter  where, 
Trained  up  in  school,  and  taught  to  say  his  prayer, 
Tired  with  his  task  at  the  academy, 
Jump'd  over  all  to  university : 
The  books  he  read,  and  read,  then  laid  them  down. 
But  little  wiser  when  his  task  was  done  ; 
But  college  pedantry  bore  such  a  sway, 
That  soon  he  gained  a  soaring  diploma, 
Dubb'd  like  a  knight  on  a  commencement  day, 
Gladly  he  quit  his  task,  and  went  his  way. 
He  thought  of  doctor,  lawyer,  prince  and  prieEt, 
And  made  remarks  in  earnest  or  in  jest, 
"  Should  I  turn  doctor,  I  must  stem  the  cold, 
And  break  my  rest,  to  gain  the  shining  gold  ; 
Must  make  my  patients  think  their  lives  and  blood 
Are  in  my  hands,  or  I  can  do  no  good. 
When  men  believe  in  witches,  witches  are  ; 
But  when  they  don'l  believe  there  are  none  there ; 
When  men  believe  in  doctors,  doctors  heal, 
At  sight  of  whom  their  patients  easy  feel. 
If  I'm  a  lawyer,  I  must  lie  and  cheat, 
For  honest  lawyers  have  no  bread  to  eat ; 
'Tis  rogues  and  villains  feed  the  lawyers  high, 
And  sue  the  men  that  gold  and  silver  buy. 
Should  I  be  statesman,  1  must  use  disguise, 
And,  if  a  priest,  hear  nothing  else  but  lies  ; 
State  tricks,  intrigues,  and  arts  would  me  confound^ 
And  truth  and  honesty  nowhere  be  found. 
This  way  of  getting  money  is  a  Hsk,, 
I  judge  it  better  to  become  a  priest. 
Preaching  is  now  a  science  and  a  trade. 
And  by  it  many  grand  estates  are  made  ;: 
The  money  which  I  spent  at  grammar  school 
I'll  treble  now  by  teaching  sacred  rule. 
My  prayers  I'll  stretch  out  long,  my  sermons  short, 
The  last  write  down,  the  first  get  all  by  rote ; 
While  others  labor  six  days,  I  but  one, 
For  that  day's  work  I'll  gain  a  pretty  sum. 
For  fifty-two  days  labor  in  a  year, 
The  sum  of  eighty  pounds  my  heart  shall  cheer." 
So  asses  heads  for  three  score  pieces  sold. 
When  famines  were  severe,  in  days  of  old. 
25 


194  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Ignatius  thus  resolved  to  rise  by  rule, 

And  to  a  grave  divine  he  went  to  school, 

The  science  of  divinity  engag'd, 

And  read  the  sacred  volume  page  by  page. 

The  Bible  was  so  dark,  the  style  so  poor, 

He  gain'd  but  little  from  the  sacred  store  ; 

Pool,  Whitby,  Burchett,  Henry,  Yorick,  Gill, 

He  read,  to  find  vt^hat  was  Jehovah's  will, 

Gravity,  rhetoric,  and  pulpit  airs 

He  studied  well,  and  how  to  form  his  prayers. 

At  length  his  master  gave  him  commendation, 

That  he  was  qualified  to  preach  salvation. 

And  with  his  commendation  gave  him  more 

Than  twenty  notes  that  he  had  us'd  before  ; 

These  for  his  models,  and  his  learned  guides. 

Helped  him  to  form  his  work  with  equal  sides. 

In  composition  he  did  pretty  well. 

And  what  he  could  not  read,  he'd  softly  spell. 

A  day  appointed  for  him  to  perform. 

Notice  was  giv'n  and  many  took  th'  alarm. 

At  the  appointed  hour  the  people  came. 

To  hear  the  will  of  God  revealed  to  men. 

At  length  Ignatius  came  all  dress'd  in  black. 

With  sacerdotal  bands  and  three  shap'd  hat. 

Under  his  arm  the  holy  book  appeared, 

And  in  it  were  the  notes  hfi  had  prepared : 

He  bow'd,  and  bow'd,  and  to  the  pulpit  steered, 

Went  up  the  stairs,  and  in  the  desk  appeared, 

First  he  address'd  the  throne  of  God  supreme  ; — 

His  master's  prayer,  new-moddled,  did  for  him  -^ 

Fifty-nine  minutes  long,  prays  and  repeats, — 

He  clos'd,  and  all  the  people  took  their  seats. 

The  sacred  volume  next  he  gravely  spread, 

Before  his  eyes  upon  his  elbow  bed, 

And  so  it  happened,  that  Ignatius  hit 

The  very  place  where  all  his  notes  were  writ. 

His  text  he  told,  and  then  began  to  read 

What  he  had  written,  with  a  school-boys  heed. 

If  he  presumed  to  look  upon  the  folks, 

His  thumb  stood  sentinel  upon  his  notes. 

Short  were  the  visits  that  his  eyes  could  pray ; 

He  watch'd  his  notes  lest  he  should  miss  his  way. 

At  the  conclusion,  with  an  angry  tone. 

He  said  his  gospel  came  from  God  alone. 

From  this,  the  preacher  travell'd  all  around, 

To  see  where  glebes  and  salaries  were  found ; 

Many  loud  calls  he  had  where  land  was  poor. 

People  were  indigent,  and  had  no  store. 

The  calls  he  heard,  but  gravely  answer'd, '  no  ; 

To  other  places  God  calls  me  to  go  !' 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  195 

At  length  a  vacant  place  Ignatius  found, 
Where  land  was  good,  and  wealth  did  much  abound: 
A  call  they  gave  him  which  he  did  embrace, 
'  Vox  populi,  vox  Dei,'  was  the  case. 
A  handsome  settlement  they  gave,  a  farm, 
With  eighty  pounds,  and  wood  to  keep  him  warm. 
All  things  were  ready  for  his  consecration, 
A  sacred  council  came  for  ordination. 
The  candidate  was  first  examined  well, 
To  see  if  he  in  knowledge  did  excel ; 
The  first  of  John  he  hem'd  and  hammered  thro,' 
Some  things  forgot,  but  most  he  never  knew. 
But  as  he'd  spent  his  time  and  money  both, 
To  fit  himself  to  wear  the  sacred  cloth, 
All  things  considered,  'twas  believed  that  he 
Was  a  proficient  in  divinity. 
Lineal  succession  rites  were  then  perform'd, 
Their  hands  impos'd,  Ignatius  gravely  warn'd 
The  sacred  care  of  all  the  flock  to  take, 
In  love,  and  not  for  filthy  lucre's  sake. 


196  THE    WRITING3    OF 


CIRCULAR   LETTER 


OF   THE 
SHAFTSBURY   ASSOCIATION,    179  3. 

Beloved  Brethren:  It  is  a  leading  characteristic  of  the  Baptists,  that 
without  pope  or  king  for  head — without  spiritual  or  civil  courts  established 
bv  law — without  a  conclave  of  bishops,  or  convocation  of  clergy — without 
legalized  creeds  or  formularies  of  worsliip — without  a  ministry  supported 
by  law,  or  any  human  coercion  in  discipline,  they  are  so  far  united  in  sen- 
timent, respecting  the  New  Testament,  that  a  free  correspondence  and  com- 
munion circulate  among  them.  "  They  have  no  king,  (on  earth,)  yet  go 
they  forth  all  of  them  by  bands."  The  Bible  is  the  only  confession  of  faith 
they  dare  adopt — the  final  umpire  they  appeal  unto  for  a  decision  of  con- 
troversies. 

But  while  we  would  felicitate  ourselves  with  this  in/allible  guide,  we  find 
ourselves  boldly  attacked  by  deists  and  infidels,  who  seek  to  sap  the  foun- 
dation of  our  religion,  by  asserting  that  Moses  and  the  prophets  were  en- 
thusiastical  cheats,  and  that  Jesus  and  his  apostles  were  but  pitiful  impos- 
tors ;  that  all  their  writings  are  like  modern  priestcraft — like  the  sublime 
nonsense  of  Jesuits. 

Notwithstanding  the  variety  of  opinions,  and  discordance  of  sounds  among 
those  infidels,  yet  they  are  alike  confident,  and  equally  assiduous  in  decla- 
rino-  rvhal  is  not  true,  and  never  tell  us  what  truth  is.    With  all  their  boasted 

o 

illumination  in  the  ground  and  laws  of  nature,  thoy  never  tell  us  what  nat- 
ural religion  is,  nor  how  the  God  of  nature  is  to  be  worshiped. 

It  can  hardly  be  credited,  that  the  Parent  of  the  universe  should  leave 
his  oTspring  in  this  dreary  world  to  make  their  way  to  eternity  without 
some  guide — some  sure  word  of  prophecy,  to  direct  their  course.  That  the 
Bible  is  such  a  guide — a  revelation  of  God's  will,  written  by  men  divinely 
inspired — is  attempted  to  be  supported  by  the  following  remarks: 

First.  The  antiquity  of  some  of  the  sacred  writings,  is  an  argument  in 
favor  of  the  divine  authority.  The  writings  of  Moses  arc  several  hundred 
years  earlier  than  any  profane  writings  now  extant,  which  proves  that  he 
did  not  collect  them  from  any  records,  but  wrote  by  Divine  impulse  ;  nor 
could  he,  or  arty  other  man,  have  told  how  the  worlds  were  made  and  peo- 
pled, (prior  to  the  formation  of  Adam,)  but  by  a  revelation  from  G^d. 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  197 

Second.  The  honesty  of  the  penman  has  some  weight  in  the  argument. 
Moses,  for  instance,  givi-s  an  account  of  his  own  sin,  as  well  as  the  sins 
of  his  brother  and  sister,  and  is  very  full  in  pointing  out  the  faults  of  his 
nation,  and  reproving  them  therefor,  which  things  are  not  to  be  found  in 
profane  authors :  and  when  he  had  the  ofTer  of  being  made  great,  and  his 
family  important,  he  declined  the  offer,  and  prayed  for  the  pardon  and 
preservation  of  that  people  that  he  had  so  plainly  reproved  for  their  sins. 
To  these  things  we  may  add,  that  he  says  not  a  word  about  his  learning, 
wisdom  and  honor  in  Egypt ;  all  of  whiclf  look  as  if  he  did  not  write  to 
honor  himself,  but  to  reveal  the  will  of  God,  and  to  do  good  to  mankind. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  other  sacred  writers;  they  not  only  made  verbal 
confessions  of  their  sins,  but  left  the  same  on  record  that  others  might 
fear. 

Third.  Notwithstanding  the  Bible  was  about  sixteen  hundred  years  in 
writing,  by  men  in  different  ages  and  in  very  different  circumstances,  yet 
they  all  speak  the  same  things.  Some  allowance  must  be  made  for  the 
different  dialects  and  customs  of  the  people  among  whom  the  writers  lived, 
and  also  for  their  own  peculiar  way  of  expressing  themselves  ;  but  in  sub- 
stance they  are  uniform,  infinitely  more  so  than  the  human  accounts  of 
great  events  by  many  authors.  Many  of  the  apparent  mistakes  that  are 
in  the  sacred  volume,  no  doubt,  are  made  by  our  own  ignorance,  but  if 
there  are  a  few  of  them  that  have  been  occasioned  by  a  multitude  of  tran- 
scriptions, and  other  causes,  yet  they  only  respect  numbers  and  places,  and 
in  no  wise  affect  our  faith  and  practice. 

Fourth.  The  prophetic  essays  in  the  Scripture,  together  with  their  exact 
accomplishment,  are  wonderful.  Josiah  and  Cyrus  were  prophesied  of  by 
name  a  long  time  before  they  were  born,  and  the  deeds  they  should  per- 
form, which  exactly  came  to  pass.  The  destruction  of  various  kingdoms, 
and  by  whom,  was  foretold,  and  afterwards  effected.  The  coming  of  John 
the  Baptist — the  conception  of  Jesus  Christ — the  place  of  his  birth — the 
work  of  his  ministry — the  manner  of  his  death — the  effusion  of  the  Holy 
Ghost — the  gathering  of  the  Gentiles — the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and 
a  number  of  things  besides,  were  not  more  expressly  predicted,  than  fully 
accomplished.  This  leads  us  to  believe  that  all  prophecies  that  are  behind 
the  screen,  will,  in  their  times,  be  completely  fulfilled. 

Fifth.  The  sublimity  of  style  in  which  the  Scripture  is  written,  bespeaks 
its  author  to  be  God.  Some  of  the  most  lofty  strokes  were  delivered  by 
rustic  men.  Amos,  for  example,  was  not  a  prophet  by  birth,  nor  trained 
in  the  schools  of  the  prophets,  but  was  an  herdman  and  a  gatherer  of  syca- 
more  fruit,  yet  some  of  his  tropes  are  as  lofty  as  the  heavens;  and  the 
same  is  true  of  some  others  who  wrote.  How  flat  and  insipid  are  the  wri- 
tings of  Homer,  Virgil,  Xenophon,  Cicero,  and  other  Pagans,  when  once 
compared  with  the  Bible.     It  is  not  a  blind  devotion  that  Jews  have  paid 


198  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

to  the  Old  Testament,  and  Christians  to  both  old  and  new,  but  a  conscious- 
ness of  their  supreme  merit.  Longinus  and  Cyrus  both  acknowledged  the 
sublimity  of  the  style.  To  this  may  be  added  the  chastity  of  diction  through 
the  sacred  volume.  When  it  was  necessary  to  treat  of  things  rather  in- 
decent, it  is  wonderful  to  see  what  euphonisms  are  used  by  the  sacred  wri- 
ters, and  throughout  the  volume  gravity  and  chastity  of  dialect  is  found, 
and  nothing  to  provoke  obscenity,  levity,  or  confusion. 

Sixth.  The  wonderful  effects  that  the  reading  and  explaining  of  theScrip- 
tures  have  had  on  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men,  form  an  incontesta- 
ble proof  of  the  authenticity  of  the  Bible.  The  Sybils,  by  the  Romans, 
and  the  Koran,  by  the  Turks,  have  been  considered  as  coming  from  God  : 
but  their  admirers  have  only  received  them  as  directions  of  life,  (as  we  do 
codes  of  laws,)  and  have  never  pretended  that  those  books  affect  the  heart. 
Hexe,  then,  appears  the  pre-eminence  of  the  Bible  above  all  other  books,  for 
thousands  of  thousands  can  witness  that  the  truth  of  the  Bible  has  so  af- 
fected their  hearts  as  to  make  them  love  the  divine  character,  and  cordially 
submit  to  the  government  of  heaven.  And  this  same  word  of  truth  has 
borne  up  the  minds  of  those  who  believed  it  under  all  their  misfortunes, 
and  made  them  triumph  in  the  hour  of  death,  so  that  if  the  faith  of  the 
gospel  were  a  delusion,  it  would  be  the  best  delusion  in  the  world. 

Seventh.  The  patient  sufferings  of  those  who  have  received  the  Scrip- 
ture as  a  revelation  from  God,  is  another  argument  in  its  favor.  These 
sufferings  they  have  endured,  not  with  the  sullen  air  of  a  disappointed  usur- 
per, or  the  obstinate  spirit  of  a  conquered  hero,  but  with  the  meekness  of 
a  Christian,  prizing  life,  if  they  could  enjoy  it  innocently,  but  choosing  suf- 
fering and  death  rather  than  sin.  It  is  true  that  men  will  suffer  much  for 
their  own  wills,  but  such  sufferers  will  recriminate  when  it  is  in  their  power  ; 
a  quite  different  spirit  has  been  seen  among  those  who  have  suffered  for  the 
truth's  sake,  and  it  is  not  rational  to  suppose  that  they  would  have  suffered 
so  much  for  the  defence  of  imposture. 

Eighth.  The  great  care  that  God  has  manifested  in  keeping  these  writings 
in  existence  amidst  so  many  attempts  to  destroy  them,  is  remarkable,  and 
through  the  various  translations  that  they  have  passed,  to  keep  the  sense 
so  pure,  still  confirms  the  idea  that  God  will  preserve  his  own.  And  if 
we  add  to  this,  the  rage  that  devils  and  wicked  men  have  ever  had  to  the 
Bible,  the  presumption  is  very  strong  that  it  is  the  Book  of  God. 

Ninth.  It  cannot  be  that  the  Bible  was  written  by  bad  men,  for  it  con- 
demns every  branch  of  vice,  and  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  designing  men 
would  form  a  system  to  condemn  themselves  in  every  respect.  If  it  was 
written  by  good  men,  it  is  true,  for  liars  are  not  good  men  ;  and  if  they 
spake  the  truth,  then  the  Bible  is  of  God,  for  the  writers  thereof  declare 
that  they  wrote  by  the  spirit  of  God. 

Tenth.  In  addition  to  the  grandeur  and  uniformity  of  that  plan  of  truth 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  199 

which  the  Bible  contains,  we  may  further  allege  in  support  of  its  divinity, 
that  in  all  parts  it  reflects  the  most  transcendent  honor  on  the  character  of 
God — it  contains  a  perfect  system  of  morality,  answerable  in  all  respects 
to  the  purity  of  God,  and  of  course  tends  to  the  highest  happiness  of  men. 

Eleventh.  The  judgments  that  have  been  inflicted  on  those  who  have 
destroyed  these  writings  are  not  to  be  forgotten,  especially  on  Antiochus 
and  Dioclesian,  the  first  of  whom  vented  his  rage  against  the  old  Testa- 
ment, and  the  last  against  the  new.  Both  seemed  to  share  nearly  one  fate, 
and  the  first  owned  it  was  for  destroying  the  writings  of  the  Jews.  Be- 
cause they  took  away  from  God's  book,  God  took  away  their  parts  from 
the  book  of  life,  and  from  the  holy  city ;  that  is,  he  did  not  suffer  them  to 
live  to  enjoy  the  blessings  described  in  his  book,  and  when  they  died,  he 
did  not  admit  them  into  heaven  without  a  change  of  character. 

Twelfth.  If  the  miracles  recorded  in  the  Bible  are  not  original  argu- 
ments to  prove  the  divinity  of  it,  yet  they  must  raise  the  wonder  and  con- 
fidence of  all  those,  who,  for  other  reasons,  are  persuaded  of  its  veracity, 
to  see  what  wonders  God  has  wrought  to  preserve  his  people,  establish  his 
word,  and  furnish  his  ambassadors  with  bright  credentials  that  they  came 
and  wrought  in  his  name. 

These  are  some  of  the  reasons  we  assign,  wherefore  we  receive  the 
Scripture  as  the  word  of  God. 

Our  faith  is  firm  in  the  divinity  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  it  is  in  the  New, 
but  as  many  things  in  the  Old  Testament  are  only  historical,  others  forma 
code  of  political  laws  and  moral  precepts,  while  many  things  therein  were 
typical  and  temporary,  suited  to  the  condition  of  a  national  church,  we  be- 
lieve that  Christians  should  have  recourse  to  the  New  Testament  for  pre- 
cepts  and  precedents  to  direct  them  in  social  worship. 

By  what  we  have  written,  our  desire  is,  dear  brethren,  that  your  faith 
may  be  confirmed  in  the  holy  Scripture,  in  this  day  of  infidelity,  and  that 
in  all  your  conduct  you  may  give  heed  thereto  as  unto  a  light  shining  in  a 
dark  place,  and  thereby  prove  to  all  that  behold  you,  that  you  are  Bible 
Christians. 


SERMON, 


DELIVERED  AT  THE  INTERMENT  OF 


MRS.    LYDIA    NORTHROP, 


WIFE   OF 


MR.    STEPHEN    NORTHROP. 


WHO    DEPARTED   THIS    LIFE 


APRIL  26,  1794. 


26 


PREFACE. 


The  following  sermon  was  first  delivered  extempore,  without 
much  premeditation,  or  any  expectation  of  publication  ;  but,  as  the 
friends  of  the  deceased  have  requested  a  copy  of  it,  I  have  summed 
up  the  leading  ideas,  and  present  it  to  the  mourners,  in  an  abbre- 
viated form.  I  am  conscious  of  its.deficiences,  both  as  to  depth  of 
divinity,  and  beauty  of  diction ;  and  the  most  that  I  can  expect 
from  the  performance,  is,  that  it  may  console  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  sorrow,  for  the  loss  of  a  dear  friend.  J.  L. 

Cheshire,  July  10,  1794. 


SERMON. 


The  solemn  procession  of  the  day  brings  to  mind  the  following  pas- 
sage ;  Genesis,  53,  2 :  And  Sarah  died  in  Kirjath-Arba,  the  same  is  He- 
bron, in  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  and  Abraham  came  to  mourn  for  Sarah,  and 
to  weep  for  her.  We  are  taught  to  be  followers  of  them,  who,  through 
faith  and  patience,  inherit  the  promises.  Ambition  prompts  aspiring  souls 
to  walk  in  the  steps  of  those  who  gained  the  summit  of  honor,  in  hopes  of 
obtaining  a  similar  palm.  If  the  examples  of  heroes,  monarchs,  and  men  of 
wealth,  have  so  much  magnetic  force  on  the  sons  of  earth,  how  much  more 
should  the  virtuous  actions  of  those  *'  Elders,  who  have  obtained  a  good 
report,"  influence  the  sons  of  heaven  to  follow  their  steps?  "  They  do  it 
to  obtain  a  corruptible  crown,  but  we  an  incorruptible. '^  Our  text  presents 
us  a  couple  of  characters  worthy  of  our  attention.  Abraham  is  declared 
to  be  the  father  of  the  faithful  and  the  friend  of  God  ;  and  Sarah  is  held 
forth,  by  the  sacred  penman,  as  a  pattern  for  wives,  in  her  modest  ap- 
parel, and  subjection  to  her  husband.  When  God  called  Abraham  from 
Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  to  forsake  his  native  country  of  idolatry,  and  travel 
into  a  strange  land,  where  the  pure  worship  of  Jehovah  should  be  estab- 
lished, Sarah  was  not  such  an  unbelieving  idolater  as  to  depart  from  her 
husband  ;  but,  true  to  her  conjugal  engagement,  and  firm  in  her  faith  in 
the  providence  and  promises  of  the  Almighty,  she  cheerfully  forsook  her 
country,  her  kindred  and  their  gods,  and  travelled  in  a  strange  land,  a 
pilgrim  and  sojourner,  with  her  beloved  husband. 

When  God  made  promise  to  Abraham,  that  he  should  beget  a  son, 
and  become  the  father  of  many  nations,  he  changed  his  name  from  Abram 
(a  high  father)  to  Abraham,  (a  high  father  of  a  multitude  ;)  and  when  it 
was  revealed  to  him  that  Sarah,  his  proper  wife,  should  bear  the  son  from 
whom  the  nations  should  arise,  her  name  was  changed  from  Sarai  (my 
lady)  to  Sarah  (the  lady  of  a  multitude.)  But  after  these  promises  were 
made,  their  faith  and  patience  were  long  put  to  exercise,  before  they  re- 
ceived the  promise  ;  and  after  Isaac  was  born,  the  joy  and  delight  of  his 
father,  Abraham  was  called  by  God,  to  perform  a  deed,  the  most  strange 
and  cutting  that  ever  man  was  induced  to,  in  the  performance  of  which  he 
gave  the  most  unequivocal  proof  of  his  obedience  to  his  God.     Nothing 


204  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

short  of  his  strong  faith  in  God,  in  raising  his  son  from  the  dead,  sustained 
the  old  patriarch  in  offering  his  darling  son,  in  whose  line  the  promises  of 
God  were  fixed. 

While  Abraham  and  Sarah  were  travelling  from  place  to  place,  they 
were  constantly  protected  by  an  omnipresent  God,  who  suffered  no  man  to 
do  them  wrong,  "yea  he  reproved  kings  for  their  sake."  How  safe  and 
happy  are  all  those  who  constantly  trust  in  Abraham's  God,  and  cheerfully 
obey  his  commands  ! 

The  things    which  appear   most  imitable  in  Sarah,  are 
First.  Her  leaving  all  that  was  near  and  dear  to  her,  to  follow  and  obey 
the  God  of  her  husband.  In  this  she  acted  the  part  of  Ruth,  the  Moabitess, 
and  stands  forth  as  a  bright  example  for  her  sex  to  go  and  do  likewise. 

Second.  Her  modest  subjection  to  her  husband.  Men  should  love  their 
wives,  as  Christ  loved  the  Church,  and  confer  honor  on  them  as  weaker 
vesselg ;  neither  abuse  their  persons,  nor  expose  their  weaknesses.  But 
two  reasons  are  given  why  the  woman  should  be  in  subjection  to  the  man. 
The  first  is  taken  from  the  order  of  nature  ;  the  man  was  first  made:  the 
second,  from  the  order  of  sin  ;  the  womamoas  first  in  the  transgression. 

After  Sarah  had  lived  until  she  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
years  old,  our   text  follows, 

And  Sarah  died.  Death  is  the  common  lot  of  all.  It  is  an  article  in 
the  creed  of  the  universal  progeny  of  Adam.  That  the  death  of  the  body 
came  in  at  the  door  of  Adam's  sin,  is  generally  believed  ;  but  whether  it  is 
a  penalty,  sovereignly  imposed  for  transgression,  or  was  naturally  occa- 
sioned by  the  poisonous  fruit  of  mortalization,  that  grew  on  the  forbidden 
tree,  is  not  a  point  of  present  examination.  But  one  thing  is  certain,  viz  : 
Christ  never  came  to  take  off  the  curse,  i.  e.  to  save  men  from  dying. 
Adam  and  all  his  offspring  experience  it ;  there  is  no  discharge  in  this  war 
— innumerable  have  gone  before,  and  every  man  follows  after  ;  the  rich, 
the  wise  and  venerable,  indiscriminately  fall  a  prey  to  the  monster.  The 
innocency  of  Abel,  the  righteousness  of  Noah,  the  faithfulness  of  Abra- 
ham, the  virtue  of  Joseph,  the  meekness  of  Moses,  the  strength  of  Samp- 
son, the  valor  of  David,  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  the  piety  of  the  prophets, 
the  fervor  of  the  apostles  and  the  godliness  of  later  saints,  deliver  none 
from  death.  Neither  righteousness  nor  wickedness  repel  its  force.  In  the 
single  article  of  death,  man  has  no  pre-eminence  above  the  beast. 

Some  die  in  infancy,  some  in  youth  :  some  are  snatched  away  from  their 
busy  scenes  and  useful  enterprizes  ;  while  others  live  long  and  wear  out  by 
the  decays  of  old  age.  Death  has  a  name,  but  no  form  ;  it  is  an  article  ab- 
stract by  itself;  it  hardly  belongs  to  this  world  or  the  next ;  but  is  a  kind 
of  imaginary  line  between  the  two. 

The  pains  that  do  reduce  to  death  arc  great ; 
But  death  is  nothing  but  a  change  of  state. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  205 

Death  brings  all  upon  a  level,  and  shows  no  partiality  annong  the  sons 
ofnnen.  And  that  death  yet  fills  its  throne,  and  reigns  with  unrepelled 
force,  over  the  sons  of  dust,  requires  no  proof  to-day,  but  the  sight  of  our 
eyes.  My  hearers,  lift  up  your  heads,  and  if  sorrow  and  tears  do  not  for- 
bid, look  to  yon  coffin  !  see  the  afTecting  trophy  of  death's  dominion  !  Vo- 
racious  death  has  slain  its  prey  and  confines  its  boasts  within  those  sable 
boards.  Think,  O  my  soul  !  Think,  O  beholders!  what  we  must  all 
be  reduced  to.  O  gracious  God  !  if  we  must  needs  die  and  turn  to  dust, 
to  fulfil  the  fiist  great  threatening  of  heaven,  is  there  no  kind  support,  is 
there  nothing  to  take  the  sting  of  death  away  ?  Yes,  thanks  to  God,  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  sting  is  destroyed,  the  boast  and  the  victory 
taken  away. 

Some  die  in  one  part  of  the  world  and  some  in  another  ;  as  for  Sarah, 
she  died  "In  Kirjaih-Arba,  the  same  is  Hebron."  Kirjath-Arba  was  an 
ancient  city,  built  seven  years  before  Zoan,  in  Egypt.  The  name  signi- 
fies ike  city  of  four.  It  took  its  name  from  Arba,  which  is  four,  or  from 
four  Anakims  that  possessed  it,  viz  :  Anak,  Sheshai,  Abiman  and  Talmai, 
or  from  some  other  cause,  not  very  material  for  us  to  know;  but  in  the 
days  of  Moses  it  was  called  Hebron,  which  word  sign'iRes  friendship. 
Perhaps  this  name  was  given  to  the  city  by  Abraham,  on  account  of  the 
friendship  he  received  from  the  inhabitants  ;  for  at  this  place  Abraham  had 
been  long  before,  see  Gen.  13,  18.  Little  did  Abraham  and  Sarah  think, 
when  they  were  at  that  place  before,  that  it  was  to  be  the  grave  of  Sarah, 
and  the  place  of  mourning  to  Abraham  ;  and  as  little  do  we  think,  at  least, 
as  little  do  we  know,  when  and  where  will  be  the  time  and  place  of  our 
dissolution.  O  may  we  be  prepared  to  give  an  account  of  our  stewardship, 
whenever  we  shall  be  assaulted  by  the  pale-faced  visitant. 

If  I  may  be  allowed  the  liberty  of  deducing  matter  from  the  import 
of  the  word,  I  will  sny,  Sarah  died  in  friendship.  To  die  in  friendship 
with  God,  and  good  will -with  men,  is  an  inestimable  blessing.  How 
different  the  case  of  thousands  in  the  world,  who  die  in  duels,  or  in  the 
field  of  battle,  whose  main  business  through  life  has  been  to  study  hu- 
man butchery,  who  die  in  non-subjection  to  God,  and  full  of  wrath  to- 
wards their  fellow-worms.  Almighty  God,  we  ask  not  for  thrones  and 
sceptres,  supported  by  oppression  and  blood  ;  we  ask  not  for  power  nor 
disposition  to  recriminate  injuries,  and  take  guilty  revenge  on  those  who 
have  abused  us  ;  we  rather  ask  for  some  humble  lot  among  the  sons  of 
peace — to  live  like  Christians,  at  the  feet  of  their  Saviour,  being  per- 
fectly reconciled  to  God  and  his  government ;  and,  should  we  be  insulted 
or  abused,  we  wish  to  submit  ourselves  to  God  in  well-doing — take  joy- 
fully the  spoiling  of  our  goods,  and  breathe  out  such  unfeigned  prayers 
for  our  enemies  as  Stephen  did:  "  Lo:-d,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their 
charge;"  or,  if  it  would  not  be  too  presumptuous  to  imitate  the  Saviour 


206  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

of  sinners  when  dying  on  the  cross,  say,  "  Father,  forgive  them,  they 
know  not  what  they  do." 

If  any  of  my  hearers  wish  to  know  how  this  friendship  with  God  is 
obtained,  the  answer  is,  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  This  man  is 
our  peace — this  peace  he  obtained  by  the  blood  of  the  cross ;  there  is 
no  other  name  under  heaven,  given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  or 
can  be  saved.  Through  Jesus,  God  is  reconciling  the  world  unto  him- 
self;  therefore,  behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world  ;  for  by  him,  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all  things, 
from  which  they  could  not  be  by  the  law  of  Moses. 

This  Hebron  was  in  the  land  of  Canaan.  Canaan  was  given  to  Abra- 
ham by  promise,  and  to  his  seed  by  possession.  It  was  a  land  where 
God's  worship  was  performed  in  a  purer  manner  than  it  was  in  any 
other  place  ;  and  let  Canaan,  at  this  time,  represent  the  worship  of  God. 
How  many  people,  of  whom  there  have  been  the  most  comfortable  hopes, 
that  they  were  born  of  God,  and  reconciled  to  his  government,  have 
forsaken  the  worship  of  God,  and  conformed  themselves  to  the  world  to 
such  a  degree,  that  they  have  not  only  been  stumbling-blocks  in  the 
world,  but  pierced  themselves  through  with  many  sorrows.  On  a  dy- 
ing bed,  which  is  painful  enough  at  best,  they  have  the  additional  re- 
morse of  a  sad  apostacy,  of  negligence  of  duty  and  mis-spent  time. 
The  Christian  who  would  die  with  comfort,  should  live  in  the  fear  of 
God,  and  learn  to  die  while  he  is  living.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  for  a 
man  to  live  longer  than  his  religion  exists ;  but  when  humble  piety  pre- 
vails more  and  more,  heavenly-mindedness  grows  brighter  and  brighter. 
Though  the  outward  man  decays,  the  inward  man  is  renewed  day  by 
day.  Such  a  person  bids  fair  to  win  the  prize,  and  gain  a  crown  of 
righteousness.  May  we  all  be  so  wrought  upon  by  divine  grace,  so  be- 
lieve in  the  promises,  and  so  conduct  ourselves  in  life,  that,  like  Sarah, 
we  may  die  in  friendship  with  God  and  man,  persevering  in  the  wor- 
ship and  service  of  Jehovah,  that  the  same  gracious  Redeemer,  who  said 
to  an  expiring  thief,  "  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise," 
might  whisper  like  words  into  our  ears,  when  our  souls  expatiate  for 
eternity. 

Though  Sarah  was  dead,  she  had  friends  still  living,  who  paid  respect 
to  her  body  after  her  soul  had  left  it.  She  had  been  a  partner  with 
Abraham  in  sorrows  and  joys,  nor  was  the  friendship  extinguished  with 
her  mortal  life  ;  for  our  text  informs  us  that 

Abraham  came  to  mourn  for  Sarah,  and  to  weep  for  her.  He  came,  as 
some  think,  from  the  mount  of  God,  where  he  had  been  to  worship. 
If  this  was  the  case,  then  Sarah  died  in  his  absence,  and  upon  his  re- 
turn he  found  his  wife  sleeping  in  the  icy  arms  of  death ;  but  rather,  he 
came  from  his  own  tent  into  Sarah's,  to  see  the  lifeless  object  of  his  love, 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  207" 

and  give  full  vent  to  his  grief  in  mourning  and  weeping.  Great  souls  are 
not  insensible  of  losses,  nor  are  gracious  souls  free  from  human  sorrow. 
Old  Testament  saints  mourned  greatly  for  the  death  of  their  friends  ;  and 
some  spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament,  did  likewise.  "Devout  men  car- 
ried Stephen  to  his  burial,  and  made  great  lamentation  over  him."  Nor  can 
mourning  for  the  dead  be  reprobated,  since  the  man  of  God's  right  hand, 
the  God-man  and  Mediator,  who  was  a  perfect  pattern  for  his  followers, 
wept  near  the  grave  of  Lazarus  ;  and  yet  we  are  admonished  by  Paul  to 
have  proper  bounds  to  our  grief,  especially  when  our  godly  friends  make 
their  exit,  and  not  to  mourn  in  sorrow,  like  those  who  have  no  hope  in  the 
resurrection,  but  to  assuage  our  grief  by  believing  that  as  certainly  as  Je- 
sus died  and  rose  again,  so  certainly  will  all  those  who  sleep  in  Jesus  be 
brought  forth,  and  brought  to  see  each  other  again.  Our  sorrows  should 
never  extend  so  high  as  to  break  out  in  murmuring  against  the  dispensa- 
tion, or  to  prevent  us  from  the  service  of  God,  or  even  the  duties  of  life. 
Of  this  we  have  an  instance  in  Abraham,  in  the  verse  following  the  text. 
After  the  patriarch  had  mourned  and  wept  a  while  for  his  dead,  he 
cast  the  etfeminate  mourner  off,  and  put  the  man  of  courage  and  conduct 
on,  and  said  to  the  sons  of  Heth:  "give  me  a  possession  of  a  burying-place 
with  you,  that  I  may  bury  my  dead  out  of  my  sight."  Fancy  conjectures 
that,  when  Abraham  lay  mourning  and  weeping  for  his  loss,  after  a  severe 
contest,  reason  prevailed  over  passion,  and  triumphed  in  the  following  lan- 
guage :  "  Sarah,  my  wife,  my  beloved  wife,  the  wife  of  my  youth,  is  dead. 
She  has  lived  with  me  until  she  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  years 
old.  She  has  travelled,  suffered,  and  rejoiced  with  me.  She  has  been 
true  to  her  conjugal  engagement,  and  lived  in  the  fear  of  God.  Why 
should  I  mourn  at  my  loss,  since  Heaven  has  thought  best  to  call  her  away 
from  me  ?  Nay,  it  is  not  my  loss  ;  she  was  God's,  and  not  mine.  I  gave 
my  son,  Isaac,  up  to  God,  obsequious  to  his  order,  and  now  I  cheerfully 
resign  my  interest  in  my  wife.  But  is  Sarah  dead  ?  No  ;  she  yet  liveth  ; 
she  is  living  and  adoring  in  heaven.  Her  body  is  dead,  it  is  true,  but  her 
soul  is  in  Paradise,  basking  in  the  sunny  beams  of  noontide  glory.  Cease, 
then,  all  my  passions :  let  my  Sarah  enjoy  the  beautific  vision  of  her  God, 
till  he  shall  see  cause  to  call  me  to  his  bright  abode,  to  dwell  with  her  and 
all  the  saints  forever.  In  the  meantime,  I  will  serve  my  God  on  earth, 
and  attend  to  the  duties  of  my  family  ;  and  the  first  thing  that  presents  it- 
self to  view,  is  to  purchase  a  burying-place,  and  bury  my  dead  out  of  my 
sight." 

The  husband  of  the  deceased,  to-day,  has  to  act  the  part  of  Abraham. 
This  memorable  day,  you  have  to  bury  your  dead  out  of  your  sight.  Your 
amiable  consort,  the  wife  of  your  youth,  is  dead  :  she  has  breathed  her 
last,  and  is  now  sleeping  in  death.  The  sorrow  that  sits  on  your  brow, 
and  the  tears  in  your  eyes,  bespeak  the  anguish  of  your  soul.     The  ora- 


208  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

tory  of  solemn  silence  breaks  forth  from  your  heart  in  the  language  of  the 
eastern  sufTerer.  "  Have  pity  upon  me !  have  pity  upon  me  !  O,  ye  my 
friends,  for  the  hand  of  God  lias  touched  me."  And,  like  the  mourning 
prophet,  cries:  "Is  it  nothing  to  you,  all  ye  that  pass  by?  Behold,  and 
see  if  there  be  any  sorrow,  like  unto  my  sorrow,  wherewith  the  Lord  hath 
afflicted  me."  Or,  like  the  man  after  God's  own  heart,  in  his  complaint: 
"Both  lover  and  friend  hast  thou  put  far  from  me,  and  mine  acquaintance 
into  darkness."  Sir,  your  loss  is  great ;  deprived  of  the  dear  object  of 
your  love — of  your  domestic  helpmeet,  who  guided  the  house,  and  govern- 
ed her  offspring,  with  subjection  to  her  husband,  in  maternal  fondness. 
But  all  the  pleasing  qualities  of  the  mind  did  not  secure  her  body  from  the 
pains  and  jaws  of  death.  What  still  adds  grief  to  the  solemnity  of  the  day, 
is  her  unexpected  departure.  Her  debility  was  presageous  to  herself,  of 
her  approaching  end,  but  no  ways  alarming  to  her  friends,  till  within  a 
moment  of  her  dissolution,  when  she  was  incapable  of  speaking  or  answer- 
ing to  what  was  said.  It  is  rational  to  suppose,  on  this  occasion,  that  your 
language  is  this  :  "  O,  that  I  had  been  previously  warned  of  her  death,  that 
I  might  have  known  how  her  hope  of  heaven  was  supported,  that  I  might 
have  received  some  counsel  from  her  lips,  and  that  the  children  might 
have  obtained  the  dying  charge  and  valediction  of  their  mother. 

Sir,  your  Lydia  is  dismissed  from  the  troubles  and  cares  of  this  life  ; 
and  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  she  has  made  a  happy  exchange  of 
earth  for  heaven  ;  if  so,  how  much  happier  she  is  now,  than  ever  she  was 
before.  She  is  now  shining  like  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  She 
is  now  adoring  before  the  throne  of  God,  or  flying  through  the  vasts  of 
heaven  with  messages  from  one  choir  to  another ;  and,  perhaps,  is  .some- 
times sent  down  to  visit  your  abode,  attend  you  in  your  solitary  walks, 
and  act  the  part  of  an  official  angel,  though  unperceived  by  you.  Could 
you  hear  her  heavenly  voice  to-day,  she  would  tell  you  that  she  had  lost 
all  the  doubts  and  fears  that  she  had,  when  on  earth,  and  had  gained  the 
celestial  world,  that  she  had  heard  little,  and  knew  less  of  when  she  was 
on  earth.  Her  longer  stay  on  earth  might  have  been  pleasing  and  profit- 
able to  you  ;  but  surely  her  dismission  from  a  world  of  sin  and  trouble, 
and  her  arrival  at  heaven,  is  her  great  gain.  Then  let  it  be  the  height  of 
your  ambition  to  live  and  die  the  Christian,  that  when  you  leave  this  world 
you  may  go  where  we  hope  your  dear  partner  now  is,  and  join  with  her 
in  praise  forever. 

The  children  next  claim  my  address  ;  and  surely  the  large  tears  flov^- 
ing  from  their  little  eyes,  their  swelling  breasts  and  pensive  groans  affect 
my  heart.  You  have  lost  an  indulgent  mother,  that  bore  you  with  pain, 
and  raised  you  with  care  ;  no  toil  was  too  great  for  her  to  perform,  to 
make  your  lives  easy.  It  was  not  her  ambition  to  prepare  you  for  rioting, 
and  teach  you  how  to  act  your  part  on  the  dancing-floor  ;  no,  the  religion 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  209 

she  professed  forbade  it ;  but  her  anxiety  was  to  train  you  up  in  the  ways 
of  virtue.  How  little  do  children  imagine,  when  their  parents  restrain 
their  youthful  folly,  or  recommend  the  ways  of  religion  to  ihem,  that  they 
act  out  of  good  will  to  their  characters  and  love  to  their  souls  ;  rather,  they 
conclude  it  is  the  effect  of  a  rancorous  spirit,  calculated  on  purposeto  make 
them  miserable.  No  one,  without  the  experience,  can  conceive  what  ex- 
cruciating pain  fills  the  gracious  souls  of  parents,  to  see  nothing  but  pride 
and  vanity  in  their  children :  it  often  leads  them  to  cry  to  God,  like  Abra- 
ham, "  O  that  Ishmael  might  live  before  thee."  It  is  rational  to  suppose 
that  your  mother  has  lodged  many  prayers  in  heaven,  for  those  very  child- 
ren that  are  now  mourning  over  her  corpse.  I  wish,  and  pray  God,  that 
your  present  affliction  may  be  a  lasting  benefit  to  your  souls.  Funeral 
tears  too  often  float  away  and  leave  no  impression  on  the  heart ;  but  re- 
member you  all  must  die,  and  appear  before  God  in  judgment,  where 
nothing  will  avail  you  short  of  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  ;  no  covering  screen 
you  from  the  storm  of  wrath,  but  the  garments  of  salvation  and  the  robes 
of  Christ's  righteousness ;  in  fine,  nothing  will  prepare  you  for  heaven 
inferior  to  a  gracious  change  of  heart.  Though  you  are  now  in  youthful 
bloom,  yet  death  is  near,  and  may  be  nearer  than  we  are  aware  of. 

Survey  the  garden,  where  the  fragrant  rose, 
In  all  the  youthful  pride  of  beauty  glows  ; 
Go  pluck  the  tempting  flower,  and  pensive  say, 
So  cruel  death  may  cut  me  off"  to-day. 

'Tis  often  seen  and  known  to  be  a  truth, 
That  death  first  preys  upon  the  fairest  youth ; 
The  flowers  that  bloom  first,  first  fade  away. 
The  fruit  that  first  gets  ripe,  will  firsrt  decay. 

May  that  God,  who  is  a  father  to  the  fatherless,  be  a  father  and  Saviour 
to  the  motherless,  and  preserve  you  from  sin  and  damnation,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord. 

I  shall  now  speak  a  word  to  the  circle  of  mourners  ;  to  the  aged  mother, 
brothers,  sisters,  and  all  relatively  concerned  in  the  solemnities  of  the  day. 
The  present  scene  seems  more  affecting,  when  we  consider  how  lately  the 
family  has  been  called  together  on  a  similar  occasion.  It  is  but  a  k\r 
days  since  a  sister  of  the  deceased  followed  her  husband  to  the  grave. 
Deep  calleth  unto  deep;  one  stripe  upon  the  back  of  another,  this  family 
receives,  from  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  God.  Surely  the  living  are 
called  upon  to  be  ready  to  meet  the  Son  of  Man,  in  the  dispensation  of 
death.  Ye  are  all  uncertain  which  of  the  family  will  be  next  summoned  ; 
let  each  adopt  the  inquiry  of  the  apostles,  "  is  it  I,"  and  to  practise  my- 
self what  I  preach  to  you,  I  shall  say,  "  my  merciful  God,  is  it  I  ?" 

Brethren,  members  of  this  church,  one  of  our  sisters  has  left  us ;  her 
seat  will  be  empty  in  tliis  meeting-house  forever.     While  we  have  been 

27 


210  TUE    WRITINGS    OP 

busy  here  and  there,  she  is  gone — gone  from  a  church  in  a  militant,  im- 
perfect state,  to  the  Church  triumphant.  She  knows  more  now  of  the 
world  of  spirits,  than  ever  she  learned,  or  even  heared  from  this  pulpit; 
she  no  longer  is  confined  to  the  partial  knowledge,  but  knows  as  she  is 
known ;  she  looks  no  more  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  sees  face  to  face. 
I  have  been  happy,  in  seeing  a  considerable  number  join  this  church  since 
I  have  lived  among  you  ;  a  few  have  moved  away  to  other  parts,  and  some 
few  have  been  excluded  from  the  communion ;  but  this  is  the  first  mortal 
bereavement  that  the  church  has  sustained  since  I  have  been  resident  in 
town.  O  may  her  vacancy  be  filled  up  with  some  of  equal  piety.  Our 
expectation  is  from  the  youth.  From  close  observation,  I  have  noticed, 
that  the  greatest  part  of  those  who  are  born  again,  receive  the  gracious 
change  between  the  years  of  sixteen  and  twenty-five  ;  yet  to  this  general 
rule  there  are  many  exceptions;  so  that  those  who  are  younger  may  hope, 
and  those  who  are  older  need  not  despair.  There  have  been  several  re- 
vivals of  religion  in  this  town,  among  the  youth  ;  but  at  present  a  great 
degree  of  carelessness  and  vanity  is  seen.  How  soon  will  this  church 
dwindle  away  to  nolhin<i,  by  the  removals  and  deaths  of  the  present  mem- 
bers,  if  recruits  are  not  made  up  from  the  rising  generation  !  O,  thou  lofty 
One,  who  inhabitest  eternity,  send  thy  good  spirit  down  upon  our  youth, 
and  turn  their  hearts  to  the  love  of  the  truth. 

My  hearers,  one  and  all,  I  feel  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  uncertainty 
of  all  sublunary  objects,  the  many  ways  in  which  death  attacks  the  child- 
ren of  men,  and  the  importance  of  our  appearing  before  God,  in  eternity. 
Physicians  have  computed,  that  there  are  more  than  five-hundred  ways, 
in  which  death  assaults  the  offspring  of  Adam.  Good  God  !  are  we  yet 
living,  when  death,  like  a  man  of  war,  has  so  many  instruments  of  mortality 
to  reduce  us  to  dust.  It  is  owing  to  thy  protective  arm,  Almighty  Lord, 
that  we  are  preserved  from  the  terror  by  night,  and  the  arrow  that  flieth 
by  day ;  from  the  pestilence  that  walketh  in  darkness,  and  the  destruction 
that  stalketh  at  noon-day.  When  we  consider  the  frailty  of  human  na- 
ture, the  wonder  rises  still  higher;  man  has  a  vast  number  of  vital  fibres, 
infinately  smaller  than  a  hair,  and  dies  if  one  of  them  is  broken.  "Strange 
that  a  harp  of  thousand  strings,  should  keep  in  tune  so  long."  Whoever 
studies  human  machinery,  and  calls  in  question  the  constant  superinten- 
dency  of  God,  must  always  live  in  the  utmost  fear  of  death. 

It  is  as  good  a  conjecture  as  can  be  made,  that  the  earth  is  peopled,  at 
present,  with  one  thousand  millions  of  souls.  According  to  the  bills  of 
births  that  are  taken,  it  appears  that  half  that  are  born,  die  under  seven 
years  of  age  ;  but,  as  this  may  be  questioned,  we  will  suppose  that  half 
die  under  fifteen  ;  the  conclusion  is,  that  in  thirty  years  as  many  as  a 
thousand  millions  leave  this  world.  Now,  if  we  suppose  that  a  soul  leaves 
the  world  every  second,  which  is  sixty  for  every  minute,  three  thousand 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  211" 

six  hundred  for  every  hour,  at  the  expiration  of  thirty  years,  there  will  be 
left  a  surplus  of  about  fifty  millions,  which  I  conclude  is  as  great  a  surplus 
of  living  souls  as  thirty  years  produce.  If  we  then  contemplate  the  many 
ways  that  death  invades  our  habitations,  the  frailty  of  human  nature,  and 
the  amazing  constancy  of  souls  leaving  this  world,  we  shall  naturally  adopt 
the  words  of  Paul,  and  say  :  "  Having,  therefore,  obtained  help  of  God,  we 
continue  uuto  this  time."  But  let  the  careless  sinner  think  that,  when 
death  dislodges  his  soul  from  his  body,  the  yawning  hell  will  be  its  resi- 
dance.  Notwithstanding  the  attempts  of  some  to  prove  that  the  soul  dies 
with  the  body,  and  of  others  to  maintain  that  all  souls  will  go  to  heaven 
on  making  their  exit,  yet  Revelation  assures  us  of  the  death  of  a  rich  man, 
and  the  existence  of  his  something,  I  say  soul,  after  his  body  was  buried ; 
and  that  this  something  was  in  hell,  where  a  great  fixed  gulf  forever  sepa- 
I'ated  him  from  Abraham  and  Lazarus.  When  the  wicked,  impenitent 
sinner  dies,  he  goes  to  the  generation  of  his  fathers,  and  shall  never* see 
the  light.  He  that  made  him  will  not  have  mercy  on  him,  and  he  that 
formed  him  will  show  him  no  favor. 

If  there  is  not  something  pertaining  to  man  that  does  exist  in  a  separate 
state,  after  the  dissolution  of  the  body,  what  did  our  Saviour  mean  in  his 
dying  prayer — "  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit"  ?  And 
how  are  we  to  understand  Stephen,  on  a  like  occasion — "  Lord  Jesus,  re- 
ceive my  spirit"  ?  Moses  died,  and  the  Lord  hid  him.  Moses  had  not 
been  raised  from  the  dead  when  our  Lord  was  on  earth,  and  yet  he  ap- 
peared on  the  holy  mount  when  our  Lord  was  transfigured  ;  but  how  could 
this  be,  if  there  was  nothing  belonging  to  Moses  that  survived  the  death  of 
his  body?  If  souls  know  nothing  when  out  of  the  body,  why  could  not 
Paul  tell  whether  he  was  in  the  body  or  out  of  it,  when  he  was  caught  up 
into  Paradise  and  the  third  heavens  ?  and  why  should  he  give  us  to  believe 
that  he  could  be  present  with  the  Lord  when  absent  from  the  body  ?  If  the 
souls  of  the  martyrs  do  not  live,  sing,  and  pray,  too,  after  their  bodies  are 
dead,  and  before  their  resurrection,  how  could  John  see,  under  the  altar, 
the  souls  of  them  who  were  beheaded,  hear  what  they  said,  and  the  an- 
swers made  them  ?  And  how  could  the  soul  of  a  prophet  bring  him  in- 
telligence from  heaven,  if  souls  die  with  the  body  ?  Who  can  believe  Paul, 
when  he  declared  he  was  a  Pharisee,  if  he  did  not  believe  their  doctrine  ? 
which,  in  opposition  to  that  of  the  Sadducees,  was  in  spirits,  angels,  and  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead.  The  arguments  that  are  brought  to  prove  the 
mortality  of  the  soul,  will  not  admit  of  the  existence  of  angels,  and  some 
of  them  strike  directly  against  the  existence  of  God. 

But  let  souls  continue  ever  so  long  in  a  separate  state,  yet  the  time  will 
come — it  hastens,  when  all  will  be  raised  from  their  graves,  and  souls  and 
bodies  will  re-unite.  The  time  is  near,  when  we  shall  see  a  God  in  gran- 
de^'-.  and  view  a  world  in  flames :  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in 


212  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  every  eye  shall  see  him.  "  A  fire  shall  burn 
before  him,  and  be  very  tempestuous  round  about  him."  Before  his  great 
white  throne,  all  nations  will  appear  to  their  final  audit.  Who  can  stand 
when  God  doth  this  ? 

It  is  not  easy,  if  possible,  to  tell  how  many  people  have  been  on  the 
earth  since  its  first  formation.  If  we  suppose  that  from  Adam  to  the  flood, 
they  doubled  once  in  forty-five  years,  by  births,  there  was  born  above  one 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand  millions.  In  the  flood,  all  the  threads 
of  the  web  were  cut  off"  but  eight.  And  if  from  the  flood  to  this  day,  those 
eight  souls  have  doubled  in  like  manner,  once  in  forty-five  years,  there 
have  been  born,  since  the  flood,  more  than  three  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven  thousand  quatrillions,  which,  added  to  the  antediluvians,  make 
nearly  four  hundred  thousand  quatrillions.  The  surface  of  the  whole 
globe  would  be  as  unequal  to  such  a  number,  as  a  pepper-corn  is  to 
an  empire  ;  for  if  the  whole  solid  contents  of  the  terraqueous  globe  was 
reduced  to  square  inches,  there  would  be  more  than  thirty-four  thousand 
millions  of  souls  to  each  inch.  But  if  this  earth  could  not  contain  them 
all,  when  the  present  is  burnt  up,  God  can  make  a  new  earth  big  enough ; 
but  it  is  not  certain  that  resurrection  bodies  will  require  grass  earth  to 
stand  upon.  However  these  things  may  be,  all  rational  creatures  of 
Adam's  line,  will  appear  before  God,  and  hear  their  final  doom  for  eter- 
nity.  May  we  all  be  prepared  for  the  midnight  cry — for  the  grand  assize 
— for  the  solemn,  righteous  judgment  of  God  ;  that  we  may  hear  the 
blessed  plaudit — "  Well  done.     Enter  into  the  joy  of  your  God."  Amen. 


THE 


YANKEE    SPY: 

CALCULATED    FOR    THE    RELIGIOUS   MERIDIAN    OF    MASSACHUSETTS,    BUT  WILL 

ANSWER    FOR    NEW    HAMPSHIRE,    CONNECTICUT,    AND    VERMONT, 

WITHOUT   ANY    MATERIAL    ALTERATIONS. 

BY    JACK    NIPS. 

By  the  life  of  Pharaoh,  you  are  a  SPY ! Joscra. 


1794, 


THE  YANKEE  SPY. 


Question.  Why  are  men  obliged,  every  year,  to  pay  their  taxes  ? 

Answer.  To  support  government. 

Q.  What  is  government  ? 

A.  The  government  here  intended,  is  the  mutual  compact  of  a  certain 
body  of  people,  for  the  general  safety  of  their  lives,  libeity,  and  property. 

Q.  Are  all  systems  of  civil  government  founded  in  compact? 

A.  No :  successful  robbers  and  tyrants  have  founded  their  systems  in 
conquest — enthusiasts  and  priest-ridden  people  have  founded  theirs  in  grace 
— vjrhile  men  without  merit  have  founded  their  system  in  lirth  ;  but  the  true 
principle,  that  all  Gentile  nations  should  found  their  government  upon,  is, 
compact. 

Q.  Was  civil  government  appointed  by  the  Almighty  from  the  begin- 
ning ? 

A.  It  was  not ;  nor  was  it  necessary  until  sin  had  intoxicated  man  with 
the  principle  of  self-love.  The  law  was  not  made  for  a  righteous  man, 
but  for  the  disobedient. 

Q.  What  form  of  government  prevailed  first  among  mankind  ? 

A.  Patriarchal.  The  father  of  a  family  used  to  exercise  some  sove- 
reignty over  his  successors,  until  they  moved  from  the  city  of  their  father, 
and  became  patriarchs  themselves. 

Q.  How  long  did  the  world  stand  without  any  government  in  it  but  pat- 
riarchal  ? 

A.  There  was  no  other  kind  before  the  flood,  (which  was  more  than  one 
thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-five  years,)  nor  afterwards  till  Nimrod,  two 
generations  after  the  flood. 

Q.  What  was  Nimrod  ? 

A.  He  was  the  first  that  began  to  be  a  mighty  one  in  the  earth.  He  was 
a  mighty  hunter  before  the  Lord,  who  hunted  beasts  to  support  his  army 
with,  and  hunted  men  to  reduce  them  to  his  will. 

Q.  What  form  of  government  did  he  adopt? 

A.  A  kingly  form  ;  for  the  beginning  of  his  kingdom  was  Babel,  Erech, 
Accad,  and  Calneh.  He  was  the  first  of  those  pretty  cteatures  called 
kings,  who  reduced  others  to  subjection  by  hunting  them  like  beasts. 


216  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Q.  Did  the  Almighty  ever  give  a  code  of  political  laws  to  any  nation? 
or,  are  nations  left  to  act  at  discretion  in  establishing  forms  of  government 
and  codes  of  laws  ? 

A.  The  Almighty  did  certainly  give  the  nation  of  Israel  a  complete  code 
of  laws  on  Sinai,  and  in  the  wilderness,  for  their  rule  of  conduct  in  religious, 
civil  and  military  life. 

Q.  Were  those  laws  obligatory  on  other  nations  ? 

A.  Laws,  that  are  in  themselves  just,  are  binding  on  all  men,  but  the 
particular  form  of  many  of  those  laws  was  peculiar  to  that  nation.  The 
transgression  of  many  of  those  precepts  was  criminal  in  that  nation,  which 
the  Gentiles  were  never  accused  of  by  their  great  apostle,  Paul. 

Q.  What  did  other  nations  do,  in  point  of  government,  while  Israel  was 
in  the  wilderness  and  under  the  regulation  of  judges  ? 

A.  When  Nimrod  usurped  the  monarch's  crown,  the  spirit  of  domina- 
tion ran  through  the  world  like  a  raging  plague.  Ashur  went  out  to  the 
land  of  Shinar,  where  Nimrod's  seat  was,  and  built  Nineveh,  and  founded 
the  Assyrian  monarchy,  and  the  contagion  of  having  kings,  and  being  kings, 
prevailed  so  greatly,  that  every  little  village  had  a  king.  Abraham,  with 
three  hundred  and  eighteen  servants,  conquered  four  of  them  and  their 
hosts — Joshua  destroyed  thirty-one — and  Adonibezek  cut  off  the  thumbs 
and  great  toes  of  seventy  ;  also  eight  kings  and  eleven  dukes  reigned  over 
Edom,  before  any  in  Israel. 

Q.  In  what  condition  was  the  nation  of  Israel,  after  they  left  Egypt,  be- 
fore Saul  reigned  over  them,  in  regard  to  their  police  ? 

A.  They  were  in  a  state  of  theocracy,  the  best  of  all  states  when  peo- 
ple have  virtue  enough  to  bear  it. 

Q.  Were  there  no  men  among  them  who  exercised  dominion  over  the 
rest? 

A.  Moses  and  Aaron  exercised  divine  orders  among  them  ;  the  princes 
of  the  tribes  and  the  officers  bore  authority,  and  the  judges,  of  whom  there 
were  thirteen,  had  some  pre-eminence,  but  neither  of  them  had  the  power 
of  making  laws ;  when  God  appointed  them,  they  were  to  execute  his  laws, 
and  no  other. 

Q.  Was  the  code  of  laws,  ordained  for  the  government  of  Israel,  suf- 
ficient to  govern  other  nations  by,  in  their  very  different  circumstances  ? 

A.  It  was  not.  Canaan  was  an  inland  country — the  people  were  for- 
bidden to  trade  with  other  nations,  so  that  no  laws  were  made  for  naviga- 
tion, commerce,  or  union  ;  all  of  which  are  necessary  in  Gentile  nations. 
And,  beside,  their  civil  and  religious  laws  were  all  blended  together.  The 
sabbath  of  the  seventh  day — seventh  year,  and  fiftieth  year — the  three 
grand  feasts,  and  a  multitude  of  sacrifices,  ceremonies,  and  oblations  were 
enjoined  on  that  people,  which  things  Gentile  nations  have  nothing  to  do 
with. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  217 

Q.  Has  the  political  part  of  that  constitution  ever  been  abused  by  Gen- 
tile legislatures  ? 

A.  Abundantly  so,  among  Gentile  nations  that  have  become  Christian  ; 
for  by  bringing  Christian  states  upon  the  same  footing  with  the  common- 
wealth  of  Israel,  they  have  supposed  that  Christian  nations  have  a  just 
right  to  dispossess  the  heathen  of  their  lands  and  make  slaves  of  their  per- 
sons, as  Israel  served  the  Canaanites  and  Jebusites  :  for  no  better  claim  than 
this  had  the  European  nation  to  make  a  seizure  of  America.  Nor  is  this 
all :  civil  rulers,  in  Christian  countries,  have  taken  the  liberty  of  adopting 
such  precepts  of  the  Mosaic  constitution  as  suited  them,  and  punished  those 
who  would  not  submit,  when,  at  the  same  time,  they  have  left  unnoticed  a 
great  number  of  the  precepts  of  Moses. which  were  equally  obligatory. 

Q.  Has  the  ecclesiastical  part  of  the  Mosaic  constitution  ever  been  abu- 
sed  as  well  as  the  political  part  ? 

A.  Yes,  and  that  to  a  great  degree.  The  church  of  Israel  took  in  the 
whole  nation,  and  none  but  that  nation  :  whereas,  Christ's  church  takes  no 
whole  nation,  but  those  who  fear  God  and  work  righteousness  in  every  na- 
tion. But  almost  all  Christian  nations  and  states,  since  the  reign  of  Con- 
stantine,  have  sought  to  establish  national  churches :  in  order  to  effect 
which,  they  have  brought  in  all  the  natural  seed  of  the  professors  into  the 
pales  of  the  church,  making  no  difference  between  the  precious  and  the 
vile ;  and  from  this  foundation  they  have  appealed  to  the  laws  of  state, 
instead  of  the  laws  of  Christ,  to  direct  their  mode  of  discipline.  What  a 
scandal  it  is  to  the  Christian  name  to  see  church  discipline  executed  in  a 
court-house,  before  the  judges  of  the  police — to  see  censures  given  at  the 
whipping-post,  and  excommunications  at  the  gallows  ;*  and  for  smaller 
breaches,  to  be  admonished  by  a  sheriff's  seizing  and  selling  cows,  etc.,  or 
wiping  off  the  admonition  by  a  pecuniary  mulct !  Yet  such  has  been,  and 
still  is  the  case,  even  in  New  England,  that  has  made  her  boast  of  religion 
and  liberty .f  Circumcision,  as  to  its  first  institution,  was  not  of  Moses, 
but  of  the  fathers  that  lived  before  Moses,  yet  it  was  enjoined  by  Moses  to 
be  performed  on  all  the  males  of  Israel.  From  this  a  great  number  of 
ecclesiastics  have  changed  blood  for  water,  and  sprinkle  their  children  in- 
stead of  bleeding  them,  in  order  to  make  the  gospel  church  as  extensive  as 
the  church  of  Israel  was.  Yet  many  of  them  will  not  admit  a  person  to 
go  back  as  far  as  John  for  the  origin  of  baptism,  because,  say  they,  John's 
administration  was  under  the  law ;  yet  they  will  run  back  two  thousand 
four  hundred  years  before  John  for  a  precedent  of  baptism.:}: 

*  The  Baptists  and  Newlights  have  been  imprisoned,  fined,  and  whipped,  and  witches 
and  Quakers  have  been  hung  in  Massachusetts. 

t  Seizing  and  selling,  for  ministerial  tax,  is  still  practised  in  many  tow^ns  to  this  day. 

I  A  Reverend  Gentleman  in  the  county  of  Worcester,  who,  like  many  of  his  brethren, 
views  John's  baptism  under  the  law,  contends  for  infant  baptism  from  Genesis,  ix.,  27. 
That  the  laws  of  Moses  was  in  force  while  John  lived,  and  even  to  the  death  of  Jesus  I 

28 


218  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

Q.  Was  not  circumcision,  to  the  church  of  Israel,  the  same  that  water- 
baptism  is  to  the  church  of  Christ  ? 

A.  If  so,  the  following  absurdities  arise. 

First.  None  but  the  males  were  circumcised  :  whereas,  both  males  and 
females  are  sprinliled  with  water.  To  say  that  the  females  were  virtually 
circumcised  in  the  males,  is  just  as  good  sense  as  to  say  the  females  are 
virtually  sprinkled  in  the  males. 

Second.  None  were  ever  circumcised  under  eight  days  old,  which  was 
the  general  time  appointed ;  but  children  are  sprinkled  sometimes  before 
they  are  eight  hours  old.  Midwives  have  been  empowered  to  doit,  incase 
death  was  nearer  than  a  priest. 

Third.  Circumcision  was  never  a  priestly  rite :  fathers,  masters,  moth- 
ers, and  friends  did  the  work ;  but  sprinkling  is  supposed  to  be  a  ministe- 
rial rite. 

Fourth.  Whatever  circumcision  figured  out,  it  was  something  that  was 
wrought  in  the  spirit  and  done  without  hands  ;  and  as  there  is  nothing  done 
by  men,  that  is  called  baptism  by  zvater,  either  sprinkling,  pouring,  or  dip- 
ping, that  can  possibly  change  the  spirit,  so  neither  of  them  are  effected 
without  the  hands  of  men.  The  conclusion,  therefore,  is,  that  the  first  did 
not  figure  out  the  last. 

Fifth.  None  but  those  who  were  circumcised  were  to  inherit  Canaan  ;  of 
course,  then,  none  but  those  who  are  baptized  with  water  can  inherit  heaven, 
which  is  a  consequence  inadmissible. 

Q.  What  do  you  think  of  the  British  constitution  of  government  ? 

A.  There  is  no  constitution  in  Britain.  It  is  said,  in  England,  that  there 
are  three  things  unknown,  viz .  the  prerogatives  of  the  crown — the  privi- 
leges of  parliament — and  the  liberty  of  the  people.  These  things  are  facts, 
for  although  they  consider  the  seventy-two  articles  of  the  Magna  Charta 
as  the  basis  of  their  government,  yet  from  that  basis  they  have  never  formed 
a  constitution  to  describe  the  hmits  of  each  department  of  government. 
So  that  precedents  and  parliamentary  acts  are  all  the  constitution  they  have. 

Q.  How  does  government  operate  in  England  ? 

A.  A  hereditary  king  of  the  Protestant  faith,  must  always  fill  the  throne, 
whether  he  be  a  wise  man  or  a  dunce.  A  house  of  lords,  of  the  heredi- 
tary mould,  must  glways  check  the  house  of  commons. 

Q.  What  is  the  house  of  commons  ? 

A.  It  is  a  representative  body  of  a  small  part  of  the  nation,  chosen  once 
in  seven  years.  It  is  called  the  house  of  commons,  because  the  house  of 
lords  is  a  house  o?  uncommons,  supposed  to  be  a  species  of  beings  like  the 

do  not  deny  ;  but  that  John  baptized  in  Jordan  and  Enon,  such,  and  such  only,  as  brought 
forth  fruits  of  repentance,  by  an  order  of  the  law,  will  be  denied  until  it  can  be  proved 
If  no  institution,  appointed  before  the  death  of  Christ,  is  imitable  for  Christians,  the  holy, 
supper  should  be  neglected. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  219 

Genii  of  the  Mahometans,  between  angels  and  men,  born  only  to  rule, 
without  having  a  fellow-feeling  with  those  whom  they  rule  over. 

Q.  What  condition  has  that  form  of  government  reduced  the  people  to  ? 
A.  It  has  sunk  them  in  a  debt  of  more  than  two  hundred  and  eighty 
millions,  so  that  the  interest  of  their  debt,  together  with  the  support  of  the 
civil  and  military  lists,  imposes  an  annual  tax  on  the  people  equal  to  thirty 
shillings  sterling  per  soul,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  year  the  nation  is  a 
million  of  pounds  more  in  debt  than  at  the  beginning. 
Q.  How  stand  religious  concerns  in  England  ? 

A.  The  thirty-nine  articles  and  book  of  common  prayer  are  established 
by  law.  No  man  can  fill  any  office  in  the  civil  or  military  departments 
without  taking  an  oath  to  support  them,  and  upon  receiving  a  commission 
he  must  seal  his  oath  with  the  eucharist :  this  is  true  of  all,  saving  the 
members  of  parliament,  who  are  obliged  only  to  take  the  oath  of  abjura- 
tion, Curse  the  Pope  and  Papistry. 

Q.  But  are  there  none  in  England  that  dissent  from  the  established  re- 
ligion ? 

A.  Many  of  them,  of  various  denominations, 
Q.  How  do  they  fare  ? 

A.  They  are  deprived  of  such  advantages  as  the  conformists  enjoy.  In 
addition  to  all  their  proscriptions,  the  tenth  part  of  all  their  income  is  ta- 
ken from  them  to  support  priests  that  they  never  hear,  and  in  whom  they 
place  no  confidence. 

Q.  Is  it  supposed  that  the  articles  and  forms  of  the  church  of  England 
are  so  perfect  that  they  cannot  be  mended  ? 

A.  They  are  always  perfect  when  dissenters  are  handled.  Edward 
Wrightman  was  burnt  to  death  at  Litchfield,  by  a  warrant  from  prince 
James,  for  saying  that  the  worship  of  God  was  not  fully  described  in  the 
thirty-nine  articles  and  book  of  common  prayers,  and  nearly  eight  thou- 
sand lost  their  property,  liberties,  and  lives  in  the  reign  of  the  merciful 
king  Charles,  because  they  could  not,  would  not  say,  that  they  believed 
what  they  could  not  believe,  and  so  conform  to  the  established  worship. 

They  are  also  always  perfect  when  a  candidate  enters  into  holy  orders,  for 
all  of  them  do  solemnly  declare  that  they  give  their  unfeigned  assent  and 
consent  to  all  and  every  thing  contained  in  that  book,  and  yet,  from  the 
first  formation  of  that  book,  it  has  passed  above  six  hundred  alterations, 
and  to  this  day,  many  parts  of  it  are  complained  of  by  many  of  the  Epis- 
copal clergymen. 

Q.  What  have  you  to  say  about  the  Federal  Constitution  of  America? 
A.  It  is  a  novelty  in  the  world  :  partly  confederate,  and  partly  consoli- 
date— partly  directly  elective,  and  partly  elective  one  or  two  removes  from 
the  people ;  but  one  of  the  great  excellencies  of  the  Constitution  is,  that 
no  religious  test  is  ever  to  be  required  to  qualify  any  officer  in  any  part  of 
the  government.     To  say  that  the  Constitution  is  perfect,  would  be  too 


220  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

high  an  encomium  upon  the  fallibility  of  the  framers  of  it ;  yet  this  may 
be  said,  that  it  is  the  best  national  machine  that  is  now  in  existence. 

Q.  What  think  you  of  the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts  ? 

A.  It  is  as  good  a  performance  as  could  be  expected  in  a  state  where 
religious  bigotry  and  enthusiasm  have  been  so  predominant. 

Q.  What  is  your  opinion  of  having  a  hill  of  rights  to  a  constitution  of 
government  ? 

A.  Whenever  it  is  understood  that  all  power  is  in  the  monarch — that 
subjects  possess  nothing  of  their  own,  but  receive  all  from  the  potentate, 
then  the  liberty  of  the  people  is  commensurate  with  the  bill  of  rights  that 
is  squeezed  out  of  the  monarch. 

After  the  conquest  of  William,  the  government  of  England  was  com- 
pletely  monarchical,  until  the  reign  of  king  John,  when  the  Magna  Charta 
was  given  to  the  people  :  this  has  often  been  mentioned  in  America  as  a 
sufficient  reason  for  a  lill  of  rights,  to  preface  each  constitution  :  but  in 
republican,  representative  governments,  like  those  of  America,  where  it 
is  understood  that  all  power  is  originally  in  the  people,  and  that  all  is  stili 
retained  in  their  hands,  except  so  much  as  for  a  limited  time  is  given  to 
the  rulers,  where  is  the  propriety  of  having  a  bill  of  rights  ?  In  this  view, 
no  such  bill  is  found  in  the  Federal  Constitution. 

But  it  is  not  my  intention,  at  this  time,  to  dispute  the  point  of  propriety 
or  impropriety  of  a. bill  of  rights,  but  shall  only  add  that  the  liberty  of  the 
people  depends  more  upon  the  organization  of  government,  the  responsi- 
bility of  rulers,  and  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  officers,  than  it  does  upon 
any  bill  of  rights  that  can  be  named. 

The  illustrious  patriots  of  Massachusetts,  in  framing  their  Constitution 
of  government,  in  1780,  prepared  a  bill  of  rights,  which  is  adopted  in  the 
state,  on  which  I  shall  make  some  remarks.  The  bill  contains  thirty  ar- 
ticles, upon  a  few  of  which  I  shall  animadvert. 

In  the  second  article  it  is  said,  "  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  all  men  pub- 
licly, and  at  stated  seasons,  to  worship  the  Supreme  Being."  This  article 
would  read  much  better  in  a  catechism  than  in  a  state  constitution,  and 
sound  more  concordant  in  a  pulpit  than  in  a  state-house. 

Suppose  there  are,  in  Massachusetts,  a  number  of  Pagans  and  Deists  : 
the  Pngans,  upon  hearing  that  it  is  their  duty  to  worship  one  Supreme  Being 
only,  must  consequently  renounce  all  other  deities  whom  they  have  been 
taught  to  adore ;  here  their  consciences  must  be  dispensed  with,  or  the 
constitution  broken.  The  Deist,  who  believes  all  religion  to  be  a  cheat, 
must  either  act  the  hypocrite,  or  disregard  the  supreme  law  of  the  State. 
This  duty  is  called  a  right :  if  every  man  has  this  right,  then  he  has  a 
right  to  judge  for  himself,  and  will  hardly  thank  any  body  for  turning  his 
right  into  what  they  may  call  a  duty.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  men,  and 
women  too,  to  worship  God  publicly,  I  heartily  believe,  but  that  it  is  the 
duty  or  wisdom  of  a  convention  or  legislature  to  enjoin  it  on  others,  is  called 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  221 

in  question,  and  will  be,  until  an  instance  can  be  given  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, that  Jesus,  or  his  apostles,  gave  orders  therefor  to  the  rulers  of  this 
world. 

It  is  the  duty  of  men  to  repent  and  believe — to  worship  God  in  their 
closets  and  families  as  well  as  in  public — and  the  reason  why  public  wor- 
ship is  enjoined  by  authority,  and  private  worship  is  omitted,  is  only  to  pave 
the  way  for  some  religious  establishment  by  human  law,  and  force  taxes 
from  the  people  to  support  avaricious  priests. 

What  leads  legislators  into  this  error,  is  confounding  sins  and  crimes  to- 
gether— making  no  difference  between  moral  evil  and  state  rebellion:  not 
considering  that  a  man  may  be  infected  with  moral  evil,  and  yet  be  guilty 
of  no  crime,  punishable  by  law.  If  a  man  worships  one  God,  three  Gods, 
twenty  Gods,  or  no  God — if  he  pays  adoration  one  day  in  a  week,  seven 
days,  or  no  day — wherein  does  he  injure  the  life,  liberty  or  property  of  an- 
other ?  Let  any  or  all  these  actions  be  supposed  to  be  religious  evils  of 
^n  enormous  size,  yet  they  are  not  crimes  to  be  punished  by  the  laws  of 
state,  which  extend  no  further,  in  justice,  than  to  punish  the  man  who  works 
ill  to  his  neighbor. 

When  civil  rulers  undertake  to  make  laws  against  moral  evil,  and  pun- 
ish men  for  heterodoxy  in  religion,  they  often  run  to  grand  extremes.  The 
eating  of  a  potatoe  for  food,  and  using  emetics  for  physic,  were  once  con- 
sidej'ed  in  France  as  religious  evils.  Galileo  was  once  excommunicated 
and  banished  by  the  Pope's  bull,  as  a  man  of  dangerous  heresy,  because  he 
believed  in  the  Copernican  system.  The  ancients  were  treated  as  here- 
tics,  who  believed  they  had  antipodes.  The  court  of  Zurich  made  a  law 
to  drown  Felix  Mentz  with  water,  because  he  was  baptized  in  water.  In 
short;  volumes  might  be  written,  and  have  been  written,  to  show  what  havoc 
among  men  the  principle  of  mixing  sins  and  crimes  together  has  effected, 
while  men  in  power  have  taken  their  own  opinions  as  infallible  tests  of 
right  and  wrong. 

The  third  article  of  the  bill  of  rights  is  similar  to  the  second  in  its  struc- 
ture. It  is  said,  "  The  people  of  this  commonwealth  have  a  right  to  in- 
vest their  legislature  with  power  to  authorise  and  require,  and  the  legisla- 
ture shall  from  time  to  time  authorise  and  require  the  several  towns,  parish- 
es,  etc.,  to  make  suitable  provision,  at  their  own  expense,  for  the  institution 
of  the  public  worship  of  God,  and  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  public 
Protestant  teachers,  in  all  cases  where  such  provision  shall  not  be  made 
voluntarily." 

If  the  legislature  of  this  commonwealth  have  that  power  to  institute  and 
establish  that  religion^  which  they  belicA'e  is  the  best  in  the  world,  by  the 
same  rule,  all  the  legislatures  of  all  the  commonwealths,  states,  kingdoms 
and  empires  that  are  in  the  world,  and  that  have  been  in  the  world,  may 
claim  the  same. 

If  dumb  idols  are  called  devils,  and  idolatry  is  the  religion  of  the  devil, 


222  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

this  claim  of  power  brings  all  the  Gentile  nations  under  the  government 
of  the  devil.  Idolatry  was  established  by  this  pretended  power  in  the 
Gentile  nations,  when  the  Christian  religion  was  first  sent  among  them ; 
now  if  that  establishment  was  right,  then  the  apostles  were  wrong  in  sepa- 
rating  so  many  thousands  from  the  established  religion.  They  were 
guilty  of  effecting  a  schism,  and  government  was  innocent  in  inflicting 
such  punishment  upon  them  and  their  adherents.  In  process  of  time,  the 
religion  of  Christ  prevailed  so  far  that  it  was  established  in  the  empire  of 
Rome  ;  at  which  epoch  it  received  a  deadly  wound,  which  gradually  re- 
duced it  to  superstition,  fraud  and  ignorance ;  so  that,  in  the  sixteenth  cen. 
tury,  a  number  of  kingdoms  and  principalities  protested  against  the  church 
of  Rome ;  but  this  was  a  grand  piece  of  obstinacy,  if  rulers  have  the 
power  that  the  article  under  consideration  says  belongs  to  the  legislature 
of  Massachusetts.  These  Protestants,  especially  in  England,  retained  so 
many  of  the  Papal  relics,  that  great  numbers  became  nonconformists ; 
here  they  repeated  their  crime,  rejecting  the  English  establishment,  as 
well  as  that  of  Rome.  Some  of  those  nonconformists  came  into  New- 
England,  and  soon  began  to  exercise  that  power  which  the  bill  of  rights 
says  they  have  a  right  to. 

Now,  how  shall  all  these  evils  be  remedied  ?  answer — all  who  have  dis- 
sented from  the  established  religion  of  New-England  must  return  to  that 
fold,  an  d  confess  their  errors ;  then  all  must  return  to  the  church  of  Eng- 
land, and  submit  to  that  establishment ;  then,  joining  with  the  Episcopal- 
ians, all  must  apply  to  the  Pope  for  pardon,  and  submit  to  his  uncontrol- 
able  authority  ;  then,  with  the  Papists,  all  must  return  to  the  Pagans,  and 
submit  to  the  Polytheism.  If  the  power  spoken  of  is  right,  then  this  mode 
of  procedure  is  right ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  not  the  natural  consequence  of 
religious  establishments  by  human  law,  to  bring  all  men  under  the  gov. 
ernmcnt  and  religion  of  the  devil,  it  is  because  there  is  neither  devil  nor 
devilish  religion  in  the  world. 

It  is  observed,  that  •'  the  people  of  this  commonwealth  have  a  right  to 
invest  their  legislature  with  this  power.''  But  where  do  they  get  this  right  ? 
The  universe  is  composed  of  a  multitude  of  units  ;  so  this  commonwealth 
is  formed  by  a  number  of  individuals.  The  confederacy  is  the  sovereign, 
and  rulers  are  agents ;  and  how  can  the  creature  have  more  power  than 
the  Creator  ?  Propter  quod  unum  quodque  est  tale,  illud  ibsum  est  magis 
tale.  Whatever  is  found  in  the  commonwealth,  in  aggregate,  is  found  in 
small,  essential  particles  among  all  the  individuals;  if,  therefore,  this 
power  is  in  the  commonwealth,  each  individual  has  a  little  of  it  in  his  own 
breast ;  and  has  a  right  to  exercise  it  towards  his  neighbor,  and  force  him 
to  worship  God,  when,  where,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  he  himself  shall 
choose  ;  and  if  this  be  the  case,  what  means  the  first  article  in  the  bill  of 
rights  ;  where  it  is  said,  "  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal."  To  be  consis- 
tent, either  that  clause  should  be  erased,  or  the  power  contended  for  given  up. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  223 

This  power  is  to  be  used  to  oblige  the  people  "  to  make  suitable  pro- 
vision at  their  own  expense,  for  the  institution  of  the  public  worship  of 
God."  I  have  long  been  of  the  belief  that  Jesus  Christ  instituted  his  wor- 
ship ;  and  if  my  faith  is  well  founded,  then  it  is  not  left  for  rulers  to  do  in 
these  days ;  but,  surely  nothing  more  can  be  meant  by  it,  than  that  the 
legislature  shall  incorporate  religious  societies,  and  oblige  them  to  build 
houses  for  public  worship.  Parishes,  precincts,  and  religious  societies 
politically  embodied,  are  phrases  not  known  in  the  New  Testament ;  con. 
vey  ideas  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  and  pave  the  way  for  force 
and  cruelty,  inadmissible  in  Christ's  kingdom,  which  is  not  of  this  world. 
If  any  number  of  real  saints  are  incorporated  by  human  law,  they  cannot 
be  a  church  of  Christ,  by  virtue  of  that  formation,  but  a  creature  of  state. 

This  power  is  further  to  be  exercised,  to  require  the  people  to  be  at  ex- 
pense "for  the  support  and  maitenance  of  public  Protestant  preachers." 

Preaching  by  the  day,  by  the  month,  by  the  year,  annual  taxes  for 
preaching ;  what  strange  sounds  these  are !  not  strange  in  these  days ; 
but  such  strangers  in  the  New  Testament,  that  they  are  not  to  be  found 
there.  How  insignificant  would  the  federal  government  be,  if  it  was  de- 
pendant on  the  laws  of  the  states  to  support  its  officers !  That  govern- 
ment that  has  not  force  enough  in  it  to  support  its  officers,  will  soon  fall ; 
just  so  with  the  government  of  Jesus.  The  author  of  our  religion  has 
appointed  a  maintenance  for  his  teachers ;  but  has  never  told  the  rulers 
of  this  world  to  interfere  in  the  matter. 

How  much  did  John  the  Baptist,  Jesus,  Peter,  James  or  John,  ask  per 
year  ?  Answer  :  I  know  not.  If  a  man  preaches  Jesus,  he  cannot  talk 
enough  for  it ;  the  gold  of  Ophir  cannot  equal  it ;  if  he  preaches  himself, 
it  is  good  for  nothing. 

Strange  it  is,  that  men  should  pretend  to  be  sent  by  God  to  preach  to 
sinners,  and  yet  will  not  do  the  work  of  the  Lord,  unless  they  can  get  men 
to  be  legal  bondsmen  for  Jehovah. 

To  read  in  the  New  Testament,  that  the  Lord  has  ordained  that  those 
that  preach  the  gospel  shall  live  by  its  institutions  and  precepts,  sounds 
very  harmonical  ;  but  to  read  in  a  state  constitution,  that  the  legislature 
shall  require  men  to  maintain  teachers  of  piety,  religion  and  morality, 
sounds  very  discordant. 

We  may  next  observe,  that  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  have  not 
power  to  provide  for  any  public  teachers,  except  they  are  Protestant.  Pa- 
gans, Turks  and  Jews,  must  not  only  preach  for  nothing ;  but  Papists, 
those  marvellous  Christians,  cannot  obtain  a  maintenance  for  their  preach- 
ers by  the  laws  of  their  commonwealth.  Such  preachers  must  either  be 
supported  voluntarily,  support  themselves,  or  starve.  Is  this  good  policy  ? 
Should  one  sect  be  pampered  above  others  1  Should  not  government  pro- 
tect all  kinds  of  people,  of  every  species  of  religion,  without  showing  the 


224  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

least  partiality  ?  Has  not  the  world  had  enough  proofs  of  the  impolicy 
and  cruelty  of  favoring  a  Jew  more  than  a  Pagan,  Turk,  or  Christian  ;  or 
a  Christian  more  than  either  of  them  ?  Why  should  a  man  be  proscribed, 
or  any  wife  disgraced,  for  being  a  Jew,  a  Turk,  a  Pagan,  or  a  Christian 
of  any  denomination,  when  his  talents  and  veracity  as  a  civilian,  entitles 
him  to  the  confidence  of  the  public. 

The  next  thing  to  be  noticed  is,  that  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  is 
invested  with  power  and  "  authority  to  enjoin  upon  all  the  subjects  an 
attendance  upon  the  instructions  of  the  public  teachers,  at  stated  times  and 
seasons."  By  which  stated  times,  no  doubt,  is  meant  the  days  called 
Sabbaths,  Sundays,  (Sondays,)  First-days  or  Lord's-days.  I  shall  not  dis- 
pute  the  point  about  the  holy-day,  whether  it  was  enjoined  on  men  from 
the  beginning,  or  never  before  the  manna  was  given  in  the  wilderness ; 
whether  the  fourth  commandment  in  the  decalogue,  was  of  a  moral  or 
ceremonial  nature  ;  whether  it  was  binding  on  all  nations,  or  only  on  Is- 
rael ;  whether  the  same  day  of  the  week  is  to  be  kept  to  the  end  of  the 
v/orld ;  whether  the  seventh  part  of  time  answers  the  end  of  the  law,  or 
whether  the  seventh  day  is  changed  for  the  first ;  but  shall  use  the  liberty 
of  saying,  that  the  appointment  of  such  stated  holy-days,  is  no  part  of  hu- 
man legislation.  I  cannot  see  upon  what  principle  of  national  right,  the 
people  of  Massachusetts  could  invest  their  legislature  with  that  power ; 
and  as  I  cannot  deduce  it  from  the  source  of  natural  right,  so  neither  can 
I  find  a  hint  in  the  New  Testament,  that  Jesus  or  his  apostles,  ever  re- 
proved any  for  the  neglect  of  that  day  ;  or  that  they  ever  called  upon  civil 
rulers  to  make  any  penal  laws  about  it.  And  it  is  curious  to  see  what 
havoc  rulers  make  of  good  sense,  whenever  they  undertake  to  legalize  said 
day.  No  longer  ago  than  1791,  the  legislature  of  this  commonwealth 
made  a  sabbatical  law ;  wherein,  for  the  groundwork,  they  say,  that  the 
seventh  part  of  time  is  to  be  kept  holy;  but  how  do  they  calculate  time? 
A  man  on  a  journey  may  travel  until  Saturday  night,  midnight,  and  begin 
again  on  Sunday  at  sundown;  if  eighteen  hours  is  the  seventh  part  of  a 
week,  then  their  calculation  is  good ;  but  being  conscious  that  it  is  not, 
they  make  it  up  (i.  e.  pay  what  they  have  borrowed)  out  of  recreation ; 
for  such  exercise  must  cease  on  Saturday  at  the  going  down  of  the  sun, 
and  continue  to  cease  till  Sunday  midnight.  It  may  further  be  observed, 
that  the  law  of  God,  and  the  laws  of  men,  differ  widely  in  phrase ;  the 
law  that  enjoined  the  observance  of  the  seventh  day  on  the  nation  of  Is- 
rael, which  came  from  Jehovah,  did  not  except  the  works  of  necessity  and 
mercy ;  neither  man,  maid,  nor  beast  were  to  work — but  a  little  way  were 
they  to  travel — a  bundle  of  sticks  was  not  to  be  gathered  and  laid  on  the 

fire nor  had  they  any  orders  to  assemble  on  that  day,  in  a  stated  manner, 

to  read  the  law  of  Moses.  It  was  to  be  a  day  of  rest,  which  gave  it  the 
name  Sabbath ;  but  the  laws  of  men  have  so  many  exceptions,  that  noth- 
ing, and  anything,  are  done  on  said  day. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND,  225 

But  however  these  things  are,  the  legislature  of  this  state  is  to  oblige 
the  people  to  assemble  on  these  stated  times,  to  hear  the  instructions  of 
these  teachers  of  piety,  religion  and  morality,  if  there  be  any  on  whose 
instructions  they  can  conscientiously  and  conveniently  attend.  Here  is  a 
gap  wide  enough  for  any  man  to  creep  out.  If  neglecting  to  go  to  meet- 
ing  is  not  justified  by  pleading  inconveniency,  his  conscience  will  soon  do 
it ;  but  whether  he  goes  to  church  or  not,  his  pennies  must  go  to  the  treas- 
urer's purse. 

It  is  true  that  one  sect  of  Protestant  Christians  has  as  fair  an  opportunity 
to  be  incorporated  as  another,  but  there  are  many  who  justly  despise  the 
idea  of  religious  incorporation  by  human  law,  and  therefore  those  who  do 
not,  have  an  undue  advantage  over  others.  Supposing,  in  France,  the  Na- 
tional Convention  should  decree  that  all  sects  of  Christians,  that  believed 
that  kings,  in  certain  cases,  might  wear  their  heads  and  crowns  upon  them, 
should  have  equal  privileges  in  France,  I  ask,  whether  the  Jacobin  party 
would  share  equal  favors  with  the  royalists  ?  So,  in  this  case,  all  sects  of 
Protestant  Christians  that  choose  to  be  incorporated,  may  elect  their  own 
teachers  and  contract  with  them  for  their  maintenance,  and  assess  it  upon 
all  within  their  respective  precincts  ;  but  those  who  cannot,  in  conscience, 
accord  with  this  legal  religion,  must  pay  their  tax  with  the  rest,  and  be  at 
the  trouble  of  drawing  it  out  of  the  treasury  again,  which  sometimes 
occasions  vexatious  lawsuits. 

Now,  if  it  should  be  argued  that  a  great  many  in  this  commonwealth 
believe,  in  their  consciences,  that  it  is  the  best  way  to  serve  God,  to  have 
societies  incorporated  by  law,  and  levy  a  tax  upon  all  to  support  their 
worship  and  maintain  their  teachers,  how  easily  the  above  evils  might  be 
prevented,  and  all  enjoy  liberty  of  conscience.  If  those  only,  who  are  con- 
scientious in  legal  religion,  are  incorporated,  and  tax  none  but  themselves, 
thei'e  will  be  no  cruel  distraining  from  those  whose  consciences  dictate 
another  mode  of  worship.  A  man  can  cheerfully  work  when  he  verily 
believes  he  is  doing  God  service  ;  a  man,  therefore,  who  believes  in  reli- 
gious incorporation,  can  joyfully  give  in  his  name  to  be  taxed  ;  and  he  who 
believes  that  the  law  has  nothing  to  do  about  religious  worship,  can  as  joy- 
fully stay  at  home.  The  last  of  these  have  as  good  grounds  to  judge  that 
the  first  plead  conscience  for  cruelty,  as  the  first  have  to  judge  that  the  last 
plead  conscience  for  covetousness. 

But  there  is  no  need  for  a  constitutional  clause  about  things  of  this  na- 
ture ;  for  if  a  number  of  men  contract  with  a  preacher,  for  a  year,  or  for 
life,  the  bond  which  they  give  him,  is  as  recoverable  by  law  as  any  bond 
whatever ;  but  the  poison  of  such  contracts  is,  including  those  who  do  not 
act  voluntarily,  and  perpetuating  them  upon  their  successors  or  natural 
offspring. 

The  last  clause  of  the  third  article  reads  thus  : 

29 


326  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

"  And  every  denomination   of  Christians,  denseaning  themselves  peace- 
ably, and  as  good  subjects  of  the  commonwealth,  shall  be  equally  under  the 
protection  of  the  law  ;  and  no  subordination  of  any  one  sect   or  denomina- 
tion to  another,  shall  ever  be  established  by  law." 
On  this  section  I  have  several  remarks  to  make^ 

First.  The  first  part  of  it  is  very  liberal,  to  a  certain  degree  ;  but  if  it 
read  all  men  instead  of  every  denomination  of  Christians,  it  would  be  unex- 
ceptionable. 

When  the  Pagans  were  favored  by  law,  more  than  Christians,  what  de- 
vastation it  made  in  the  empire  of  Rome,  in  the  first  introduction  of  the 
Christian  religion,  until  the  reign  of  Constantine.  In  the  first  three  centu- 
ries, almost  two  millions  of  lives  were  lost  for  conscience  sake.  These 
were  men,  women  and  children,  who  were  as  good  subjects  of  state  as  any 
in  the  empire.  After  the  change  in  the  empire,  when  the  Christian  reli- 
gion became  established  by  law,  the  Pagans  suffered  in  the  same  manner 
that  the  Christians  had  done  in  the  ten  preceding  persecutions.  Who  can 
read  the  history  of  these  sufferings  without  seeing  the  bad  policy  of  estab- 
lishing either  of  the  religions  in  the  empire  ? 

Second.  Although  the  clause  now  under  consideration  is  some  what  libe- 
ral, indeed  entirely  so  among  Christians,  yet  it  nowise  accords  with  a  former 
clause  in  the  same  article,  where  the  legislature  is  forbidden  to  incorporate 
any  Christians  but  Protestants,  at  least,  are  not  vested  with  power  to  do  it. 
Protestants  only  can  be  formed  into  religious  societies  and  distrain  for  a 
maintenance  for  their  teachers. 

One  of  tv/o  things  must  be  granted  ;  either  that  Papists  are  no  Chris- 
tians, or  that  there  is  a  partiality  established.  Among  little  souled  bigots, 
who  believe  nobody  right  but  themselves,  who  confine  the  Christian  reli- 
gion  to  their  own  sect,  and  conclude  that  they  have  the  exclusive  right  to 
monopoli7;e  salvation,  it  would  not  be  strange  to  hear  that  Papists,  and  all 
others  who  differed  with  them  in  sentiment,  were  no  Christians ;  but  this 
cannot  be  the  case  here.  The  framers  of  the  constitution  were  men  of  in- 
formation and  acquaintance  with  the  world  ;  the  result  is,  then,  that  there 
is  a  contradiction  in  the  two  clauses  of  the  same  article. 

Such  is  the  state  of  things  in  Massachusetts,  that  the  legislature,  accord- 
ing to  the  power  vested  in  them  by  the  first  part  of  the  third  article,  have 
made  such  laws  as  have  effected  a  subordination  of  one  sect  to  another, 
contrary  to  the  last  clause  in  the  same  article. 

On  March  23,  and  June  28,  1786,  two  acts  passed  ;  the  first  respecting 
towns,  the  other  precincts,  which  effect  the  subordination  just  mentioned. 
These  two  laws  were  somewhat  uniform  in  structure,  and  therefore  a  quo- 
tation from  one  of  them  may  suffice  in  this  place.  Each  inhabitant  has 
the  power  of  voting  in  town  or  precinct  affairs,  who  pays  two-thirds  more 
in  one  tax  than  a  poll  tax  ;  and  then  follows,  "  That  the  freeholders  and  other 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  227 

inhabitants,  in  each  respective  town,  qualified  as  aforesaid,  at  the  annual 
meeting  for  the  choice  of  town  officers,  or  at  any  other  town-meeting  regu- 
larly warned,  may  grant  and  vote  such  sums  of  money  as  they  shall 
judge  necessary  for  the  settlement,  maintenance  and  support  of  the  minis- 
try,  to  be  assessed  upon  the  polls  and  property  within  the  same,  as  by  law 
provided." 

Now  if  any  Christians  but  Protestants  are  thus  incorporated,  the  consti- 
tution is  violated  ;  and  if  none  but  Protestants,  what  may  the  Catholios  say  ? 
But  this  is  not  all ;  by  this  act,  property  entitles  a  man  to  church  privile- 
ges. A  degree  of  simony  is  contained  in  the  act.  The  wisest  man  that 
was  ever  born  of  a  woman  could  not  estimate  wisdom,  by  all  the  gold  and 
pearls  on  earth  ;  but  here  a  little  property  procures  it ;  at  least,  an  annual 
tax  entitles  a  man  to  the  rights  of  it>  Whether  these  voters  are  spiritual, 
moral,  or  profane,  they  have  an  equal  suffrage  in  the  choice  of  spiritual 
teachers,  who  have,  or  should  have,  the  cure  of  souls  at  heart. 

It  is  well  known,  that  there  are  a  number  of  Baptists  in  this  state  ;  in 
some  towns  they  and  their  adherents  form  a  majority  ;  but  in  the  greatest 
part  of  the  towns,  those  called  the  standing  order  are  superior  to  all  the 
rest.  As  the  Baptists  are  Protestants,  where  they  form  a  majority,  they 
might  be  incorporated  as  well  as  others,  and  tax  all  in  the  town  or  precinct 
to  part  with  their  money  for  religious  uses.  But  it  is  well  known  that  they 
are  principled  against  it.  They  do  not  believe  that  the  legislature  have 
any  proper  authority,  upon  the  scale  of  good  policy,  to  make  any  laws  to 
incorporate  religious  societies  and  require  a  maintenance  for  the  ministi^. 
Now-  the  question  is.  Do  their  sentiments  prevent  their  demeaning  them- 
selves as  peaceable  subjects  of  state  ?  Let  those  who  differ  with  them 
in  judgment  answer.  Yet  from  their  known  and  conscientious  principles, 
how  are  they  reduced  to  subordination  in  various  places  ? 

In  a  town  or  precinct  where  the  Baptists  are  a  minority,  the  major 
part  choose  and  settle  a  minister ;  the  expense  is  levied  upon  all  according 
to  poll  and  property  ;  the  Baptists,  in  this  case,  must  either  part  with  their 
money  to  support  a  religion  that  they  do  not  fully  believe  in,  or  be  suborbi- 
nate  enough  to  get  a  certificate  to  draw  it  out  of  the  treasurer's  hands.  Some 
have  condescended  to  the  last  mode,  as  being  the  best  alternative  they  had  ;. 
while  others  have  had  such  a  disgust  to  submit  to  a  power,  belonging 
neither  to  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  nor  the  civil  government  on  earth, 
that  they  would  not  bow  let  the  consequences  be  what  they  would..  The 
distraining  law-suits  and  oppressions  that  have  risen  from  this  source,  even 
since  the  ratification  of  the  present  constitution,  need  not  be  mentioned  at 
this  time. 

One  observation  more  shall  close  my  strictures  on  this  article.  It  is  well 
noticed  that  none  shall  be  protected  by  law,  but  those  who  properly  demean 
themselves  as  peaceable  subjects  of  the  commonwealth.  This,  however 
should  be  extended  to  all  men,  as  well  as  to  Christian  denominations. 


228  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

For  any  man,  or  set  of  men,  to  expect  protection  from  the  law,  when 
they  do  not  subject  themselves  to  government,  is  a  vain  expectation.  Let 
a  man's  motive  be  what  il  may,  let  him  have  what  object  soever  in  view  ^ 
if  his  practice  is  opposed  to  good  law,  he  is  to  be  punished.  Magisti'ates 
are  not  to  consult  his  motive  or  object,  but  his  actions. 

Without  adverting  to  Bohemia,  Munster,  or  any  part  of  Europe  or  Asia 
for  instances,  we  shall  pay  attention  to  a  few  recent  transactions  of  our  own. 
A  Shaking-Quaker,  in  a  violent  manner,  cast  his  wife  into  a  mill-pond  in 
cold  weather  ;  his  plea  was,  that  God  ordered  him  so  to  do.  Now  the  ques- 
tion is.  Ought  he  not  to  be  punished  as  much  as  if  he  had  done  the  deed  in 
anger  ?  Was  not  the  abuse  to  the  woman  as  great  ?  Could  the  magis- 
trate perfectly  know  whether  it  was  God  Satan,  or  ill-will,  that  prompted 
him  to  do  the  deed  ?'    The  answers  to  these  questions  are  easy. 

In  the  year  of  1784,  Matthew  Womble,  of  Virginia,  killed  his  wife  and 
four  sons,  in  obedience  to  a  Shining  One,  who,  he  said,  was  the  Son  of 
God,  to  merit  heaven  by  che  action  ;  but  if  the  court  had  been  fearful  of 
offending  that  Shining  One,  and  pitied  Womble's  soul,  they  would  never- 
have  inflicted  that  punishment  upon  him  which  they  did  the  October  fol- 
lowing. Neither  his  motive,  which  was  obedience,  nor  his  object,  which 
was  the  salvation  of  his  soul   had  any  weight  on  the    jury. 

Should  magistrates  or  jurors  be  biased  by  such  protestations,  the  most 
atrocious  villains  would  always  pass  with  impunity. 

I  shall  here  add,  that  in  Scotland,  two  women  were  brought  before  the 
sessions  for  fornication  ;  one  of  them  was  a  church  member  and  the  other- 
was  not.  She  who  was  a  daughter  of  Zion  was  pitied,  and  the  man  who 
had  defiled  her  was  judged  a  vile  seducer,  and  severely  fined ;  but  she 
who  was  not  a  member  of  the  church,  was  judged  a  lewd  slattern, ^ 
and  was  driven  out  of  the  parish,  that  she  might  not  deceive  honest  men 
any  more. 

Should  a  man  refuse  to  pay  his  tribute  for  the  support  of  government, 
or  any  wise  disturb  the  peace  and  good  order  of  the  civil  police,  he  should 
be  punished  according  to  his  crime,  let  his  religion  be  what  it  will  ;  but 
when  a  man  is  a  peaceable  subject  of  state,  he  should  be  protected  in  wor- 
shipping the  Deity  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience. 

It  is  often  the  case,  that  laws  are  made  which  prevent  the  liberty  of  con- 
science ;  and  because  men  cannot  stretch  their  consciences  like  a  nose  of 
wax,  these  non-conformists  are  punished  as  vagrants  that  disturb  the  peace. 
The  complaint  is  :  "  These  men,  being  Jews,  do  exceedingly  trouble  the 
city."  Let  any  man  read  the  laws  that  were  made  about  Daniel  and  the 
three  children,  and  see  who  were  the  aggressors,  the  law  makers  or  the 
law  breakers.  The  rights  of  conscience  should  always  be  considered  in- 
alienable— religious  opinions  as  not  the  objects  of  civil  government,  nor 
any  way  under  its  jurisdiction.  Laws  should  only  respect  civil  society ; 
then  if  men  are  disturbers  they  ought  to  be  punished. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  229 

Among  the  many  beautiful  traits  of  the  constitution  of  Massachusetts, 
the  provision  made  for  its  revision  shines  with  great  effulgence. 

Permanency  and  improvement  should  be  mixed  together  in  government. 
But  few  nations  have  ever  had  patriotism  sufficient  to  remove  the  radical 
deficiencies  of  government,  without  falling  into  convulsion  and  anarchy. 
There  are  certain  ebbs  and  tides  in  men,  and  bodies  of  men,  which  often 
break  over  all  proper  bounds,  without  a  proper  check.  To  leave  govern- 
ment, therefore,  so  mutable  that  a  bare  majority  can  alter  it,  when  under 
some  prevailing  passion,  exposes  that  permanency  that  the  good  of  the 
whole,  and  the  confidence  of  allies,  call  for.  In  this  last  view  of  things, 
some  real,  confessed  evils  had  better  be  borne  with,  than  to  make  govern- 
ment too  fluctuating.  In  the  federal  government,  it  requires  two-thirds  of 
the  states,  or  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  Congress,  to  change  the  consti- 
tution. In  Massachusetts  the  same  ;  but  not  till  after  the  experiment  of 
fifteen  years.  However  this  may  appear  to  others,  to  me  it  appears  one 
of  the  fairest  lines  in  the  constitution ;  a  signal  of  a  patriotic  people,  con- 
scious of  their  liability  of  mistake,  wishing  to  improve  in  policy,  attached 
to  energy  and  freedom.  And  there  is  no  doubt  but,  in  the  year  1795,  the 
citizens  of  this  state  may  meet  by  their  delegates,  and  coolly  impove  upon 
the  constitution,  and  remove  its  defects,  that  time  and  experience  have  dis- 
covered, without  the  least  danger  of  tumult  or  noise.  Should  that  be  the 
case,  it  is  hoped  that  some  things  respecting  religion  will  be  altered,  which 
is  the  chief  end  of  the  publishing  of  this  small  tract. 

If  the  constitution  should  be  revised,  and  anything  about  religion  should 
be  said  in  it,  the  following  paragraph  is  proposed  : — 

"  To  prevent  the  evils  that  have  heretofore  been  occasioned  in  the 
world  by  religious  establishments,  and  to  keep  up  the  proper  distinction 
between  religion  and  politics,  no  religious  test  shall  ever  be  requested  as  a 
qualification  of  any  officer,  in  any  department  of  this  government ;  neither 
shall  the  legislature,  under  tl^s  constitution,  ever  establish  any  religion  by 
law,  give  any  one  sect  a  preference  to  another,  or  force  any  man  in  the 
commonweatlth  to  part  with  his  property  for  the  support  of  religious  wor- 
ship, or  the  maintenance  of  ministers  of  the  gospel." 


230  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


CORRESPONDING  LETTER 


SHAFTSBURY    ASSOCIATION,     179  6^. 

Beloved  brethren  :  As  the  indulgent  Guardian  of  men  has  preserved 
our  lives,  and  brought  us  together  at  this  our  annual  meeting,  we  have 
now  an  opportunity  of  addressing  you  in  our  collective  capacity.     It  is 
a  saying  of  the  wise  man,  that  "  two  are  better  than  one,  and  a  threefold 
cord  is  not  easily  broken."     From  which  we  learn  that  the  great  design 
of  Heaven,  manifested  by  nature's  great  law,  as  well  as  revelation,  is  that 
men  should  be  helpers  of  each  other.  The  feeble  state  of  infants,  the  unwary 
paths  of  youth,  the  decrepitude  of  old  age,  the  want  in  each  sex  of  the  other 
to  make  life  agreeable,  and,  indeed,  the  inability  of  individuals  to  execute 
business  of  agriculture  and  arts  of  mechanism,  all  evince  the  utility  of  so- 
ciety in  civil  life.     Nor  are  arguments  less  conclusive  or  pungent  in  mat- 
ters of  religion.  But  how  are  the  laws  of  Heaven  (in  some  sort)  frustrated 
by  sin  t  rather,  we  express  it,  the  plum  is  gathered  from  the  thorn,  the 
rose  from  the  brier,  and  the  honey  from  amidst  the  stings.     How  has  sin, 
how  does  self-love  and  self-importance,  torment  and  chafe  our  minds  among 
those  very  persons,  our  partners,  our  nearest  connections,  whom  Heaven 
has  appointed  for  our  comforters,  and  without  whom  we  are  more  forlorn 
than  the  beasts  of  the  wilderness.     But  is  there  no  antidote,  is  there  no 
way  to  escape  all  the  snarls  of  social  life  ?    0,'gracious  Heaven  !  show  us 
the  way — the  hidden  way,  to  obtain  all  the  blessings  of  society  without  the 
disadvantages  thereof.     But  here,  again,  we  check  the  language  of  our 
hearts  ;  for  the  voice  of  revelation  promises,  neither  to  individuals  nor  so- 
cieties, in  this  world,  good  without  evil,  peace  without  contention,  a  crown 
without  a  cross,  nor  profit  without  incumbrance.     Seeing,  then,  that  this 
world  is  a  mixture  of  good  and  evil,  and  men  are  in  a  middle  state,  between 
the  consummate  holiness  of  heaven,  and  the  entire  deformity  of  hell,  let  us 
wait  patiently  till  our  change  comes  ;  nor  be  so  overcharged  with  the  evils  of 
life,  as  to  neglect  the  use  of  those  talents  and  means  that  God  has  assigned 
us  in  our  pilgrimage  here  on  earth.    In  this  point  of  light,  we  joyfully  em- 
brace this  opportunity  of  corresponding  with  you,  by  letter  and  delegates, 
wishing  that  we  might  suggest  a  little  to  you,  (at  least  two  mites,)  for  your 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  231 

furtherance  in  the  gospel,  and  that,  in  return,  we  might  receive  much  from 
you,  for  our  reproof,  instruction  and  comfort. 

We  conceive  that  the  church  of  Christ,  which  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
is  not  governed  by  the  laws  of  men,  but  by  the  laws  of  Christ ;  not  by  the 
acts  of  parliament,  but  by  the  acts  and  epistles  of  the  apostles  ;  not  defended 
by  carnal  weapons,  and  instruments  of  death,  but  by  spiritual  weapons,  and 
instruments  of  righteousness.  "  Not  by  might  and  power,  but  by  my 
spirit,  saith  the  Lord."  This  kingdom  forms  no  alliance  with  the  king, 
doms  and  states  of  this  world,  but  is  distinct  from  them,  yet  containing 
subjects  in  all  of  them,  to  be  redeemed  from  among  them.  The  negotia- 
tions, failures,  violations,  ratifications,  or  punctual  compliances  of  treaties 
between  earthly  kingdoms  and  states,  no  wise  affect  the  church  in  its  spi- 
ritual  standing,  which  is  secured  in  the  great  treaty  between  Jehovah  and 
the  Mediator.  "  The  council  of  peace  was  between  them  both  ;"  in  which 
covenant  the  persons  and  blessings  of  Christ's  kingdom  are  both  made 
sure.     The  offspring  and  vessels  all  hang  upon  this  nail. 

Dear  brethren,  if  such  is  the  security  and  happiness  of  the  saints,  oh, 
let  us  never  forget  the  price  of  our  redemption.  The  blessed  Jesus  came 
into  this  world,  not  to  teach  men  husbandry,  or  the  mechanical  arts — not 
to  instruct  them  in  politics,  or  any  of  the  branches  of  science  or  natural 
philosophy  ;  he  never  taught  man  the  use  of  the  magnet,  or  the  mariner's 
art.  No  ;  these  things  are  good  and  profitable  among  men,  but  infinitely 
beneath  the  cause  that  Jesus  came  to  espouse.  He  came  to  do  the  will  of 
him  who  sent  him,  and  to  finish  his  work — to  magnify  his  law,  to  clear 
his  amiable  character,  to  make  a  display  of  his  excellent  perfections,  to 
build  up  truth,  to  expose  sin,  conquer  Satan,  and  save  sinners  by  his  blood. 
Oh,  how  immense  the  love  !  how  free  the  grace !  how  inexpressible  the 
kindness !  how  painful  the  conflict !  how  interesting  to  us,  and  how  tri- 
umphant  to  himself,  the  victory !  The  bleeding  victim,  slain  under  the 
Mosaic  institution,  the  blood  and  smoke  of  the  Jewish  altars,  but  feebly 
pointed  out  the  great  offering  of  Christ,  to  make  atonement  for  the  sins  of 
men. 

Let  Arians,  Soeinians,  or  any  others,  undervalue  the  bloody  sacrifices 
and  vicarious  sufferings  of  the  God-man,  Christ  Jesus,  yet  on  this  foun- 
dation we  trust  our  souls,  and  humbly  hope  to  spend  a  long  eternity  in 
finding  out  this  knowledge  of  witty  inventions,  and  adoring  the  wisdom, 
love  and  grace,  which  we  never  expect,  nor  ever  wish  to  comprehend. 

Since  our  last  association,  our  dear  brother.  Rev.  Joshua  Morse,  of 
Sandisfield,  has  departed  this  life.  He  began  the  work  of  the  ministry 
in  his  youth,  has  followed  it  with  unwearied  zeal,  solemn  devotion  and 
practical  piety,  to  a  good  old  age,  and  died  in  the  triumphs  of  faith. 
We  have  gospel  grounds  to  believe  that,  while  we  are  associating 
here    on    earth,  and   see    his  seat   empty  among  us,  he    is  associating 


•232  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

with  the  saints  in  heaven,  and  filling  his  seat  among  the  servants  of 
the  Lord,  and  has  heard  and  received  the  blessed  plaudit :  "  Well  done, 
good  and  faithful  servant ;  because  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  little, 
I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  much.  Enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 
Oh !  may  all  of  us,  who  are  called  upon  to  minister  in  holy  things,  be 
faithful  unto  death,  that  we  may  receive  a  crown  of  life.  And  may 
the  Lord  raise  up  and  send  forth  able,  wise,  spiritual,  and  faithful  la- 
borers into  his  vineyard. 

As  to  the  state  of  our  churches,  there  is  nothing  very  flattering,  nor 
is  there  anything  peculiarly  discouraging.  A  worldy,  careless  spirit  too 
much  abounds  in  general ;  but  there  are  some  revivings.  Upon  the  whole, 
we  can  say  "  the  Lord  reigns,"  and  his  word  of  revelation  recommends 
itself  to  us  with  satisfactory  evidence.  The  preceding  minutes  will  give 
any  curious  inquirer  the  number  of  our  churches,  and  what  alterations 
have  taken  place  since  our  last   anniversary. 

In  this  present  session,  moderation  and  good  order  have  presided, 
and  some  quickenings  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  may  the  word  and  spi- 
rit of  the  Hving  God  be  our  guide  and  comforter  forever.     Amen.* 

*  It  is  possible  some  alterations  were  made  in  tliis,  and  perhaps,  also,  the  other  asso- 
ciational  letters,  by  the  bodies  for  which  they  were  prepared ;  but  what  these  changes 
were,  we  have  now  no  means  of  ascertaining. 


A 

BLOW  AT  THE   ROOT 


BEING  A 


FASHIONABLE   FAST-DAY  SERMON, 


DELIVERED   AT 


CHESHIRE,   APRIL   9,    1801 


I  will  also  show  mine  opinion. Eliuu. 

Shoot  at  her,  spare  no  arrows,  for  she  hath  sinned  against  the  Lord. Jkrbmiah. 


30 


A  BLOW  AT  THE  ROOT,  &c. 


Man  comes  into  the  world  necdy^  dependent,  frail,  and  polluted.  He  is 
born  without  clothes  and  shoes,  and  with  his  mouth  opened  by  a  craving 
appetite.  These  needs  have  given  rise  to  the  various  arts  so  studiously 
and  gradually  learned  among  men. 

The  need  of  a  shirt  has  set  the  farmer  to  work  to  raise  his  flax,  and  the 
woman  to  spin  and  weave  it :  which  again  has  set  others  to  work  to  make 
tools  for  the  farmer,  spinner,  and  weaver  to  perform  with,  etc.  The  need 
of  H  jacket  has  taught  men  to  raise  sheep  and  manufacture  their  wool,  which 
also  employs  a  number  of  artisans  beside,  before  the  coat  of  a  sheep  is 
turned  into  a  coat  for  a  man.  The  need  of  shoes  has  discovered  a  use  for 
the  skins  of  beasts,  and  taught  the  tanner,  the  currier,  and  shoe-maker, 
with  all  others  connected  therewith,  their  respective  arts.  The  open  mouth 
and  craving  appetite,  has  given  rise  to  the  many  agricultural  arts,  to  raise 
food  :  and  taught  the  butcher  and  cook,  with  a  thousand  others  in  train,  to 
perform  their  parts  in  life.  The  surplus  of  necessaries,  convenicncies, 
and  luxuries,  that  are  in  one  part  of  the  world,  and  the  want  of  many  other 
articles,  if  they  did  not  give  rise  to  ship-building  and  navigation,  employ 
abundance  of  men  in  carrying  their  exports  and  bringing  home  their  im- 
ports. The  need  of  shelter  from  the  storm  has  formed  the  carpenter,  ma- 
son, glazier,  and  a  long  list  besides;  and  if  the  three  sons  of  Cain,  whose 
names  were  Fire,  Light,  and  Flame,  first  found  out  fire  by  rubbing  two 
sticks  together,  as  some  say,  yet  the  tending,  securing,  and  using  of  it,  to 
warm  and  cook  with,  have  employed  a  number  of  artists.  The  subject 
cannot  be  developed  by  me,  I  believe  not  by  any  man.  To  contemplate 
the  rise  of  human  nature,  from  its  first  state  of  barbarous  ignorance  in  the 
beginning,  to  the  present  slate  of  improvement  in  agriculture  and  the  arts  • 
to  enquire  how  the  first  artisans  got  tools  to  execute  their  arts  ;  together 
with  the  coincidence  of  all  the  parts,  forming  one  great  whole,  is  a  subject 
so  extensive  and  intricate,  that  no  being  but  Him  who  teaches  men  knowl- 
edge, and  who  is  infinite  in  knowledge  himself,  can  comprehend  it.  These 
are  parts  of  thy  works,  O  Lord. 

The  doctrine  so  earnestly  contended  for,  that  all  men  came  into  the  world 
free  and  independent,  may,  in  a  very  small  sense  be  true :  indeed,  it  ap- 


236  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

pears  to  be  wholly  true,  in  the  sense  intended  by  those  who  adopt  the  nnax- 
im,  but  in  the  view  of  things  which  I  am  now  pursuing,  freedom  and  inde- 
pendence  are  but  little  more  than  names.  Man  comes  into  the  world  more 
dependent  than  the  quadruped — more  helpless  than  the  bird — more  forlorn 
than  the  insect.  As  soon  as  he  is  born,  he  is  involuntarily  dragged  from 
place  to  place  by  the  sovereign  arm  of  his  nurse,  and  has  one  bitter  thing 
after  another  crammed  down  his  throat,  entirely  against  his  will :  if  he  is 
in  a  serious  mood,  the  fond  mother  will  tickle  him  to  make  him  laugh,  and 
if  he  chooses  to  cry,  she  will  stop  his  mouth  with  the  pap.  Pray  where  is 
the  freedom  of  this  child  ? 

But  further,  when  the  child  grows  larger,  if  he  chooses  to  pull  the  tea- 
cup off  the  table,  his  hand  is  confined,  and  if  he  chooses  to  put  his  fingers 
in  the  milk,  it  is  moved  out  of  his  reach ;  if  it  is  his  will  to  run  out  in  the 
mud  or  snow,  he  is  called  into  the  house,  and  if  he  chooses  to  stand  in  front 
of  the  fire,  he  is  ordered  to  give  place  to  his  seniors ;  if  it  is  his  pleasure  to 
set  up  at  night  he  is  ordered  to  bed,  and  if  he  desires  to  take  a  morning  nap 
he  is  called  up  to  work.  When  sent  to  school,  he  is  often  forced  to  be  po- 
ring over  his  dull  lesson  or  knotty  sum,  when  he  had  much  rather  be  at  play. 
Now  the  question  is,  who  speaks  truth,  the  statesman  or  the  child  ?  The 
statesman  says,  that "  man  comes  into  the  world  free:"  the  child  says,  he 
"  can  never  do  as  he  pleases  without  being  scolded  at  or  controlled." 

If  we  consider  that  freedom  does  not  authorise  one  man  to  destroy  the 
freedom  of  another,  but  that  freedom  is  to  be  governed  by  the  laws  of  good 
order,  and  that  all  beside  is  licentiousness,  and  tends  to  bondage  in  the  final 
event,  the  seeming  contradiction  is  reconciled. 

The  bondage  just  mentioned  above,  does  not  cease  with  our  infantile  or 
juvenile  years,  but  remains  with  men  through  every  stage  of  life.  In  riper 
years — in  a  connubial  state — in  parental  concerns — in  human  society,  both 
civil  and  religious — in  short,  in  all  their  connections  in  life,  they  are  bound 
to  bear  innumerable  disappointments  and  crosses  which  are  unavoidable. 

The  dependence  of  man  further  appears,  in  his  inability  to  accomplish 
the  works  of  husbandry  or  mechanism  by  himself,  and  in  his  entire  inca. 
pacity,  as  a  unit,  to  defend  himself  from  a  stronger  man  than  himself,  or  a 
number  of  them  in  conjunction,  who  make  an  attack  upon  his  life,  liberty, 
or  property.  Hence  results  the  propriety  of  human  confederation,  to  ef- 
feet  the  works  of  life,  and  defend  the  innocent  from  the  depredations  of 
villains. 

Man  is  also  frail — formed  out  of  the  dust — animated  clay — possessing 
a  heavenly  spark  that  never  can  decay.  That  man  is  complex,  to  me  is 
clear,  but  his  immaterial,  immortal  part,  is  not  an  article  of  present  animad- 
version :  his  material,  mortal  part  is  frail.  Diseases,  called  the  "  firstborn 
of  death,"  are  in  his  tabernacle.  The  multitude  of  diseases,  both  internal 
and  external,  which  men  are  subject  to,  have  taught  them  the  medical  qual- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  237 

ity  of  roots,  plants,  minerals,  barks,  fruit,  gums,  etc.  Hence  chemists, 
apothecaries,  physicians  and  surgeons  have  arisen.  Accident  and  experi- 
ment have  taught  men,  that  in  the  growths  of  nature,  there  is  both  a  medi- 
cinal and  nutritive  quality.  What  proficiency  was  made  in  the  science  of 
physic  before  the  days  of  iEsculapius  and  Hippocrates,  I  cannot  tell,  but 
the  first  of  these  was  worshipped  in  the  form  of  a  serpent,  for  his  great 
skill  in  physic,  the  other  reduced  physic  to  a  system,  and  it  is  now  consid- 
ered as  one  of  the  liberal  arts. 

Man  is  likewise  polluted.  That  all  rational  creatures  came  from  the 
hands  of  God  pure,  at  first,  is  both  reasonable  and  scriptural,  but  how  these 
pure  creatures  could  pollute  themselves,  is  an  intricate  question  :  perhaps 
no  man,  in  this  period  of  existence,  can  fully  illustrate,  or  even  conceive 
of  it,  but  one  thing  is  certain,  viz.,  God  is  always  the  same,  infinite  in  love 
and  in  power.  Now  if  sin  and  misery  have  arisen  among  the  creatures 
of  God,  and  have  existed  six  thousand  years,  what  argument  can  be  drawn 
from  the  nature  of  God,  to  prove  that  sin  and  misery  will  not  always 
exist. 

This  pollution  may  be  considered  both  in  a  moral  and  social,  or  political 
point  of  light.  Moral  evil  is  the  transgression  of  the  moral  law  of  God. 
This  law  is  not  confined  to  the  prohibition  that  God  laid  on  Adam,  nor  yet 
to  the  decalogue,  or  ten  commandments,  but  it  is  that  eternal  rule  of  right, 
which  took  its  rise  in  the  scale  of  being,  and  runs  through  the  Bible  like 
a  golden  chord,  enjoining  on  all  rational  creatures  that  which  is  right  of 
itself,  both  towards  God  and  man,  in  all  places  and  conditions  of  life :  any 
deviatipn  from  this  rule  is  moral  evil,  commonly  called  sin.  This  pollu- 
tion is  that  which  all  men,  by  nature,  are  in,  and  although  this  apostacy  is 
not  the  cause  of  the  eternal  union  that  subsists  between  Christ  and  men, 
nor  the  cause  of  their  being  raised  from  earth  to  heaven,  yet  it  was  the 
cause  of  Jesus'  agonizing  in  death,  and  of  ministers  being  sent  to  preach 
repentance  and  forgiveness  of  sins  to  the  children  of  men. 

Social  or  political  evil,  consists  in  actions  only — the  philanthropy  or 
turpitude  of  the  heart,  the  motives,  views,  or  designs  of  men,  are  entirely 
out  of  the  question  before  this  tribunal.  The  divine  government  of  Jeho- 
vah  takes  cognizance  of  every  exercise  of  the  heart,  as  well  as  all  exter- 
nal actions,  but  social  government  arrests  visible  actions  only.  Hence  it 
appears  that  all  political  evils  are  moral  evils,  but  all  moral  evils  are  not 
political  evils.  No  evil,  simply  moral,  is  punishable  by  a  political  tribu- 
nal,  yet  every  political  evil  comes  within  the  jurisprudence  of  the  Almighty, 
because  it  is  morally  wrong. 

Social  pollution  influences  men  to  work  ill  to  their  neighbors,  to  prevent 
which  civil  government  was  appointed.  "  The  law  was  not  made  for  a  right- 
eous man,  but  for  the  lawless  and  disobedient."  "  The  powers  that  be, 
are  ordained  of  God.'"'     Rulers  are  God's  ministers.     That  civil  govern- 


238  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

ment  in  the  hands  of  men,  is  an  evil  of  itself,  admits  of  no  doubt.  The 
vast  expense  to  the  community — the  pride  and  cruelty  of  those  in  power — 
the  intrigue  and  chicanery  made  use  of  by  aspiring,  avaricious  men  to  gain 
seats  of  importance,  and  the  arts  and  dissimulation  used  to  keep  their  real 
designs  out  of  view,  prove  the  hypothesis  that  government  is  an  evil,  but 
with  all  these  horrid  features,  it  is  a  choice  among  evils — in  fact,  a  neces- 
eary  evil,  to  prevent  greater  evils.  In  this  case,  one  of  those  instances 
appear,  where,  of  two  evils,  the  least  is  a  chosen  good. 

How  extensive  this  government  is,  is  a  point  in  which  legislators,  philo- 
sophers, and  men  in  general,  are  greatly  divided.  Some  suppose,  that  when 
government  is  formed  and  organised,  those  in  office  have  power  to  make 
all  civil,  municipal,  sumptuary  and  religious  laws,  and  that  any  disregard 
of  those  laws,  is  a  moral  evil  :  they  suciu  to  pin  their  life,  liberty,  prop, 
erty,  body  and  soul  on  the  sleeve  of  their  rulers,  and  abundance  of  those 
in  power,  love  to  have  it  so.  If  rulers  were  infallible  in  wisdom  and  good- 
ness, there  would  be  no  danger  in  this  scheme,  but  as  all  Adam's  children 
are  a  bad  breed,  the  scheme  is  very  exceptionable. 

Perhaps  the  legitimate  designs  of  government  cannot  be  better  defined, 
than  by  saying,  "it  is  to  preserve  the  lives,  liberties  and  property  of  the 
many  units  that  form  the  whole  body  politic."  For  these  valuable  purpo- 
ses, individuals  have,  in  certain  cases,  to  expose  their  lives  in  war  to  de- 
fend the  state — to  give  up  a  little  of  their  liberty,  and  be  controlled  by  the 
general  will,  and  part  with  a  little  of  their  property  to  compensate  those 
who  should  be  employed  to  secure  the  rest. 

Government  is,  when  rightly  understood,  the  most  economical  means 
that  men  make  use  of,  to  secure  themselves  and  be  happy. 

When  a  constitution  of  government  is  formed,  it  should  be  simple  and 
explicit,  the  powers  that  are  to  be  vested  in,  and  the  work  to  be  performed 
by  each  department,  should  be  defined  with  the  utmost  perspicuity,  and  this 
constitution  should  be  attended  to  as  scrupulously  by  men  in  office,  as  the 
Bibit!  should  be  by  all  religionists.  For  either  of  the  departments  of  gov- 
ernment to  deviate  from  the  constitution,  with  a  view  to  do  good,  is  crimi- 
nal, for  if  the  honorable  servants  of  the  people  forsake  their  political  Bi- 
ble, for  a  supposed  good,  they  will  soon  forsake  it  for  a  real  evil.  Let  the 
people  first  be  convinced  of  the  deficiency  of  the  constitution,  and  remove 
the  defects  thereof,  and  then,  those  in  office  can  change  the  administration 
upon  constitutional  ground. 

If  men  were  now  as  virtuous  as  their  great  progenitor  was  at  first,  it 
is  probable  they  would  need  some  distributive  laws  ;  but  the  idea  of  a  code 
of  penal  laws  among  such  innocent  beings,  would  be  inadmissible. 

But  the  idea  of  such  innocent  beings  is  not  now  to  be  realized  in  fact 
among  men.  "  All  have  sinned."  It  would,  however,  be  a  great  blessing 
to  mankind,  if  they  were  so  virtuous  as  to  have  a  few  laws  sufficient  to 


ELDER    JOHN     LELAND.  239 

restrain  and  direct  them  ;  for  where  there  is  a  vast  number  of  laws  in  a 
political  body,  there  will  be  but  few  of  the  people  who  have  leisure  to  read, 
and  capacity  to  understand  them;  in  such  a  labyrinth,  the  legislature  wil^ 
almost  inevitably  injure  one  act  by  another;  besides,  where  only  a  few 
are  learned  in  the  law,  it  gives  those  i'ew  an  undue  advantage  over  others; 
further,  such  a  maza  of  laws,  like  a  cobweb,  will  entangle  the  innocent 
flies,  but  support  the  venomous  spiders.  And  yet,  where  many  vices 
reign,  if  there  are  not  many  laws,  there  will  be  many  cases  left  to  the  will 
of  the  judge,  and  this  gives  the  judge  such  an  amazing  importance  both  to 
legislate  and  judge  of  the  law,  and  fact,  that  all  who  are  interested,  will 
seek  to  bribe  the  judge.  And,  if  his  temptations  of  bribes  and  importance, 
do  not  overcome  him,  and  induce  him  to  pervert  law  and  judgment,  it  will 
be  because  he  is  one  of  a  thousand. 

The  conclusion  is,  that  while  men  are  so  vicious,  they  must  adopt  the 
medium,  between  having  too  many,  and  too  few  laws;  and  above  all,  let 
them  seek  to  become  more  virtuous,  which  is  the  direct  way  to  escape  the 
evils  just  pointed  out;  for  when  men  observe  the  golden  rule,  of  "doinc 
unto  all  men  as  they  would  be  done  by,"  no  just  laws  will  do  them  any 
hurt. 

But  the  means  of  procuring  wealth,  ease  and  comfort ;  the  right  of  pri- 
vate  judgment  and  free  debate,  and  the  liberty  of  conscience,  are  inalien- 
able.  These  are  not  surrendered  up  to  the  general  will,  by  individuals, 
when  they  enter  into  society  ;  but  each  retains  them  in  his  own  sovereiwa 
breast.  The  last  of  these,  which  is  liberty  of  conscience,  I  shall  now  at- 
tend unto. 

Whenever  any  right  which  men  possess  in  a  state  of  nature,  is  sur- 
rendered up  to  government,  it  is  to  be  paid  at  least,  with  an  equivalent :  in- 
deed, with  something  superior  ;  but  government  cannot  reward  individuals 
with  anything  equally  valuable  with  the  liberty  of  their  conscience. 

He  who  is  obliged  by  law,  to  sin  against  his  own  conscience,  cannot 
have  his  loss  made  good. 

To  be  definite  in  expression,  by  the  liberty  of  conscience,  I  mean,  the 
inalienable  right  that  each  individual  has,  of  worshipping  his  God  accord- 
ing to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience,  without  being  prohibited,  directed, 
or  controlled  therein  by  human  law,  either  in  time,  place,  or  manner. 

K  the  worship  of  God  is  to  be  controlled  by  law,  who  shall  make  that 
law  1  ShaU  the  Pope  ?  Have  not  the  long  succession  of  Popes,  given  incon- 
testible  evidence  that  they  have  been  fallible  ?  And  shall  fallible  men  make 
laws  to  direct  us  how  to  worship  an  infalliable  God  ?  In  all  Protestant 
countries  the  idea  is  justly  exploded  ;  but  kings,  parliaments,  and  legislntive 
bodies,  have  undertaken  the  solemn  work,  with  but  little  solemnity.  How 
have  they  succeeded  ?  One  year  make  a  law,  and  the  next  alter,  repeal,  or 
add  unto  it.     Does  God  annually,  or  periodically  change  ?  if  not,  these  law 


240  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

makers  change  ;  and  are  changeable  men  competent  to  direct  men  how 
to  worship  an  unchangeable  God  ? 

Before  the  late  European  revolution  at  Calais,  in  France,  a  man  must  have 
suffered  for  daring  to  call  in  question  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope ;  at  Do- 
ver, in  England,  a  few  miles  distant,  a  man  must  take  the  oath  of  abjura- 
tion, curse  Pope  and  prelacy,  or  be  proscribed  from  all  honorary  and  lu- 
crative  offices.  In  Connecticut,  a  man  must  quit  all  labor  and  recreation 
on  Saturday,  at  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  and  may  resume  it  on  Sunday 
at  the  same  time.  In  Massachusetts,  recreation  must  cease  from  Satur- 
day sun-down,  until  Sunday  midnight ;  but  a  man  on  a  journey  may  travel 
until  Saturday  midnight,  and  resume  it  again  on  Sunday  at  the  going  down 
of  the  sun.  In  Virginia,  under  the  regal  government,  all  the  Presbyte- 
rians  were  obliged  to  pay  the  Episcopal  clergymen,  as  much  as  if  they  had 
heard  them  preach.  In  Massachusetts,  all  dissenters,  so  called,  have  had 
to  pay  the  Presbyterian  preachers,  &c.  &c.  These  things  have  been  es- 
tablished by  law.  Query,  do  truth,  righteousness,  and  the  laws  of  God, 
change  with  the  climes  ?  or  is  it  because  men  attempt  a  work  which  they 
are  incompetent  for,  and  therefore  they  are  confused,  like  the  builders  of 
Babel ;  and  while  they  seek  to  build  the  church  by  human  law,  they  are 
only  building  up  mystical  Babylon,  who  is  the  mother  of  harlots. 

How  just  is  this  remark,  that  "  Religious  opinions  are  not  the  objects  of 
civil  government,  nor  in  any  way  under  its  control."  If  that  part  of  the 
world  which  is  become  Christian,  (so  called,)  had  attended  to  this  remark, 
what  infinite  evils  would  have  been  avoided  ?  Had  Spain  hearkened  there- 
to, two  hundred  thousand  South  Americans  would  not  have  been  slaugh- 
tered as  they  were.  For  want  of  this,  in  France,  in  the  reign  of  Charles 
IX.  A.D.  1751,  a  persecution  began,  which  in  thirty  years  destroyed  thir- 
ty-nine Princes,  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  Counts,  two  hundred  and 
thirty-four  Barons,  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  thousand  fiive  hundred  and 
eighteen  gentlemen,  and  seven  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  of  the  common 
people ;  and  in  Ireland,  in  the  days  of  Charles  I.  of  England,  above  two 
hundred  thousand  Protestants  were  cruelly  murdered  in  a  few  days. 

I  suppose  that  all  Protestants,  will  unite  in  condemning  this  cruelty  in 
Papists,  because  Papists  are  such  blood-thirsty  bigots  ;  but  pray  have  not 
Protestants  done  the  same,  whenever  they  have  established  their  religion 
by  law,  and  supported  their  preachers  by  a  tax  ? 

In  the  reign  of  the  two  Charleses,  in  England,  two  thousand  preachers, 
and  six  thousand  privates  lost  their  livings,  and  the  chief  of  them  their 
lives,  for  non-conformity.  But  leaving  these  distant  nations,  let  us  turn 
our  eyes  on  our  own  country. 

The  first  settlers  of  Massachusetts  had  left  the  rod  of  oppression  in 
England,  and  fled  to  America  for  freedom  ;  but  not  fully  understanding 
that  religious  opinions  were  not  under  the  control  of  civil  government,  in 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  241 

1635,  they  passed  a  sentence  of  banishment  against  Roger  Williams,  be- 
cause he  opposed  the  interference  of  law  in  matters  of  religion  ;  and  three 
months  afterwards,  they  made  an  attempt  to  seize  him,  and  send  him  back 
to  England  ;  but  he  fled  to  Providence,  and  obtained  a  grant  of  land  from 
the  Narraganset  Indians.* 

Governor  Haines  pronounced  the  sentence  of  banishment  against  Wil- 
Hams,  but  Haines  soon  got  distressed  in  Massachusetts,  and  went  to  Con- 
necticut; and  when  Mr.  Williams  saw  him  at  his  house,  in  Hartford, 
Haines  said  to  him  :  "  I  must  confess  to  you  that  the  Most  Wise  God  hath 
provided  and  cut  out  this  part  of  the  world,  for  a  refuge  and  receptacle  for 
all  sorts  of  consciences."  But  had  the  fathers  of  Massachusetts  believed 
the  confession  of  Haines,  they  would  not  have  proceeded,  in  1652,  and 
years  afterwards,  to  imprison,  whip,  and  pass  sentence  of  banishment 
against  the  Baptists  ;  and  nail  up  their  meeting-house  because  they  built 
it  without  a  license  from  the  ruling  powers.  Nor  would  they  have  hung 
the  Quakers,  as  they  did  in  1659,  '60  and  '61. 

Had  governor  Haines  extended  his  thoughts  still  further,  and  said  "  the 
Most  Wise  God  has  cut  out  the  whole  world  for  all  sorts  of  consciences," 
it  would  have  been  a  noble  idea.  Had  this  persecution  ceased  with  the 
lives  of  our  forefathers,  (who  are  called  our  "  virtuous  ancestors^'  in  every 
proclamation  for  a  fast  and  thanksgiving,)  I  would  not  rake  up  the  ashes 
of  the  dead  ;  but  much  of  it  is  still  continued  in  this  state  until  the  present 
time. 

A.bout  sixty  years  past,  a  very  general  revival  of  religion  took  place  in 
New  England  ;  soon  afterwards,  a  very  considerable  separation  from  the 
established  religion  followed,  which  occasioned  abundance  of  distraints  and 
imprisonments.  For  about  forty  of  the  last  years,  the  Baptists  have  chiefly 
borne  the  lash ;  for  no  other  society  has  arisen  to  any  considerable  im- 
portance. The  point  in  debate  is  this :  the  law  of  the  state  says  that, 
where  the  majority  of  a  town,  parish  or  precinct,  choose  a  preacher,  and 
contract  with  him  for  his  hire,  it  shall  be  levied  upon  all  within  the  limits 
of  said  town,  parish  or  precinct,  according  to  poll  and  property  ;  and  that 
it  shall  be  collected  in  legal  form,  and  distrained  for,  if  not  paid  without. 
It  also  makes  the  same  provision  for  building  and  repairing  meeting-houses. 
It  has  hitherto  been  the  case,  that  in  most  of  the  towns  the  Baptists  have 
been  the  minority  ;  consequently,  they  have  been  distrained  upon,  and  im- 
prisoned,  because  they  would  not  pay  their  money  voluntarily  to  preachers 
in  whom  they  did  not  place  confidence,  nor  approve  of  their  sentiments ; 
and  to  build  meeting-houses  where  they  did  not  choose  to  worship.  He 
must  be  a  poor  logician,  who  does  not  trace  this  oppression  back  to  its 
origin,  to  that  rotten  nest-egg,  which  is  always  hatching  vipers  :  I  mean 

*  He  also  held  it  unjust  to  take  away  the  land  from  the  Indians  without  purchase. 

31 


242  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

the  principle  of  intruding  the  laws  of  men  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
which  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world. 

But  all  the  art  and  force  that  is  used,  neither  effect  uniformity  nor  stop 
the  increase  of  the  Baptists.  In  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  there 
were  but  four  Baptist  churches  in  Massachusetts  ;  but  now  there  are  one 
hundred  and  thirty-six  churches,  in  which  are  eight  thousand  four  hundred 
and  sixty-three  members,  besides  all  their  adherents ;  and  in  which 
churches  there  are  one  hundred  and  five  ministers.* 

The  religious  laws  of  Massachusetts  are  frequently  varying,  but  the 
slump  is  always  preserved  with  a  band  of  iron.  Legal  force  is  always 
used  in  directing  the  worship  of  God,  as  if  human  law  was  the  mainspring 
of  the  gospel. 

In  March,  1800,  a  law  was  made  for  the  above  purpose,  by  which  for- 
mer laws  are  repealed.  This  law  is  of  so  recent  date,  that  it  is  difRcult 
to  tell  how  it  will  operate ;  but  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  making  a  few  re- 
marks on  said  law. 

This  law  is  a  legitimate  child  of  the  constitution.  The  third  article  of 
the  bill  of  rights  authorizes  the  legislature  to  make  such  laws  ;  and  since 
the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  in  the  year  1780,  it  is  said,  by  candid 
men,  that  a  sixth  part  of  the  time,  during  the  sessions  of  the  legislature, 
has  been  taken  up  in  incorporating  religious  societies,  and  making  other 
religious  laws  ;  and  if  the  sixth  part  of  the  time  of  the  judiciary  is  taken 
up  in  adjudging  religious  cases,  then  a  very  considerable  part  of  the  ex- 
penses of  government  is  to  support  that  root,  that  principle,  which  is  the 
pillar  of  popery,  and  without  which  there  could  be  no  legal  persecution, 
for  conscience  sake,  in  the  world. 

The  law  in  view,  enjoins  on  all  towns,  parishes,  precincts,  religious  so- 
cieties, and  bodies  politic,  to  have  a  teacher  of  morality,  piety  and  religion, 
upon  the  forfeiture  of  a  fine.  If  they  are  without  such  a  teacher  more 
than  three  out  of  six  months,  for  tne  first  offence,  the  fine  is  not  to  be  less 
than  thirty,  nor  more  than  sixty  dollars ;  but  for  every  offence  committed 
afterwards,  the  fine  is  not  to  be  less  than  sixty,  nor  more  than  one  hundred 
dollars. 

By  these  teachers  of  morality,  piety  and  religion,  I  understand  preach- 
ers  of  the  gospel ;  because  there  is  no  order  of  moral  and  pious  religion- 
ists, who  undertake  to  teach  men,  in  this  state,  except  those  who  are  called 
preachers  of  the  gospel. 

Let  us  first  ask  who  sends  forth  men  to  preach,  God  or  man  ?  If  min- 
isters  are  furnished  and  sent  by  men,  let  them  always  remember  their 
creators,  and  address  their  hearers   in  the  name  of  those  who  gave  them 

*  This  account  is  taken  from  Backus's  history,  which  was  published  in  1796.  Since 
which  time  there  have  been  very  considerable  additions,  both  of  members  and  churches. 


ELDER    JOHN   LELAND.  243 

their  commission.  In  tiiis  view  of  things,  a  consistent  address  would  be 
as  follows  :  "  My  dear  hearers,  I  come  to  address  you  in  the  name  of  the 
authority  of  Massachusetts :  the  presbytery   has  approbated  me,  and  the 

laws  of  the  state  have  declared  me  learned  and  orthodox  : 1  am  not 

one  of  them  who  vainly  imagine  they  are  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
preach,  but  I  have  entered  in  at  the  door  of  lineal  ordination,  succeeded 
from  the  apostles,  through  all  the  whoredom  and  murders  of  Rome  :  I  am 
not  of  that  class  who  harangue  the  people  extempore,  without  sense  or 
grammar  ;  but  I  have  my  sermon  all  written  down,  and  shall  read  it  dis- 
tinctly. It  is  true,  I  requested  in  my  prayer  that  God  would  grant  me  his 
spirit,  but  what  I  meant,  was  that  God  would  give  me  good  eyesight  and 
graceful  pronunciation,  so  that,  like  Paul,  I  might  please  all  men,  every- 
where. And  now,  my  hearers,  as  the  law  obliges  you  to  have  a  teacher, 
I  exhort  you  to  be  subject  to  every  ordinance  of  man,  for  the  Lord's  sake ; 
and  as  it  is  our  custom  to  wait  for  a  call  from  the  people,  I  shall  observe 
the  orders  of  Christ :  *  If  they  receive  you  not  into  one  city,  go  unto  an- 
other.' But  in  this  particular,  I  shall  not  regard  so  much  the  size  of  the 
caul,  as  the  fat  upon  it.  I  first  say,  '  peace  be  unto  you,'  and  I  pray  you 
all  to  be  of  one  mind  in  my  settlement  and  support.  Schisms  and  conten- 
tions are  dishonorary  to  God,  and  injurious  to  the  salaries  of  preachers.  I 
moreover  inform  you,  that  I  intend  to  teach  morality,  piety  and  religion, 
and  pray  for  all  in  authority,  admire  the  goodness  of  our  laws,  and  honor 
and  respect  all  our  rulers,  so  long  as  they  continue  to  make  laws  to  sup- 
port preachers." 

But  if  God  sends  men  to  preach,  if  Jesus  thrusts  forth  laborers  into  the 
harvest,  if  the  ministers  speak  as  they  are  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  if 
none  but  the  Almighty  can  fill  the  soul  of  man  with  love  to  God,  to  truth 
and  to  the  souls  of  men,  etc.,  etc.,  why  should  the  law  be  left  so  lame  ? 

If  God  sends  men  to  preach  to  the  people,  then  there  are  three  parties 
concerned  in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  I  will  therefore  propose  an  amend- 
ment to  the  law  now  under  consideration. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General 
Court  assembled.  That  the  almighty  God  shall  qualify  and  send  forth  a 
competency  of  teachers  of  morality,  piety  and  religion,  to  supply  all  the 
towns,  parishes,  precincts,  religious  societies  and  bodies  politic,  within  the 
commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  and  on  failure  thereof  he  shall  forfeit  his 
moral  government  over  the  state. 

And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  all  those  who  are  so  qualified  or  sent 
of  God,  shall  apply  themselves  to  the  work  of  the  ministry;  to  teach  pub- 
licly and  from  house  to  house  ;  not  as  being  Lords  over  God's  heritage, 
but  ensamples  to  the  flock  :  that  they  shall  preach  in  towns,  highways, 
streets  and  hedges  ;  and  seek  not  their  own  profit,  but  the  good  of  others, 
that  they  may  be  saved  :  that  they  shall  constantly  speak  the  word  of  God 


244  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

unto  the  people,  whether  they  will  hear  or  forbear ;  doing  this  not  for  fil- 
thy  lucre,  but  of  a  ready  mind  ;  and  on  failure  thereof  for  the  first  three 
months,  they  shall,  each  of  them,  be  exposed  to  a  fine,  not  exceeding  sixty 
nor  less  than  thirty  dollars,  but  for  every  offence  of  three  months  neglect 
thereafter,  they  shall,  in  like  manner,  be  exposed  to  a  fine  of  not  less  than 
sixty  nor  more  than  a  hundred  dollars. 

And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  every  town,  parish,  precinct,  religious 
gociety,  and  other  bodies  politic,  shall  have  a  teacher,"  etc. 

Perhaps  some  may  argue  that  the  first  section  of  the  proposed  amend- 
ment, is  arrogant,  presumptuous  and  blasphemous ;  and  that  the  second 
section  is  cruel,  binding  preachers  too  tight  by  law. 

This  argument  I  shall  not  undertake  to  confute,  because  it  is  true,  and 
the  same  may  be  said  of  the  law  that  the  amendments  are  proposed  for  ; 
and,  indeed  of  all  religious  laws  of  the  kind  that  have  ever  been  made 
since  the  Christian  era  began. 

Reflect  a  moment  how  cruel  it  is,  to  fine  a  town  or  parish  for  not  having 
a  teacher,  when  none  but  God  can  make  them  teachers  ;  and  that  those 
who  are  sent  of  God  to  preach,  feel  a  necessity  to  preach,  not  only  with- 
out the  support  of  law,  but  in  opposition  thereto,  obeying  God  rather  than 
man. 

It  is  so  strange  a  thing,  that  in  Massachusetts,  where  the  people  are  so 
conversant  with  the  New  Testament,  they  should  make  and  submit  to  such 
laws,  that  if  I  did  not  know  it  to  be  a  fact,  I  would  not  believe  a  report  of  it. 

There  are  three  reasons  offered,  why  religion  should  be  established  by 
the  laws  of  men,  viz: 

First,   To  prevent  error. 

Second,   To  effect  and  preserve  uniformity  of  sentiment. 

Third,   To  support  the  Gospel. 

I  believe  that  all  the  arguments  used  in  favor  of  such  establishments, 
may  be  included  in  these  three  genei-al  heads.  Some  observations  on  each 
of  them  shall  here  be  made. 

First,  To  prevent  error. 

Have  legal  establishments  done  this  ?  When  did  error  prevail  less,  and 
when  did  truth  prevail  more  than  in  the  three  first  centuries  of  the  Chris- 
tian era  ?  In  no  date  since  has  truth  prevailed  and  error  fled  as  fast  as  in 
the  above  mentioned  time  ;  yet  all  this  was  before  the  Christian  religion  was 
established  by  law.  Has  not  error  fled  as  fast  before  truth  in  Pennsylvania, 
New  Jersey,  New  York  and  Rhode  Island,  in  which  states  there  never 
have  been  such  establishments,  as  in  the  other  states  ?  Further,  is  not 
ruth  as  well  understood,  and  error  as  fully  detected  now,  in  the  twelve 
other  states,  as  in  the  four  New-England  states,  where  religion  is  supposed 
o  be  a  principle  of  state  policy,  and  ministers  of  the  gospel  creatures  of 
the  state  ?     It  is  certain  that  the  establishment  of  paganism,  as  truth,  did 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  245 

not  prevent  the  error  of  Christianity  ;  nor  did  the  establishment  of  Rome 
prevent  the  error  of  the  reformation,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  nor  the  late 
revolutions  in  papal  countries,  in  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
establishment  of  the  English  church  did  not  hinder  the  error  ot  nonconform, 
ity,  nor  has  the  establishment  of  Massachusetts  stopped  the  rise  of  a  num. 
her  of  errors  and  sects  in  the  state.*  It  is  a  fact,  in  the  United  States, 
that,  in  those  twelve  states  where  there  are  no  religious  establishments, 
there  are  not  more  sects  or  sentiments,  than  there  are  in  the  four  states 
where  such  horned  beasts   dwell. 

I  now  ask  what  proof  can  be  given,  that  religious  establishments  prevent 
error  ? 

Second,  To  effect  uniformity.  This  is  a  counterpart  of  the  first,  and 
therefore  the  arguments  there  used,  if  reversed,  will  be  applicable  here  ; 
but  I  shall  add  something  more.  How  easy  it  is  for  men  to  be  deceived  about 
the  uniformity  of  sentiment  in  an  empire.  Dioclesian,  who  began  and  car- 
ried on  the  tenth  persecution  against  the  Christians,  in  the  Roman  empire, 
prevailed  so  far,  that  he  struck  a  golden  medal,  with  this  inscription,  "  The 
Christian  name  is  extirpated  from  tho  earth,  and  the  worship  of  the  Gods 
restored."  Here  he  exulted  in  uniformity  of  religious  opinions,  but  how 
great  was  his  deception  !  for,  within  a  few  years,  it  appeared  evident,  that  a 
majority  of  the  empire,  with  Constantine  at  their  head,  were  Christians. 
It  is  said,  that  in  the  days  of  Charles  the  first,  of  England,  the  kingdom 
seemed  to  be  full  of  flattering  addresses  to  his  Majesty  ;  but  that  there  was 
pretty  general  discontent  appears  from  the  tumults  which  soon  arose, 
which    cost   Charles   his  crown   and  the  head  that  wore  it. 

Under  the  regal  government  of  Virginia,  the  Episcopal  religion  was 
there  established  and  conducted  with  all  the  force  of  law ;  but  as  soon  as 
the  revolution  gave  men  a  chance  to  speak  freely,  it  appeared  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  people  were  dissenters.  In  the  great  kingdom  of  France,  the 
hierarchy  of  Rome  triumphed  in  all  its  pontifical  effulgence  ;  but  no  sooner 
had  they  an  opportunity  to  speak  what  they  thought,  than  they  convinced 
the  astonished  world  that  they  were  not  uniform  in  the  belief  of  the  in- 
fallibility of  the  Pope.  And  I  here  ask,  has  the  legal  force  that  has  been 
used  in  the  four  New  England  states,  advanced  men  one  inch  towards  uni. 
formity? 

In  order  for  a  uniformity  in  religion  to  be  established  by  force,  there 
must  be  a  creed  established  by  law,  to  measure,  shape,  and  weigh  the  con- 
sciences of  the  people  by.  Now  who  shall  frame  this  important  creed  ?  I 
presume  there  are  a  thousand  different  creeds  in  the  Christian  world ;  they 
cannot  all  be  right,  they  may  all  be  wrong.  If  we  consider  that  all  men 
are  fallible,  liable  to  err,  it  will  not  be  illiberal  to  say,  that  some  imperfec 

*  In  these  remaiks,  every  sentiment  is  called  an  error,  that  does  not  accord  with  the  es- 
tablished creed. 


246  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

tion  is  to  be  found  in  all  of  them.  I  question  whether  there  now  is,  or  ever 
was,  a  body  of  men,  or  an  individual,  who  should  coolly  compose  a  creed 
of  faith,  or  in  short,  a  constitution  of  government,  or  code  of  laws,  but  who, 
upon  examining  the  same  once  a  year,  would  annually  see  cause  to  alter 
some  parts  thereof.  Such  is  the  school  that  men  are  in,  such  the  theatre 
on  which  they  act,  so  many  the  objects  that  pass  before  them,  that  he  who 
says  he  never  alters  his  mind,  evidently  declares  that  he  is  either  very 
weak  or  very  stubborn.  Shall  human  creeds  then,  mixed  at  least  with  im- 
perfection,  be  made  a  standard  to  measure  the  conscience  by,  which  is  God's 
vice-gerent  in  the  human  breast  7 

That  the  late  law  of  Massachusetts  is  a  religious  creed,  admits  of  no 
doubt,  because  it  describes  the  character  of  religious  teachers,  and  fines 
religious  bodies  from  thirty  to  one  hundred  dollars,  every  six  months,  if 
they  do  not  have  such  teachers.  The  question,  therefore,  is,  whether  the 
legislature  of  the  commonwealth  is  infallible?"  This  court  has  been  per- 
petually making  and  altering  religious  laws,  from  the  first  settlement  of 
Boston  down  to  the  present  day.  If  all  those  laws,  previous  to  that  of 
March,  1801,  were  infallible,  then  the  last  law  was  fallible,  for  it  differs 
from  all  before  ;  if  the  last  was  infallible,  the  former  were  imperfect,  and 
while  things  are  thus,  it  is  doubtful  whether  there  is  much  divinity  in  any 
of  them.  If,  therefore,  infallibility  is  not  claimed  by  the  legislature  of 
Massachusetts,  it  has  no  more  right  to  make  religious  laws  than  other  simi- ' 
lar  bodies  :  consequently  all  legislatures  have  a  right  to  make  such  laws, 
or  none  of  them  have.  If  all  of  them  have  such  right,  then  the  Pagan 
legislatures  had  it  when  they  established  the  worship  of  the  gods,  and  made 
provision  for  the  priests,  and  the  apostles  and  first  Christians  were  guilty  of 
a  criminal  schism.  The  same  is  true  of  all  the  Mahometan,  Papal  and 
Protestant  hierarchies,  that  have  been,  or  now  are,  and  consequently  all 
the  legal  persecution  for  conscience  sake,  that  has  been  in  the  world,  is 
justifiable,  and  all  the  sufferings  that  have  been  from  that  source  have 
arisen  from  the  stubbornness  and  self-will  of  the  sufferers. 

But  if  no  legislature  has  a  right  to  make  such  creeds,  and  yet  some 
creed  must  be  established,  to  effect  a  state  uniformity  in  religion,  then  it 
follows  that  legislatures  have  a  right  to  do  what  they  have  no  right  to  do — 
to  effect  that  which  they  never  can  effect      But, 

Third.  To  support  the  Gospel.  That  is,  to  raise  money  bylaw,  equal- 
ized upon  all  the  people,  for  the  purposes  of  building  meeting-houses,  pay- 
ing preachers,  etc.  Building  temples  for  religious  worship  seems  to  be  a 
prudential  thing,  and  rewarding  preachers  for  their  labors  of  love,  is  both 
reasonable  and  scriptural  ;  but  the  question  is,  whether  this  money  is  to  be 
collected  by  legal  force  or  moral  obligation.  If  by  legal  force,  then  the 
principle  is  supported,  that  the  cause  of  God  is  to  be  directed  and  supported 
by  the  laws  of  man,  and,  of  course,  all  the  persecutions  mentioned  before, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  247 

are  justifiable.  The  people  of  Massachusetts  boast  of  their  religious  knowl- 
edge; to  them  I  appeal.  Pray  tell  me  where  Jesus,  or  the  apostles,  ever 
called  upon  the  rulers  of  state  to  make  any  laws  to  oblige  people  to  part 
with  their  money  to  hire  preachers  or  build  meeting-houses.  I  am  serious  ; 
I  am  in  earnest :  if  our  present  edition  is  not  complete,  search  the  original, 
and  put  your  finger  on  the  passage.  I  have  not  yet  seen  it,  and  until  I  do, 
I  shall  call  all  such  laws  anti-scriptural  and  anti-Christian. 

How  often  have  I  wished,  that  when  rulers  undertake  to  make  laws  about 
religion,  they  would  complete  the  code — not  only  make  provision  for  build- 
ing meeting-houses,  paying  preachers,  and  forcing  people  to  hear  them, 
but  also  to  enjoin  on  the  hearers,  repentance,  faith,  self-denial,  love  to  God 
and  love  to  man — that  every  one  who  did  not  repent  of  his  sin,  should  pay 
five  pounds — that  all  those  who  did  not  believe,  should  pay  ten  pounds — 
that  every  soul  who  did  not  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily, 
should  pay  fifteen  pounds — that  whoever  did  not  love  God  with  all  his  heart, 
should  be  imprisoned  a  year — and  that  if  a  man  did  not  love  his  neighbor 
as  himself,  he  should  be  confined  for  life. 

That  all  these  duties  are  taught  in  the  New  Testament  is  certain  ;  if, 
therefore,  the  laws  of  man  are  to  enjoin  moral  duties,  these  important  ones 
should  not  be  neglected  :  but,  on  only  hearing  of  them,  our  minds  are  struck 
with  the  absurdity  of  reducing  them  to  civil  legislation  and  jurisprudence, 
and  had  not  the  poison  of  anti-christ  infected  the  minds  of  men,  they  would 
be  equally  struck  with  the  idea  of  making  human  laws  about  any  religious 
article. 

It  follows,  then,  that  the  money  necessary  in  the  Christian  cause,  is  to  be 
raised  by  moral  obedience. 

The  gods  of  Egypt  could  not  speak  for  themselves,  and  therefore  Pha- 
raoh spoke  for  them,  and  made  a  law  to  assign  the  priests  a  portion,  by 
which  means  they  saved  their  lands  in  the  seven  years  of  famine.  Baal 
was  asleep  and  could  not  provide  for  his  prophets,  and  therefore  Jezebel 
fed  them  at  her  table  ;  but  Jehovah,  being  a  living  God,  made  a  law  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  priests  in  the  Mosaic  economy,  but  he  never  empow- 
ered  magistrates  to  execute  that  law.  It  was  a  divine  and  not  a  human 
law,  and  when  the  people  neglected  it,  they  had  to  answer  to  God  and  not 
to  man.  And  when  two  of  those  priests  grew  lordly  and  said,  "  thou  shalt 
give  us  now,  and  if  not  we  will  take  it  by  force,"  their  sin  was  great,  and 
they  were  both  slain  in  one  day.  Even  so  has  the  Lord  ordained  in  the 
New  Testament,  that  those  who  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  it.  God 
has  ordained  it,  but  has  not  ordained  that  rulers  should  enforce  it.  When- 
ever, therefore,  money  is  given  for  religious  purposes,  it  is  given  in  obe- 
dience to  the  law  of  God,  and  not  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  men  :  I  mean 
when  it  is  rightly  given. 

The  word  religion,  properly  signifies  to  bind  again  :  sin  has  rent  us  off 


248  ■-  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

from  God,  and  rent  our  hearts  from  virtue,  but  religion  binds  up  the  breach, 
turns  our  hearts  to  God,  and  our  minds  to  virtue.  Religion  may  be  con- 
sidered as  comprised  in  three  parts  :  first,  internal ;  second,  practical ;  third, 
social.  Internal  religion,  is  a  right  exercise  of  soul  towards  God  and  man. 
By  practical  religion,  I  mean  those  righteous  external  actions,  which  men, 
as  individuals,  perform  towards  God  and  their  fellow-creatures.  Social 
religion  includes  the  various  duties  of  religious  society. 

All  the  gold  and  property  of  the  world  cannot  purchase  religion,  and  yet 
the  practical  and  social  parts  of  religion  have  never  been  executed  without 
money,  or  its  worth,  from  the  days  of  Abel  to  the  present  time.  They  cost 
Abel  his  lambs,  and  the  patriarchs  their  beasts  :  the  nation  of  Israel  had  a 
religion,  very  expensive,  and  the  Christian  church  have  administered  much 
for  the  cause  of  their  God.  The  nation  of  Israel  received  their  orders 
from  God,  and  the  Christian  church  from  the  mouth  of  Him,  who  has  been 
faithful  in  all  his  house,  as  a  son.  And  the  same  spirit  that  influences  men 
to  love  God,  and  their  neighbors,  also  influences  them  to  give  willingly  to 
those  who  preach  the  word,  and  for  other  necessary  uses.  Legal  force  is 
here  inadmissible. 

1  have  said  before,  that  the  times,  places,  and  manner  of  worshipping  God, 
were  inalienable  rights,  not  subject  to  legal  control.  What  holy-days  so- 
ever God  has  appointed  in  his  word,  each  individual  must  judge  for  himself, 
and  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind,  and  act  accordingly,  as  each  must 
give  an  account  of  himself  to  God.  But  no  legislature,  uninspired  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  has  any  right  to  appoint  fixed  sabbaths,  or  decades  for  reli- 
gious purposes,  and  bind  the  people  to  observe  said  days. 

A  legislature  that  believes  in  the  Christian  system,  and  from  that  system 
believes  that  one  day  in  seven  is  to  be  kept  holy,  have  just  as  good  a  right, 
and  no  better,  to  make  a  law  to  force  all  the  people  whom  they  legislate 
for,  to  observe  those  days,  as  another  legislature  has,  who  believe  in  the 
god  of  reason,  and  from  thence  deduce,  that  one  day  in  ten  should  be  a 
decade,  and  force  all  the  people  within  their  power,  to  worship  the  god  of 
reason  on  those  decades. 

Nor  is  it  within  the  legitimate  power  of  civil  government,  to  direct  the 
place  where  men  shall  publicly  worship  their  God.  To  fine  a  man  because 
he  does  not  attend  worship  at  a  definite  place,  definite  times,  is  illegitimate, 
and  to  force  men  to  build  temples  for  public  worship,  against  their  consent, 
is  a  piece  of  religious  oppression,  and  yet  this  act  is  carried  on,  with  all 
deceivable  arts  and  force,  in  this  commonwealth.  In  the  year  1800,  about 
six  hundred  dollars  were  taken  from  the  Baptists,  in  Partridgefield,  for  the 
building  of  a  meeting-house  in  said  town,  for  another  denomination.  The 
case  is  now  in  law,  hung  up,  and  what  the  event  will  be,  we  know  not. 
But  abundance  of  property,  heretofore,  has  been  taken  in  the  same  way,  for 
similar  purposes,  within  this  commonwealth,  and  no  redress  has  ever  been 
granted. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  249 

The  manner  of  worshipping  God  comes  next  in  course.  If  it  is  a  truth, 
as  has  been  suggested,  that  the  design  of  government  is  only  to  protect  the 
life,  liberty  and  property  of  the  community;  and  if  religion  is,  at  all  times 
and  places,  a  matter  between  God  and  individuals,  and  also,  that  religious 
opinions  are  not  objects  of  civil  government,  nor  under  its  control,  it  then 
follows  that  government  has  no  right  to  describe  the  god  which  the  people 
are  to  worship.  The  reason  why  legislators  and  legislatures  have  forced 
the  people  to  worship  Lama,  Osiris,  Jupiter  Ammon,  Bel,  Baal,  etc.,  is 
because  they  professedly  believed  those  gods  to  be  the  most  deserving  ;  and 
the  same  is  true  of  Christian  legislatures,  in  obliging  people  to  worship 
that  god  whom  they  prefer.  Now,  where  an  empire  is  composed  of  Hea- 
thens, Turks,  Jews,  and  Christians,  how  cruel  it  must  be  to  all  those  whose 
consciences  cannot  be  formed,  like  a  nose  of  wax,  into  that  form  of  ado- 
ration which  the  legislature  esteems  best.  Whose  life  is  in  danger — whose 
liberty  is  curtailed — whose  property  is  destroyed — by  considering  each 
individual  inalienably  free  to  worship  the  god  whom  he  esteems  the  most 
deserving,  in  the  way  which  he  judges  to  be  the  most  acceptable  to  him  ? 

Perhaps  an  objector  may  say,  "these  observations  are  not  applicable  to 
Massachusetts,  where  the  people  generally  believe  in  the  Holy  One  of  Is- 
rael, and  in  the  divinity  of  the  Christian  scheme.  That  the  people  of  this 
state  generally  believe  in  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  may  pass  for  truth,  but 
that  they  generally  believe  in  the  divinity  of  the  Christian  scheme  is  not 
so  true.  As  a  religionist,  I  wish  both  articles  were  believed  through  this 
state,  and  throughout  the  world  ;  yet,  as  a  statesman,  let  me  ask,  why  do 
they  not  learn  to  imitate  their  God,  and  regarding  the  scheme  of  his  gov- 
ernment, in  which  they  professedly  believe,  reason  thus  with  themselves  : 
"  God  bears  with  wicked  men,  and  so  must  we :  God  does  not  force  all  to 
believe  alike,  nor  should  we  attempt  it :  Jesus  never  forced  any  man  to 
pay  him  for  preaching,  and  we  must  imitate  him.  The  New  Testament 
never  calls  in  the  aid  of  the  magistrate  to  carry  folks  to  prison,  or  take  away 
their  cows,  or  other  property,  to  pay  men  for  preaching,  or  build  temples, 
and  therefore,  we  will  not.  The  apostles  never  taught  the  churches,  which 
they  planted,  to  be  incorporated  bodies  politic,  to  make  use  of  the  civil  law  to 
regulate  their  concerns,  nor  will  we.  The  New  Testament  nowhere  says, 
that  towns,  parishes,  precincts,  etc.,  shall  have  a  teacher  of  morality,  piety 
and  religion,  three  months  in  six,  or  pay  a  fine  of  sixty  dollars,  and,  there- 
fore, we  will  have  no  such  laws.  The  New  Testament  churches  were 
formed  by  the  laws  of  Jesus,  and  the  acts  of  the  apostles  only,  and  so  it  shall 
be  among  us."  These  observations  show,  that  men  wish  to  avil  them- 
selves of  the  advantages  of  religion,  without  regarding  the  laws  thereof. 

I  now  return  to  the  chain  of  the  argument,  to  show  that  the  manner  of 
worshipping  God  is  not  under  legal  control. 

Those  who  call  themselves  Christians  have  but  a  contemptible  opinion 

32 


250  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

of  Christ,  if  they  call  in  question  the  sufficiency  of  the  New  Testament  to 
govern  the  churches  in  all  places,  at  all  times,  and  in  all  cases.  If  he  was 
infallible,  infinitely  wise,  and  universally  good,  his  laws  must  be  tanta- 
mount to  the  exigencies  of  his  disciples  in  every  circumstance  ;  but  if  this 
is  called  in  question,  let  his  followers  live  up  to  all  the  rules  which  he  has 
given,  and  see  if  there  is  any  want.  It  is  observable  that  those  who  live 
the  most  according  to  the  New  Testament,  make  the  least  complaint  of 
its  deficiency.  After  all,  if  it  still  is  maintained  that  there  is  a  deficiency 
in  the  New  Testament,  who  is  to  supply  that  deficiency  ?  Not  ecclesias- 
tical officers ;  for  they  are  not  to  be  lords  over  God's  heritage.  Not  civil 
rulers ;  for,  in  their  official  capacity,  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  religion. 
Let  those  who  attempt  it  remember  one  text :  "  If  any  man  shall  add  unto 
the  words  of  this  book,  God  shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues  therein 
written." 

If  the  constitution  of  government  for  Massachusetts  is  all  divine,  I  con- 
fess that  civil  officers  have  this  right ;  for  it  is  so  expressed  in  the  third 
article  of  the  bill  of  rights.  But  where  do  they  get  this  right  ?  Our  rulers 
have  no  power  but  what  they  receive  from  the  people,  and  the  whole  body 
of  the  people,  in  aggregate,  have  no  power  but  what  is  found  in  small  con- 
stituent parts  among  the  individuals.  Now,  if  each  individual  has  a  little 
of  this  right  to  force  his  neighbor  to  worship  God,  when,  where,  and  as  he 
pleases,  then,  by  adding  all  these  little  parts  together,  in  the  representative 
body,  the  legislature  has  that  right ;  otherwise,  it  has  not. 

Supposing  there  should  be  fifty  religious  sects  under  one  government, 
and  each  sect  should  build  temples  as  they  please,  to  worship  the  God 
whom  they  adore,  in  the  manner  which  they  believe  most  pleasing  to  him, 
I  ask,  who  is  injured  by  this  free  variety  ?  If  all  these  sects  are  uniform 
in  the  support  of  the  government  for  its  proper  uses,  what  danger  is  the 
state  in  ?  None  are  injUred,  the  state  is  in  no  danger,  but  all  would  be 
friendly  to  that  government  which  secured  them  in  their  liberty. 

This  seems  to  be  the  happiest  state  that  a  nation  can  be  in,  so  far  as  it 
respects  government ;  yet  it  is  possible  that  difficulties  might  arise,  from 
two  sources,  viz.,  mobs,  and  legal  process.  One  of  these  sects  might 
arise  in  a  mob,  and  rob,  confine,  or  kill  others.  Here  then  is  work  for 
the  magistrates  ;  the  lives,  liberties,  and  property  of  the  people  are  de- 
stroyed, which  the  government  was  formed  and  supported  to  protect. 
Whether  this  lawless  sect  should  plead  that  they  were  influenced  by  their 
God,  or  by  the  devil,  or  neither  of  them,  it  would  not  alter  their  case  in 
the  least ;  for  the  court  would  not  judge  of  their  motives,  but  of  their 
actions.  Governmeiats,  where  religion  is  established  by  law,  do  not  escape 
such  evils. 

The  other  difficulty  might  arise  in  this  wise  : — One  of  these  sects  being 
ambitious,  and  fearing  the  importance  of  the  rest,  might  make  use  of 
art  to  flatter  the  officers  of  state,  to  bestow  partial  favors  on  them,  and, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  251 

finally,  establish  the  religion  which  they  esteem,  as  the  religion  of  the 
state. 

When  this  is  done,  peace,  confidence  in  each  other,  and  respect  for  gov- 
ernment, take  their  flight.  If  the  depressed  party  retain  any  patriotism, 
contention,  imprisonment,  confiscation,  war  and  bloodshed  will  follow  ;  if 
they  have  no  spirit  of  patriotism,  they  sink  into  ignorance,  vassalage  and 
misery.  Here  let  it  be  noticed,  that  these  last  evils  did  not  arise  in  the 
supposed  government,  in  its  pristine  state  of  religious  liberty,  but  after  it 
had  apostatized  into  a  state  of  established  religion. 

If  the  manner  of  worshipping  God  is  not  under  legal  control,  then  for 
religious  societies  to  be  foi'ced  by  law  to  have  a  teacher  among  them,  at 
least  half  the  time,  is  an  abridgment  of  religious  liberty. 

The  golden  rule  is  :  "  Do  unto  all  men  as  you  would  they  should  do 
unto  you."  If  Christians  were  in  Turkey  or  Algiers,  would  they  not  wish 
to  enjoy  the  liberty  of  their  consciences  without  control  ?  Would  they  not 
say,  in  their  hearts  at  least,  "  We  wish  to  be  freed  from  paying  the  Turk- 
ish priests,  and  supporting  the  Turkish  religion,  which  is  only  an  impos- 
ture, and  that  we  might  be  respected  according  to  our  conduct,  while  we 
enjoy  our  religious  opinions,  as  an  inalienable  right  ?"  If  so,  then  let 
them  grant  these  favors,  or  rather,  let  them  not  deprive  others  of  these 
rights,  or  give  up  the  name  of  Christians. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  offer  a  number  of  reasons  why  religious  laws 
and  test  oaths  should  never  be  woven  into  constitutions,  or  mixed  with  the 
laws  of  state. 

First.  It  makes  a  constitution,  or  statute  law  book,  look  more  like  a 
catechism  than  a  rule  of  political  life.  Some  have  placed  Apocrypha  in 
the  Bible,  where  it  should  not  be ;  but,  in  this  case,  religion  becomes  pros, 
titute  among  the  laws  of  state. 

Second.  It  makes  the  opinions  of  fallible  men,  the  test  of  orthodoxy  for 
all  the  people.  View  such  laws  in  the  most  favorable  light,  they  are  but 
the  opinions  of  their  makers ;  and  shall  the  judgment  of  one  man  in  a 
thousand,  be  the  rule  for  the  faith  and  worship  of  the  whole  thousand  ? 

Third.  A  religious  establishment,  reduces  religion  to  a  level  with  the 
principles  of  state  policy,  and  turns  officers  of  the  church  into  ministers  of 
state. 

Fourth.  It  holds  forth  a  tempting  bait  to  men  to  embrace  that  religion 
which  is  pampered  by  the  law,  without  searching  after  truth  con- 
scientiously. 

Fifth.  It  checks  all  rational  conviction  of  the  errors  in  the  national 
creed  ;  for  if  those  errors  are  arrested  and  condemned  by  a  man,  he  must 
be  proscribed  and  legally  persecuted. 

Sixth.  It  raises  the  uniformists  to  arrogance  and  superiority,  and  sinks 
the  non-conformists  into  disgrace  and  depression ;  and,  thereby,  destroys 


252  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

that  confidence  and  friendly  equality,  which  is  essential  to  the  happiness 
of  any  state. 

Seventh.  It  creates  and  upholds  a  power,  which  Jesus  Christ  has  never 
ordained,  either  for  the  civil  or  ecclesiastical  departnnent. 

Eighth.  It  tends  to  keep  people  in  ignorance.  By  implicitly  believing 
what  the  ruler  and  the  priest  says,  they  give  up  their  own  judgments,  and 
suppose  it  is  a  crime  to  think  and  speak  for  themselves. 

Ninth.  It  is  the  parent  of  all  the  legal  persecution,  for  conscience 
sake,  that  has  been  on  earth,  and  has  drenched  the  world  in  blood. 

Tenth.  It  is  every  way  calculated  to  destroy  those  peaceable,  harmless, 
amiable  qualities  among  men,  which  religion,  in  its  simplicity,  inculcates. 
Eleventh.  It  tends  to  make  Deists,  and  support  infidelity,  more  than  any 
one  cause.  Nothing  tends  so  much  to  convince  candid  spectators,  that 
there  is  nothing  in  a  religion,  as  to  see  the  disciples  of  that  religion  inat- 
tentive  to  its  rules.  I  will  here  confine  myself  to  the  Christian  religion. 
It  is  confessed  by  all,  in  our  land,  that  the  precepts  of  the  New  Testament 
exceed  everything  that  ever  appeared  among  men,  of  the  kind.  The  com- 
mon failings  of  the  professed  followers  of  Christ,  greatly  weaken  the  faith 
of  serious  inquirers ;  but,  when  those  who  profess  to  be  his  greatest 
friends,  break  over  all  the  bounds  of  justice,  humanity  and  pity;  and,  be- 
cause they  have  the  power  in  their  hands,  will  proscribe,  imprison,  banish, 
rob,  hang,  and  burn  all  those  who  difl'er  with  them  in  judgment ;  and  all 
this,  under  pretence  of  serving  the  meek,  harmless,  just,  holy  and  com- 
passionate Prince  of  Peace  ;  what  strong  arguments  these  are  to  convince 
men,  who  are  not  void  of  all  humanity,  that  the  religion  of  Jesus  is  only  a 
mask  to  cover  the  most  atrocious  crimes  that  ever  were  committed. 

It  is  no  wonder  to  me  to  see  so  many  literary  characters — so  many  men 
of  great  information  and  candor,  in  the  world,  so  strongly  beset  with  in- 
fidelity.   The  chief,  if  not  all  that  they  have  seen,  which  is  called  religion, 
is  nothing  but   haughtiness  and  cruelty ;  and  to  see  men,  under  religious 
pretences,  do  those  things   that  common  sense  blushes  at,  must  cast  a 
deadly  aspect  on  that  which  they  say  authorises  them  to  do  those  things. 
In  Masssachusetts,  the  religious   laws  oblige  people  to  hire  preachers, 
and  build  meeting-houses  ;  yet  there  have  been  some  laws,  which  exempt- 
ed some  of  the  people,  under  certain   restrictions.     But  is  there  a  single 
article  in  the  state,  in  which  so  much  deceit,  fraud,  and  cruelty  have  been 
used,  as  in  the  article  of  religion  ?    How  often  have  ministerial  taxes  been 
mixed  with  town  taxes,  that  the  man  taxed  might  pay  the  ministerial   tax 
without  knowing  it  ?  How  often  have  men,  who  have  made  use  of  the  law 
to  draw  their  money  back,  been  flung  out  of  it,  under  one  pretence  or  an- 
other  ?  and  if  they  have  gained  their  cause,  being  in  the  town,  they  have 
had   their  proportionate  part  of   the  costs  to  pay.      How  many  times 
towns  have  hired  ministers  to  preach,  not  being  ordained  over  them  ;  and 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  253 

if  the  dissenters  have  been  exempted  from  paying  the  stipulated  salary,  yet 
the  charge  of  the  committee,  and  the  boarding  of  the  priests,  have  been 
put  into  the  town  rate.     Where  meeting-houses  are  built  for  one  society 
to  worship  in  alone,  because  the  house  is  in  a  town,  and  sometimes  used 
for  town  meetings,  what  specious  arguments  are  made  use  of  to  make  all 
pay  for  building  them.     Can  an  honest  man  look  on  all  this,  and  much 
more,  and  not  feel  his  heart  rise  with  indignation  against  that  religion 
which  gives  birth  to  all  this  ?     The  late  destruction  of  the  king's  evil, 
and  especially  of  the  plague  of  priestcraft,  has  made  a  great  noise  in 
the  world.      Established  clergymen  take  the  alarm,  and,  like  the  mer- 
chants and  captains,  cry,  alas  !  alas !  our  craft  is  in  danger.     The  min- 
isters  of  the  established  religion,  in  Massachusetts,  are  greatly  alarmed 
at  the  growth  of  infidelity  in  France,  and  use  all  their  art  to  prevent 
French  influence  in  America.     Reverend  gentleman,  if  you  wish  to  stop 
the  spread  of  Deism,  seek  to  remove  the  cause.     Come  forth  upon  the 
plan  of  the  gospel,  and  trust  God  and  his  word  for  your  support.     Re- 
nounce the  scheme  that  Mr.  Cotton  first  introduced    in    Massachusetts, 
to  support  preachers  by  law ;  and  let  it  never  be  said,  that  a  cow,  or 
a  dollar,  or  a  cent,  is  taken  from  any  widow,  or  man,  by  the  consta- 
ble, to  complete  your  salaries,  or  pay  for  your  temples.     Convince  the 
world  that  the  religion  of  Jesus  will  stand  upon  its  own  basis,  without 
law  or  sword  ;    so  will  you  contribute  more  for  the  destruction  of  De- 
ism, than  all  the  arguments  of  Leland,  Lock,  Addison,  Steel,  Tennys, 
Wesley  or  Gill ;  or  of  those  later  writers,  Watson,  Winchester,  Ogden, 
and  the  Mendon  Association,  etc. ;  but 

To  these  a  twelfth  clause  may  be  added.  Religious  tests,  required  by 
law,  to  qualify  men  for  state  offices,  is  a  main  pillar  of  state-established 
religion,  and  a  curse  to  a  nation.  Bishop  White  observes,  that  the  articles 
and  forms  of  the  Church  of  England,  had  passed  through  a  great  number 
of  alterations,  from  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  One  month  they  solemn- 
ly declare  that  they  believe  all  and  every  thing  therein  contained,  and 
swear  to  support  them ;  the  next  month  they  alter  these  forms,  and  then 
declare  and  swear  as  before,  and  so  on.  This  is  trifling  with  oaths  at  a 
shocking  rate.  Test  oaths  are  calculated  to  make  hypocrites,  eflfect  per- 
juries, and  keep  from  office  the  best  of  men.  Sychophants  and  hopocrites 
will  take  any  oath  to  obtain  offices  ;  but  honest  men  will  not ;  their  firm- 
ness and  talents  entitle  them  to  the  confidence  of  the  people ;  but  because 
they  cannot  believe  what  they  cannot  believe,  and  will  not  swear  that  they 
believe  what  they  do  not  believe,  they  are  kept  from  office,  and  the  people 
are  deprived  of  their  services. 

The  constitutional  test  of  Massachusetts  is,  protestant  Christianity.  Ev- 
ery denomination  of  christians  peaceably  demeaning  themselves,  shall  be 
protected   by  law  ;  and  provision  is  to  be  made  for   protestant  teachers. 


254  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Jews,  Turks,  Pagans  and  Deists,  are  not  to  be  protected  by  law,  and  no 
kind  of  Christian  teactiers  can  have  legal  provision  made  for  them,  except 
they  are  protestants.  From  this  we  learn  that  the  government  of  Massachu- 
sets,  is  a  protestant  Christian  government.  The  same  cannot  be  said  of 
our  national  government ;  nor  of  several  of  the  state  governments  ;  and  it 
is  a  pity  that  it  should  be  said  of  any  of  them,  for  no  body  politic  can  form 
a  Christian  government  and  administer  the  same,  without  breaking  the 
rules  of  pure  Christianity. 

How  much  better  the  constitution  of  this  commonwealth  would  read,  if 
it  was  thus  formed,  "  All  men  peaceably  demeaning  themselves,  shall  be 
protected  by  law,  in  worshiping  the  Deity  according  to  the  dictates  of  their 
consciences  ;  but  the  sentiments  and  creeds  of  none  of  them  shall  be 
protected  by  law,  but  be  left  to  argument  and  free  debate  for  their 
support ;  nor  shall  there  be  any  provision  made  by  law  for  any  teachers 
of  religion,  nor  any  religious  test  required,  to  qualify  an  officer  for  any 
department  of  government." 

Some  circumstances  that  I  am  personally  acquainted  with,  may  add  con- 
firmation to  the  doctrine  contended  for  in  these  pages.  The  Episcopal 
party,  in  Virginia,  was  paramount,  in  law,  to  all  others  in  the  state,  an- 
terior to  the  revolution.  The  Presbyterians,  as  well  as  the  Baptists,  had  to 
pay  obeisance  to  that  party.  In  the  year  1776,  the  work  began,  to  set  all 
societies  on  a  level ;  but  it  was  twenty-two  years  before  it  was  finished. 
During  these  twenty-two  years  there  were  many  debates  in  the  Legislature. 
In  the  year  1786,  Mr.  Zachariah  Johnson,  of  Augusta,  made  the  following 
speech  in  the  assembly,  when  the  house  was  in  committee  of  the  whole, 
on  the  state  of  the  Commonwealth  :  "  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  a  Presbyterian, 
a  rigid  Presbyterian,  as  we  are  called  ;  my  parents  before  me  were  of  the 
same  profession  ;  I  was  educated  in  that  line.  Since  I  became  a  man,  I 
have  examined  for  myself,  and  I  have  seen  no  cause  to  dissent.  But,  sir, 
the  very  day  that  the  Presbyterians  shall  be  established  by  law,  and  become 
a  body  politic,  the  same  day  Zachariah  Johnson  will  be  a  dissenter.  Dis- 
sent from  that  religion  I  cannot,  in  honesty,  but  from  that  establishment  I 
will."  While  I  lived  in  Virginia,  and  heard  such  speeches,  I  used  to  wish 
that  they  might  be  heard  by  the  Presbyterians  in  Massachusetts.  In  1780, 
Col.  J.  Innis  spoke  as  follows:  '*  Gentlemen,  I  wish  that  religion  may  be 
as  free  as  the  air  in  which  we  breathe,  as  uncontrolled  as  the  waters  of  the 
boundless  sea  ;  that  it  might  extend  to  the  Heavens,  to  which  it  tends,  and 
with  one  universal  embrace,  within  its  fostering  arms,  enclose  all  the  pro- 
geny of  Adam."  How  noble !  How  evangelical  such  speeches  sound, 
when  once  compared  with  the  little  pigmy  shall  bes  and  shall  not  bes  of 
Massachusetts. 

I  close  my  address,  by  adding,  that  in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  there  were  no  more  than  fifteen  Baptist  churches  within  the  limits 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 


255 


of  the  United  States  ;  but  now  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
there  are  twelve  hundred,  which  include  about  eighty  thousand  members, 
among  whom  are  between  eleven  and  twelve  hundred  preachers. 

I  have  not  documents  sufficient  to  state  the  number  of  communicants  be- 
longing to  any  other  order  among  us  precisely ;  but  very  much  question 
whether  the  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists  together,  throughout  the 
nation,  can  produce  an  equal  number  of  churches,  members  or  ministers, 
notwithstanding  what  Dr.  Styles  has  published  in  his  election  sermon, 
and  Dr.  Morse  hints  at  in  his  geography.  I  mean  not  to  boast  of  numbers, 
but  love  to  see  truth  published. 

Finally,  gentlemen,  we  have  great  cause  of  thanksgiving  on  this  public 
fast;  what  wonders  has  nature's  God  been  doing  in  America,  in  the  course 
of  twenty-five  years.  A  vast  empire,  of  sixteen  United  States,  has  risen 
out  of  a  number  of  feeble,  depressed  colonies.  These  states,  from  being 
in  a  feeble  band  of  confederacy,  have  formed  one  national  government, 
which,  like  a  Colossus,  is  above  the  whole ;  at  the  same  time  guaranteeing 
to  each  its  proper  sovereignty.  But  ah  !  the  lust  of  power  and  importance  ! 
Designs  to  screen  men  and  measures  from  public  animidversion  ;  forsaking 
the  good  old  simple  maxims  of  republicanism,  and  adopting  the  maxims  of 
monarchical  courts,  have  crept  into  our  councils.  During  this  period,  the 
genius  of  America  has  been  slumbering  and  sleeping,  while  from  the  press- 
es and  pulpits,  we  have  been  alarmed  with  the  undescribable  hobgoblins 
of  illuminatism.  But  heaven  above  looked  down,  and  awakened  the  Amer- 
ican genius,  which  has  arisen,  like  a  lion,  from  the  swelling  of  Jordon,  and 
roared  like  thunder  in  the  states,  ■"  we  will  be  free;  we  will  rule  ourselves  ; 
our  officers  shall  be  honorable  servants,  but  not  mean  masters." 

This  exertion  of  the  American  genius,  has  brought  forth  the  Man  of  the 
People,  the  defender  of  the  rights  of  man  and  the  rights  of  conscience,  to 
fill  the  chair  of  state  ;  who,  in  his  inaugural  speech,  cries  out,  "  America, 
be  free,  be  happy,  guard  your  own  rights,  and  leave  them  not  to  the  dis- 
position of  officers." 

Pardon  me,  my  hearers,  if  I  am  over-warm.  I  lived  in  "Virginia  four- 
teen years.  The  beneficent  influence  of  my  hero  was  too  generally  felt 
to  leave  me  a  stoic.  What  may  we  not  expect,  under  the  auspices  of 
heaven,  while  Jefferson  presides,  with  Madison  in  state  by  his  side.  Now 
the  greatest  orbit  in  America  is  occupied  by  the  brightest  orb :  but,  sirs, 
expect  to  see  religious  bigots,  like  cashiered  officers,  and  displaced  states- 
men, growl  and  gnaw  their  galling  bands,  and,  like  a  yelping  mastiff*,  bark 
at  the  moon,  whose  rising  they  cannot  prevent. 

Let  us  then  adore  that  God  who  has  been  so  favorable  to  our  land,  and 
nation — praise  him  for  all  that  is  past — trust  him  for  all  that  is  to  come, 
and  not  ascribe  that  to  man  which  is  due  to  God  alone. 


AN 

0  R  A  T  I  0  I 


DELIVERED  AT 


CHESHIRE,    JULY    5,    1802, 


CELEBRATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE: 


CONTAINING 


SEVENTEEN    SKETCHES, 


SEVENTEEN    WISHES. 


33 


ORATION,   &c. 


Gentlemen  : 

The  creation  of  the  world,  the  deluge  of  the  earth,  the  deliverance  of  Is* 
rael  from  Egypt,  the  founding  of  Rome,  the  birth  of  Christ,  the  flight  of 
Mahomet,  and  other  important  events,  have  given  rise  to  certain  eras, 
from  which  dates  have  been  fixed,  ceremonies  instituted,  and  days  appoint- 
ed to  perpetuate  the  remembrance  of  those  interesting  events. 

The  revolution  of  America  has  been  an  event  which,  (simply  as  a  hu- 
man revolution,)  has  promised  more  for  the  cause  of  humanity,  and  the 
rights  of  man,  than  any  revolution  that  can  be  named. 

The  revolution  of  France  yet  hangs  in  awful  suspense ;  whether  that 
enterprising  people  are  to  gain  anything  at  last,  after  all  their  unparalleled 
exploits,  except  the  change  of  riders,  either  in  the  civil  or  ecclesiastical 
department,  is  very  uncertain,  according  to  present  appearances.  Should 
it  finally  terminate  on  the  side  of  liberty,  and  right,  still  the  change  in 
America,  may  be  considered  as  the  first  vital  spring  of  that  reform.  Their 
alliance  and  communication  with  Americans,  enkindled  the  spark  of  liberty 
among  them,  which  had  long  been  covered  with  the  ashes  of  despotism, 
and  superstition. 

The  American  revolution,  therefore,  may  be  justly  esteemed  the  return- 
ing dawn  of  long  lost  liberty,  and  the  world's  best  hope.  Here  the  people 
decide  their  controversies  by  their  voices,  and  not  by  the  cannon's  awful 
roar — by  small  pieces  of  paper,  and  not  by  the  instruments  of  death. 
Here  our  chief  magistrate  resides  in  his  house,  and  rides  abroad  without  a 
guard  of  armed  soldiers  ;  being  shielded  by  the  affections  of  the  people. 
Well  may  the  day  be  celebrated  on  which  the  iron  bands  were  broken, 
and  liberty  to  America  was  proclaimed.  Well  may  the  man  be  viewed 
in  an  endearing  point  of  light,  who  drew  the  declaration,  and  fills  the  high- 
est post  of  honor  and  trust. 

To-day  this  august  assembly  have  convened  to  reflect  on  the  past  and 
the  present  condition  of  this  growing  empire  ;  and  in  order  to  assist  that 
reflection,  I  shall  submit  the  following  sketches. 

First.  When  the  much  admired  policy  of  Britain  had  sunk  the  nation 
into  a  debt  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  millions  sterling,  she  claimed  the 
right  of  governing  the  trade  of  America  for  her  own  profit,  and  of  taxing 
the  American  colonies  at  pleasure,  without  the  consent  of  colonial  repre- 


260  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

sentatives.  To  force  the  Americang  to  this  subjection,  their  ships  and 
troops  were  sent  to  our  coasts,  to  burn  our  towns,  and  shed  our  blood. 
America  had  nothing  to  plead  but  her  right,  and  the  help  of  her  God. 
Twenty-six  years,  this  very  day,  have  elapsed,  since  that  instrument  was 
formed,  (the  Declaration  of  Independence,)  which  separated  the  United 
States  from  Great  Britain,  her  policy,  her  debts,  and  her  fate.  This  just, 
modest,  bold,  decent  declaration,  was  made  at  a  time  when  the  British 
lion  was  roaring  on  our  sea-coasts,  and  the  war-hoop  and  hatchet  were  in- 
festing our  frontiers.  Feeble  and  presumptious  as  the  United  States  ap. 
peared  to  foreign  nations,  yet,  after  a  seven  years'  struggle,  they  gained 
the  point  for  which  they  fought ;  and  Britain  lost  the  American  empire, 
and  augmented  her  debt  to  three  hundred  and  twenty  millions.  Since 
that  period,  by  their  splendid  victories,  their  debt  has  been  increased  to 
seven  hundred  millions.  Were  the  United  States  at  this  time  British  col- 
onies, add  the  five  millions  in  America,  to  the  twelve  millions  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  and  the  debt  equally  distributed  among  all  ages  and 
sexes,  would  be  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  per  soul,  or  nine 
dollars  for  every  finger,  and  every  toe.  This  debt,  in  silver,  would  amount 
to  more  than  ninety-six  thousand  and  seventy-eight  wagons  would  carry, 
allowing  a  ton  to  each  wagon,*  which  would  fill  the  road  in  a  string  about 
nine  hundred  miles,  allowing  three  rods  to  each  wagon. 

Second.  But  to  return ;  during  the  seven  years'  struggle,  there  were 
some  such  manifest  interpositions  of  divine  Providence,  that  to  pass  them 
by  in  silence,  would  be  a  crime.  In  the  middle  states,  the  scene  at  Tren- 
ton is  one.  The  American  army  was  reduced  to  a  handful ;  the  British 
had  but  little  to  obstruct  them  ;  and  to  all  appearance,  the  cause  of  America 
was  lost.  But,  behold,  the  scale  turned  in  a  short  time.  The  Hessians 
became  prisoners — the  British  generals  were  foiled — Princeton  felt  the 
prowess  of  American  troops — the  spirit  of  America  revived,  and  hope 
gleamed  through  the  land.  Let  our  chief  commander  have  his  due — let 
the  troops  have  their  reward ;  but  give  unto  the  God  of  armies  the  ulti- 
mate praise. 

Third.  In  the  northern  states,  the  check  at  Bennington,  and  the  con- 
quest  at  Saratoga,  were  most  notable.  Burgoyne,  with  the  flower  of  the 
British  army,  had  pushed  his  conquests  from  Quebec  to  Skeensborough, 
and  all  things  bid  fair  for  him  to  establish  a  line  of  posts  from  Canada  to 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  thereby  cut  off  all  communication  between  the 
southern  and  eastern  states.  A  detachment  from  the  main  army  was  sent 
to  Bennington,  near  which  place  they  were  met  by  Americans  and  defeat- 
ed. The  scene  was  tragical.  While  the  roads  were  crowded  on  one 
side  by  the  inhabitants,  fleeing  for  their  lives,  they  were  occupied  on  the 

»  This  calculation  is  made  upon  the  scale  of  £3  sterling  being  1  lb.  Troy ;  and  17  lb. 
Troy  are  equal  to  14  lb.  Avoirdupois. 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  ^  261 

Other  side  by  the  militia,  flying  to  meet  the  foe.  The  defeat,  near  Ben- 
nington, was  soon  followed  by  the  surrender  of  the  whole  army,  at  Sara- 
toga. Those  who  never  look  beyond  second  causes,  may  ascribe  the 
glory  to  Warner,  Barnum,  Stark,  Arnold,  Lincoln,  or  Gates,  but  those 
who  believe  in  the  superintendence  of  Providence,  will  render  the  glory 
to  America's  God. 

Fourth.  The  southern  states  exhibit  a  like  picture.  Charlestown  was 
taken  and  in  possession  of  the  Britons — Gates  was  defeated  at  Camden — 
the  enterprising  Tarlton  flew  over  the  Carolinas  like  an  Eagle — the  tories 
were  numerous  and  vindictive.  But  soon  a  change  took  place.  King's 
Mountain  seems  to  have  been  a  pivot,  on  which  the  scale  turned,  after 
which,  the  defeat  of  Tarlton,  at  the  Cowpens,  took  place.  How  nearly 
the  prisoners  taken  by  Morgan  were  retaken,  and  how  singularly  they  were 
twice  secured  from  Cornwallis,  by  the  swell  of  the  rivers,  is  remarkable. 
After  this,  Cornwallis  dearly  bought  a  piece  of  ground  at  Guilford,  with 
British  blood,  which  yet  he  could  not  hold,  but  abandoned  his  post,  and, 
with  a  circuitous  route,  came  into  Virginia,  and  left  the  Carolinas  as  a  field 
for  Greene  to  display  his  military  skill  in,  who,  in  a  short  space,  cleared 
those  states  of  every  Briton,  and  silenced  every  tory.  After  Cornwallis 
had  traversed  a  considerable  part  of  Virginia,  he  took  his  stand  at  York- 
town.  Several  things  appeared  providential  at  this  place.  First,  Degrass 
came  into  the  Chesapeake  with  a  French  fleet,  so  that  his  lordship  could 
not  retreat  with  his  vessels.  Second,  when  he  attempted  to  cross  York 
River,  to  escape  by  land,  if  possible,  a  remarkable  storm  of  wind  prevented 
him.  Third,  during  the  siege,  in  that  sickly  season  of  the  year,  had  the 
rains  been  as  usual,  it  is  highly  probable,  that  great  death  would  have  been 
in  the  camp,  but  not  one  drop  of  rain  fell  during  the  whole  siege. 

"  Ye  clouds  of  heaven  distil  no  rain, 

The  great  Jehovah  said, 
'Till  haughty  Britons  all  are  slain, 

Or  bow  the  stubborn  head." 

Soon  after  his  capture,  proposals  were  made,  and  preliminaries  of  peace 
were  drawn,  which  were  finally  ratified.  America  was  now  acknowledged 
as  an  independent  republic,  composed  of  democracies  in  confederation,  to 
hold  rank  among  the  nations  of  the  world. 

Fifth.  Since  that  memorable  era,  in  1783,  America  has  experienced  two 
semi-revolutions.  In  the  time  of  the  contest,  the  support  of  the  army  and 
securing  the  independence  of  the  states,  absorbed  almost  all  things,  but 
when  the  contest  closed,  it  was  found  that  the  articles  of  confederation, 
were  entirely  too  lax  to  secure  those  blessings  that  were  bought  with  blood. 
Hence  arose  the  necessity  of  altering  the  political  system.  This  reform 
of  police,  established  a  national  government  in  all  its  parts,  restricted  how- 
ever to  certain  specified  articles.     In  these  articles,  where  the  national 


262  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

government  was  to  operate,  it  was  complete :  legislative,  executive,  and 
judiciary  powers  were  contained  in  its  provisions.  And  on  all  other  ob- 
jects, each  state  retained  its  sovereignty.  This  change  was  effected  with- 
out war  or  bloodshed,  and  without  any  alarming  confusion,  and  renders 
memorable  the  year  1788. 

Sixth.  Nothing  is  more  common  than  to  see  parties  in  governments. 
The  ins,  generally,  are  grasping  after  more  poWer,  while  the  outs  are  com- 
plaining of  oppression.  Deprive  an  in  of  his  office,  and  he  cries  out,  *'  the 
church  and  state  are  ruined."  Put  an  out  into  office,  and  government 
grows  better  and  better  every  day.  These  remarks  are  too  often  verified, 
but  very  far  from  being  universally  true.  In  America,  where  land  is  abun- 
dant, and  labor  very  lucrative,  the  temptation  to  be  in  office  greatly  de- 
creases. There  are  few,  if  any  gifts  or  offices  irt  these  states,  (consider- 
ing the  necessary  drawbacks,)  which  exceed  the  profits  of  labor.  It  is, 
therefore,  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  there  is  a  greater  proportion  in  Amer- 
ica, who  form  their  judgment  of  government  from  reasoh,  and  not  from 
interest,  than  is  the  case  in  Europe.  Yet,  in  these  states,  men  of  equal 
talents  and  opportunities,  have,  and  still  do  differ  in  opinion,  and  this  dif- 
ference  is  so  radical,  that  the  two  parties  have  lately  appealed  to  the  sove- 
reign people  to  decide  the  controversy,  which  has  effected  a  kind  of  revo- 
lution. 

Seventh.  When  men  in  private  life  or  public  office  err,  in  rare  instan- 
ces, charity  will  cast  a  veil  over  those  errors ;  but  when  the  fixed  course 
of  conduct  is  wrong,  neither  charity  nor  candor  should  be  silent ;  even 
granting  that  while  they  pursue  the  course  of  error,  they  sometimes  hit 
upon  that  which  is  right.  That  our  national  administration,  for  several 
years  anterior  to  March,  1801,  was  wrong  in  its  career,  admits  of  no  doubt 
in  my  mind.  Notwithstanding  the  immense  sums  collected  by  external  and 
internal  taxes,  yet  the  debt  increased.  An  army  and  navy  were  raised, 
when  there  was  no  more  prospect  of  war,  than  there  is  at  the  present  mo- 
ment. And  that  rigor  and  distinction,  which  has  cursed  the  old  world, 
cast  a  malignant  aspect  upon  the  new.  Had  the  ruling  party  been  forty 
years,  instead  of  four,  in  making  their  advances  on  the  rights,  liberties  and 
purses  of  the  people,  they  might  have  gained  their  point ;  but  happily  for 
us,  they  sung  lullaby  too  loud,  and  startled  the  drowsy  child  before  it  was 
fast  asleep. 

If  we  compare  our  present  administration,  with  what  preceded  for  seve- 
ral years,  we  shall  see  economy  instead  of  extravagance — saving  in  the 
room  of  wasting — diminishing  taxes  and  not  increasing  them — lessening 
salaries  and  not  swelling  them — recalling  foreign  agents,  and  not  sending 
them  where  they  can  be  of  no  service — disannulling  useless  courts  and 
not  creating  them  for  their  own  profit,  when  they  have  nothing  to  do — a 
regard  for  the  rights  of  the  people,  and  not  a  design  to  trick  them  out  of 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  263 

their  native  blessing — freeing  labor,  as  much  as  possible,  from  burthens — 
securing  the  liberty  of  speech  and  the  liberty  of  the  press,  instead  of  the 
reverse,  etc.  When  these  things  are  considered,  we  may,  with  pro- 
priety say,  "  that  the  late  change  has  been  as  radical  in  its  tendency,  as 
that  which  took  place  in  1776."  And  that  these  things  have  taken  place, 
is  undeniable  ;  confessed  by  all,  except  those  who  are  determined  to  con- 
fess nothing  good,  but  what  accords  with  their  high  notions  of  aristo- 
cracy. 

Eighth.  There  is  a  foible  among  men,  expressed  by  the  words,  "  /  told 
you  so."  When  any  occurrence  turns  up,  if  a  man  can  say,  "  I  told  you 
so,"  he  supposes  he  establishes  his  character  as  a  man  of  sagacity  and  fore- 
cast. The  high  toned  party  have  been  telling  us  for  several  years,  that 
themselves  were  the  only  friends  of  our  government-^that  the  Republicans 
complained,  on  purpose,  to  get  the  ins  out  and  get  in  themselves — that, 
should  it  be  the  case,  there  would  be  no  more  economy  in  government — 
no  lessening  of  taxes — no  sinking  of  the  debt:  they  are  therefore  deter- 
mined not  to  believe  that  there  is  any  change  for  the  better,  for  if  they  be- 
lieve it,  they  cannot  preach,  "I  told  you  so." 

It  looks  as  if  every  friend  of  his  country  would  rejoice  to  see  that  debt, 
which  was  created  to  gain  our  independence,  honestly  and  wholly  paid. 
While  Britain  boasts  that  her  credit  is  good,  let  the  boast  of  America  be, 
that  she  has  710  creditors. 

Ninth.  If  editors  of  newspapers  were  genuine  friends  to  their  country, 
they  would  be  fair  and  impartial,  but  such  papers  are  rare,  hence  the  read- 
ers of  them  are  duped  to  party  r^eal.  There  are  but  a  few  men  in  the 
states,  who  have  access  to  the  official  documents,  or  the  laws  that  are  en- 
acted, except  what  teem  through  party  gazettes,  where  they  are  so  muti- 
lated and  commented  upon,  that  the  readers  are  biased  and  held  in  ignorance. 
Jackalls  hunt  the  prey  for  the  Lions,  by  whom  they  are  rewarded  with  the 
ofFal,  so  some  printers  are  hunting  for  their  employers,  by  whom  they  are 
supported. 

Tenth.  The  federal  party  are  constantly  exclaiming  that  the  republicans 
are  all  deists,  or  if  not,  yet  they  all  unite  to  undermine  religion,  law,  steady 
habits  and  good  order.  Let  these  charges  be  fairly  examined.  The  fede- 
ral party  includes  the  old  tories — those  who  admire  a  state-established  re- 
ligion, and  a  few  others.  The  republican  class  contains  those  who  fought, 
not  only  to  be  independent  of  Britain,  but  also  from  that  policy  v/hich  gov- 
erns her — those  who  contend  for  the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  all  men, 
and  some  beside.  As  Deism  is  an  opinion  about  religion,  and  not  so  much 
connected  with  government,  the  Deists  might  be  left  out  of  the  question. 
However,  as  they  are  not  omitted,  they  shall  here  be  considered.  The  fede- 
ralists and  Deists  agree  in  one  point,  viz :  they  both  believe  that  if  Chris- 
tianity is  not  protected  by  law,  it  will  fall  to  the  ground.     But  then  they 


264 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


disagree  in  their  wishes :  the  federalists  wish  that  what  they  call  Christian- 
ity, may  stand,  but  the  Deists  wish  it  might  fall.  The  republicans  and  De- 
ists agree  in  the  counterpart,  viz.,  that  it  would  be  delivering  the  world 
from  one  of  its  greatest  curses,  to  have  all  legal  establishments  of  religion 
abolished  :  but  their  conclusions  are  diametrically  opposed  to  each  other. 
Republicans  believe  that  pure  Christianity  would  gain  much  by  such  a  dis- 
solution, but  the  Deists  suppose  it  would  utterly  fall.  As  for  a  religion  of 
cruelty,  laws  to  enforce  it,  and  the  steady  habits  of  persecution,  the  repub- 
licans  do  wish  to  undermine  them,  and  if  Deists  unite  with  them  in  this 
wish,  they  are  so  far  right.  It  is  true,  there  are  some  who  call  themselves 
republicans,  who  suppose  that  religion  is  an  object  of  civil  government, 
and  under  its  control,  but  such  men  hold  with  the  hare  and  run  with  the 
hound,  and  how  they  can  reconcile  the  business  of  fighting  with  the  dog, 
and  whipping  the  cat,  at  the  same  time,  I  know  not. 

It  is  almost  enough  to  tickle  sobriety  itself,  to  hear  the  clamor  of  some 
of  the  federalists  about  good  order  and  religion,  when,  at  the  same  time, 
their  disorder  is  such,  as  to  be  no  great  commendation  to  any  religion  :  so 
peacocks  raise  their  shining  feathers,  but  walk  on  shameful  feet.  It  almost 
makes  us  believe,  that  they  are  conscious  of  their  sins  and  dangers,  and, 
therefore,  wish  others  to  have  religion  to  prevent  iheir  own  damnation  :  so 
a  man  once  gave  his  parson  a  guinea  a  year,  that  he  himself  might  freely 
swear. 

Eleventh.  The  late  marvellous  work  of  God  in  Kentucky,  has  been  echoed 
through  federal  and  republican  papers  :  it  is  well  attested,  and  cause  of  re- 
joicing. There  are,  in  that  State,  four  Baptist  Associations  ;  to  one  of 
them,  (the  Elkhorn,)  three  thousand  and  eleven  joined  in  one  year,  and  I 
liave  pretty  good  authority  to  say,  that  as  many  as  ten  thousand  joined  in 
all  the  Associations,  besides  the  vast  numbers  that  joined  the  Methodists 
and  Presbyterians.  But  what  shall  we  say  to  these  things  ?  Kentucky 
was  settled  at  first  upon  the  plan  of  religious  liberty,  like  Pennsylvania  and 
Rhode-Island,  and  has  continued  so  until  the  present  time.  Kentucky  has 
been  a  democratic  state,  and  boldly  cried  out  against  the  measures  of  the 
late  administration.  Kentucky  had  no  laws  to  support  leachers  of  piety, 
morality,  and  religion,  and  yet  the  Lord  of  Heaven  has  blessed  them 
marvellously.  That  God  blesses  sinners,  is  acknowledged  with  humble 
praise,  but  when  he  blesses  them  with  his  grace,  he  makes  them  virtuous, 
and  that  this  change  has  been  evident  in  Kentucky,  is  owned  by  all.  How 
then  comes  it  to  pass,  that  Kentucky  is  still  a  democratic,  disorganizing? 
unconstitutional  state  ?  Mr.  Brackenridge  is  a  senator  from  Kentucky,  and 
the  whole  representation  of  that  state  is  democratical.  We  are,  therefore, 
reduced  to  the  necessity  of  believing  that  democrats  can  be  religious,  or  that 
the  accounts  of  the  great  reform  in  Kentucky  are  all  false.  Can  there  be 
an  instance  given  where  there  has  been  a  like  display  of  God's  power  in 
any  state  in  the  Union,  which  has  left  the  people  as  generally  federalists  ? 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  265 

Twelfth.  Under  the  late  administration,  if  a  man  called  in  question  the 
constitutionality,  or  expediency  of  any  law  or  measure,  he  was  charged 
with  irreligion  and  sedition,  but  now,  forsooth,  it  is  become  virtuous  to  con- 
demn all  that  is  done  by  government.  Some  say,  that  if  the  President  had 
acted  according  to  his  inaugural  speech,  they  should  have  had  nothing  to 
object ;  but  I  know  not  of  an  instance  wherein  he  has  transgressed  the 
sentiments  of  that  speech.  Had  he  retained  all  the  officers  which  he  found 
in  office,  he  would  have  disappointed  that  majority  which  promoted  him, 
and  likewise  committed  himself  to  the  opposition  party,  to  reproach  him 
for  being  too  cowardly  to  change  men  or  measures,  or  stick  to  his  friends. 
The  truth  is,  the  federal  ins  made  their  calculations  to  be  eternal  ins,  and 
those  three  letters,  o,  u,  t,  have  been  made  a  handle  of  to  raise  a  mighty  fog. 
Notwithstanding  several  millions  of  dollars  have  been  saved  and  appropri- 
ated to  the  payment  of  the  debt,  yet  they  condemn,  because  they  were 
determined  to  condemn,  the  present  administration. 

Thirteenth.  The  late  session  of  Congress  has  dismissed  about  five  hun- 
dred officers,  by  the  modification  of  the  judiciary  and  the  dismissal  of  the 
internal  taxes.  While  other  Congresses,  and  the  former  administration, 
talked  about  economy  and  sinking  the  debt,  the  present  reduce  those  words 
to  practice.  Can  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  be  so  blind  to  their  in- 
terest, as  to  reprobate  the  only  line  of  conduct,  which  can  make  and  keep 
them  a  free  people  ?  They  cannot — they  will  not.  The  President  wishes 
to  have  the  discretionary  power  of  the  executive  department  limited  by  le- 
gislative acts.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  recommends  the  same. 
This  is  language  almost  new  to  the  world,  and  will  surely  meet  with  the 
approbation  of  the  people,  just  as  fast  as  the  false  gloss  of  federal  news- 
papers  is  removed.  When  we  contemplate,  that  nearly  all  the  unimproved 
land,  belonging  to  the  United  States,  lies  in  the  republican  hemisphere,  pop- 
ulating exceeding  fast,  we  have  rational  ground  to  believe  that  the  republi- 
can interest  will  continue  to  triumph.  But  who  can  look  into  futurity  ? 
The  depravity  of  human  nature — the  restless  propensity  of  men  after  nov- 
elty— the  fate  of  other  nations — and  the  maxims  of  Revelation,  all  con- 
spire to  check  our  soaring  prospects,  and  warn  us  to  be  still,  and  know  that 
the  Lord  reigns  king  of  nations.  1  shall,  therefore,  close  this  part  of  the 
address,  in  the  words  of  the  wise  man :  "  Fear  God,  and  keep  his  com- 
mandments, for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of  man  :  for  God  shall  bring  every 
work  into  judgment,  with  every  secret  thing,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad. 

Fourteenth.  When  equitable  laws  are  administered  by  a  magistrate,  in 
whom  the  people  place  confidence,  their  yoke  is  easy  and  their  burden  is 
light.  The  satisfaction  which  they  feel,  will  stimulate  them  more  to  part 
with  their  property  for  public  uses,  than  rigor  and  force  will  from  a  tyran- 
nical administration,  unless  the  tyranny  is  so  complete  as  to  prevent  all 
means  of  opposition.     A  striking  instance  we  have  of  this  in  the  history  of 

34 


266  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

David,  and  his  grand-son,  Rehoboam.  The  liberality,  in  the  days  of  Da- 
vid,  is  astonishing.  The  provision  funded  for  the  building  of  a  superb  tem- 
ple for  Jehovah,  was  immense.  David,  as  king,  contributed  (exclusive  of 
timber,  stones,  iron,  brass,  costly  and  glittering  stones,  etc.)  one  hundred 
thousand  talents  of  gold,  and  one  million  of  talents  of  silver.  If  a  talent 
is  sixty-t\vo  pounds,  Troy,  the  offering  exceeded  two  thousand  millions  of 
dollars.  The  princes  likewise  cast  into  the  fund  five  thousand  talents  of 
gold  and  ten  thousand  talents  of  silver,  which  surpassed  seventy-four  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  Besides  this,  David,  of  his  own  private  property,  advan- 
ced three  thousand  talents  of  gold,  and  seven  thousand  talents  of  silver, 
more  than  forty-five  millions  of  dollars  :  which  sums  form  a  total  of  more 
than  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  dollars.  But  when 
Rehoboam  (at  the  instance  of  the  young  men,  who  were  swarming  in  his 
court  like  locusts,  gaping  for  the  loaves  and  fishes)  undertook  to  stop  the 
remonstrances  of  the  people,  and  subject  them  to  his  sovereign  will,  by  se- 
dition whips,  and  excise  scorpions,  the  people  revolted  :  and  when  the  pro- 
visional army  was  raised  to  force  obedience,  for  want  of  guns,  the  people 
made  use  of  stones,  and  stoned  the  excise  officer,  who  was  over  the  tribute, 
to  death.  It  may  be  added,  that  the  building  of  the  tabernacle,  as  well  as 
the  temple,  and  the  repairing  of  the  temple,  were  done  by  free-will  offer- 
ings, and  not  by  force. 

Fifteenth.  Gentlemen,  you  have  taken  notice  that  some  men  are  al- 
ways contending  for  the  energy  of  government,  while  others  are  plead- 
ing for  the  rights  of  the  people.  On  this  I  shall  remark,  that  man  has 
no  right  which  stands  in  opposition  to  his  social  duties ;  no  right  to  ex- 
ercise his  liberty  to  destroy  the  right  and  property  of  his  neighbor  ;  no 
right  that  frees  him  from  his  proportionable  part  of  the  burdens  of  gov- 
ernment, and  the  restraints  of  just  laws.  Those  who  are  always  con- 
tending for  the  energy  of  government,  generally  have  some  office  under 
that  government,  either  in  their  own  hands  or  the  hands  of  their  friends, 
which  makes  the  government  a  profit  to  them,  rather  than  a  burden  ; 
and  they  wish  that  profit  to  be  secured  by  energetic  laws.  While  many, 
on  the  other  hand,  who  plead  for  the  liberty  of  men,  too  often  use  their 
own  liberty  for  an  occasion  to  the  flesh. 

Generally,  in  a  revolution,  for  a  time,  the  laws  are  too  lax,  which 
often  drives  the  people  to  the  opposite  extreme;  not  stopping  at  the 
proper  centre.  Soon  as  ever  government  is  energtic  enough  to  protect 
the  lives,  liberty  and  property  of  the  community,  the  people  should  use 
the  utmost  vigilance  to  prevent  the  intrusion  of  officers.  I  would  as  soon 
give  my  vote  to  a  wolf  to  be  a  shepherd,  as  to  a  man,  who  is  always 
contending  for  the  energy  of  government,  to  be  a  ruler.  I  conceive 
our  national  government  to  be  strong  enough,  and  yet  provision  is  made 
therein,  to  counterpoise  all    the  powers  that  may  be  abused.      Let  the 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  267 

people  keep  awake,  and  danger  flies.  It  is  not  long  since  the  people 
of  these  states  were  becalmed  in  their  spirits :  they  left  government  in 
the  hands  of  their  servants,  and  reclined  on  the  bed  of  domestic  ease ; 
but,  thanks  to  kind  Providence,  the  servants  fell  out  about  the  loaves 
and  fishes,  and  contended  so  loud  that  they  awaked  the  people  from 
their  slumbers.  Let  the  dangers  which  we  have  just  escaped  make  us 
more  watchful,  with  lead,  line  and  lookout.  And  when  our  hoary  heads 
shall  lie  slumbering  in  death,  may  our  sons  and  successors  take  warn- 
ing, and  never  forget  the  inactive  folly  of  their  ancestors. 

Disdain  mean  suspicion,  but  cherish  manly  jealousy  ;  be  always  jea- 
lous of  your  liberty,  your  rights.  Nip  the  first  bud  of  intrusion  on  your 
constitution.  Be  not  devoted  to  men  ;  let  measures  be  your  object,  and 
estimate  men  according  to  the  measures  they  pursue.  Never  promote 
men  who  seek  after  a  state-established  religion  ;  it  is  spiritual  tyranny — 
the  worst  of  despotism.  It  is  turnpiking  the  way  to  heaven  by  human 
law,  in  order  to  establish  ministerial  gates  to  collect  toll.  It  converts  re- 
ligion into  a  principle  of  state  policy,  and  the  gospel  into  merchandise. 
Heaven  forbids  the  bans  of  marriage  between  church  and  state ;  their  em- 
braces, therefore,  must  be  unlawful.  Guard  against  those  men  who  make 
a  great  noise  about  religion,  in  choosing  representatives.  It  is  electioneer. 
ing  intrigue.  If  they  knew  the  nature  and  worth  of  religion,  they  would 
not  debauch  it  to  such  shameful  purposes.  If  pure  religion  is  the  criterion 
to  denominate  candidates,  those  who  make  a  noise  about  it  must  be  reject- 
ed ;  for  their  wrangle  about  it,  proves  that  they  are  void  of  it.  Let  hon- 
esty, talents  and  quick  despatch,  characterise  the  men  of  your  choice. 
Such  men  will  have  a  sympathy  with  their  constituents,  and  will  be  willing 
to  come  to  the  light,  that  their  deeds  may  be  examined.  Remember  that 
the  genuine  meaning  of  republicanism  is  self-government ;  if  you  would, 
then,  be  true  disciples  in  your  professsion,  govern  yourselves.  The  man 
who  has  no  rule  over  his  unruly  passion,  is  no  republican.  He  who  will 
swear  profanely,  drink  to  excess,  cheat  his  neighbor,  speak  falsely  and 
scandalize  his  fellow  creatures,  is  no  republican,  let  his  profession  be  what 
it  will.  Such  republicans,  like  ferry-men,  look  one  way  and  row  the 
other.  If  you  are  republicans,  indeed,  you  seek  the  public  good.  Be 
looking  out,  then,  for  objects  of  charity.  Let  the  widow  and  the  fatherless 
meet  your  kind  assistance,  and  the  blessing  of  him  that  is  ready  to-  perish 
fall  upon  you.  Let  the  naked  and  hungry  share  your  favors  ;  the  sick  and 
afflicted,  your  hospitality ;  and  let  the  case  of  poor  prisoners  and  slaves 
excite  your  pity  and  stimulate  your  prayers. 

Sixteenth.  I  already  anticipate  an  objection  to  the  method  which  I  have 
pursued  in  this  oration.  The  objection  is,  that  "  the  subject  has  been  too 
frequently  changed."  I  own  the  subject  has  frequently  changed  ;  but  king 
Solomon  changed  his  subject  seven  times  as  often,  in  the  book  of  Proverbs ; 


268  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

and  yet  that  book  is  justly  esteemed  so  highly,  that  the  golden  verses  of 
Pythagoras,  and  the  morals  of  Seneca,  claim  no  comparison  with  it.  I  have 
also  a  later  example.  The  honorable  senate  of  Massachusetts,  in  the  late 
session,  when  answering  the  governor's  speech,  suddenly  elope  from  their 
subject,  and  take  that  opportunity  to  declare  "  that  the  freedom  of  the  peo- 
ple is  best  secured  by  the  independence  of  the  judiciary."  If  kings  and 
senators  give  the  example,  the  present  speaker  hopes  for  indulgence.  But 
why  should  the  senate  take  that  opportunity  to  declare  their  opinion  ?  I 
know  not ;  ask  them,  they  are  of  age,  and  can  answer  for  themselves.  It 
was,  however,  no  great  compliment  paid  to  Vermont,  Rhode  Island  and 
Connecticut ;  in  which  states  all  the  judges  are  annually  chosen.  But  I 
conclude  that  the  butt-end  of  it  was  aimed  at  Congress,  for  repealing  the 
judiciary  law  of  midnight  darkness.  As  kings  and  senators  hop,  I  will 
skip,  and,  in  my  turn,  say  that  the  late  repeal  of  the  judiciary  law  was  con- 
stitutional, and  expedient ;  and  has  given  a  tone  to  our  government,  worth 
more  than  all  the  gold  of  Ophir.  The  language  is,  that  all  officers,  di- 
rectly or  indirectly,  are  amenable  to  the  people.  If  the  repeal  of  that  law 
destroyed  the  constitution,  as  some  said,  why  did  not  every  man  return 
home  ?  What  had  they  to  do  there,  if  the  constitution  was  lost  ?  They 
knew  better — they  acted  otherwise.  Not  a  single  Fed  of  two  thousand  has 
quit  his  post ;  all  stick  like  horse  leeches  at  the  veins,  and  will  stick  as 
long  as  there  is  a  drop  of  money — blood  in  the  bod}',  unless  they  are  re- 
moved ;  and  when  that  is  the  case,  they  roar  and  yell  like  greedy  wolves. 
Pause  !  pause  !  for  heaven's  sake,  pause !  and  behold  the  inconsistency  of 
Federal  folly. 

Seventeenth.  As  kind  Providence  has  been  so  propitious,  in  appearing 
in  behalf  of  America,  so  often,  and  so  wonderfully,  we  have  ground  to  hope 
that  it  will  still  interpose,  again  and  again.  A  great  number  of  thousands 
of  people,  within  the  United  States,  are  still  held  in  lasting  slavery.  The 
poor  creatures  have  made  several  attempts  to  gain  their  lost  liberty,  but 
have  failed,  like  the  Poles.  This  evil  chiefly  abounds  in  the  middle  and 
southern  states.  Poor  creatures !  is  there  no  liberty  for  them  ?  must  they 
forever  drag  the  galling  chain  of  vassalage  under  their  despotic  masters  ? 
How  would  every  benevolent  heart  rejoice  to  see  them  all  emancipated 
from  slavery,  and  enjoy  that  little  pittance  of  freedom,  by  nature  due  to 
them.  May  Heaven  move  on  the  minds  of  their  masters,  and  open  a  way 
in  Providence  to  bring  them  out  of  bondage,  with  the  consent  of  their  mas- 
ters, and  consistent  with  good  policy.  As  personal  slavery  exists  chiefly 
in  the  southern  states,  so  religious  slavery  abounds  exclusively  in  three  or 
four  of  the  New  England  states.  Here  the  rights  of  conscience  are  made 
articles  of  merchandise,  and  men,  who  differ  in  opinion  from  the  majority 
of  a  town,  have  to  buy  them.  Here  the  majority  vote  away  the  money  of 
the  minority,  for  religious  uses,  at  pleasure  ;  and  the  legal  relief,  provided 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  269 

for  the  minority,  is  so  intricate  in  its  nature,  and  so  precarious  in  its  final 
issue,  that,  generally,  heavy  costs  fall  on  those  who  strive  to  regain  what 
usurpation  has  taken  from  them.  Tyranny  is  always  the  same.  Pharoah 
said  to  Moses,  "  Go  ye  and  serve  the  Lord,  but  let  your  flocks  and  herds 
be  staid."  Massachusetts  says,  "  Go  ye  and  serve  the  Lord,  but  pay  for 
building  the  parish  meeting-house,  and  the  salary  of  the  teacher  of  piety, 
morality  and  religion."  And  men  must  pay  their  money  according  to  a 
legal  assessment,  and  draw  it  back  again  by  a  legal  process,  in  order  to 
be  freed  from  the  society  which  is  dissented  from ;  because  they  govern 
their  religious  concerns  in  a  legal  form.  The  most  explicit  language  of 
the  Pharoah  of  Massachusetts  is,  "Go  ye  and  serve  the  Lord,  but  serve 
him  as  the  majority  do."  Be  incorporated  by  law,  and  become  bodies 
politic  ;  make  use  of  the  tool  which  we  are  so  fond  of;  kill  yourselves  and 
we  will  not  kill  you.  Oh !  that  the  day — the  halcyon  day,  may  come, 
when  the  chains  of  personal  slavery,  and  the  manacles  of  religious  despot- 
ism may  be  broken  asunder,  and  freedom  and  religion  pervade  the  whole 
earth. 

Gentlemen  :  As  it  is  my  custom,  on  our  anniversaries,  to  retire  from 
company  as  soon  as  the  public  exhibition  is  over,  I  shall  now  express  a 
number  of  wishes,  in  the  form  of  toasts,  which  voluntarily  flow  from  my 
heart — then  conclude  and  retire. 

1st.  The  world  at  large.  May  truth  and  friendship  overspread  the  earth  ; 
and  may  all  nations  be  freed  from  war,  oppression,  personal  slavery,  and 
religious  tyranny. 

2d.  The  ■people  of  the  United  States.  May  they  be  virtuous,  industrious 
and  wise  ;  free  from  the  intrigues  of  lawyers,  the  deception  of  doctors,  the 
holy  fraud  of  priests,  and  the  imposition  of  lying  printers. 

3d.  The  United  States.  May  the  sixteen  links  be  all  of  republican  gold, 
and  form  an  indissoluble  chain.  Let  them  adopt  the  policy  of  no  nation, 
but  improve  upon  them  all. 

4th.  The  President.  May  the  first  consul  of  France  learn  wisdom  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  for  a  finishing  stroke  to  his  victories. 
As  for  old  and  foolish  kings,  they  will  not  be  reproved. 

5th.   The  Legislature.  Short  sessions,  few  laws,  and  good  customs. 

6th.  The  Judiciary.  Let  judges  know  that  they  are  as  amenable  to  God, 
to  law,  and  to  the  people,  as  other  men. 

7th.  The  Treasury.  May  the  treasury  be  supplied  with  a  frugal  suffi- 
ciency for  the  exigences  of  government ;  but  let  the  great  treasure  be  in 
the  hands  of  the  people  ;  each  man  being  the  treasurer  of  his  own 
earnings. 

8th.  The  Revenue,  Let  the  resources  of  the  nation  run  freely,  when  ne- 
cessity calls ;  but  let  private  right  and  public  economy  secure  the  dam 
and  the  gate. 


270  _  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

9th.  The  Navy  and  Militia.  May  the  time  quickly  come,  when  there 
shall  not  be  a  ship  of  war  on  the  seas — till  then,  let  every  vessel  be  allowed 
to  arm  in  its  own  defence,  and  let  the  same  be  extended  to  voluntary  com- 
panies, that  may  see  cause  to  build  navies  for  trade.  But  why  should  gov- 
ernment be  at  the  expense  to  guard  the  speculation  of  individuals  ?  How- 
ever, if  the  condition  of  the  world  justifies  an  American  navy  of  war, 
may  it  bring  the  piratical  states,  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  to  national 
justice. 

May  the  malitia  always  be  in  readiness,  but  never  be  needed. 

10th.  The  Debt.  May  the  debt  of  the  United  States  be  discharged 
with  speed  and  punctuality  ;  and  let  not  the  people  be  deceived,  by  hav- 
ing the  funds,  established  for  that  purpose,  put  to  other  uses. 

11th.  Commerce.  May  our  exports  be  so  great,  and  our  imports  so 
small,  that  the  balance  of  trade  may  be  in  our  favor. 

12th.  Agriculture.  Let  Americans  improve  the  extensive,  fertile  land 
which  the  Almighty  has  given  them,  and  not  amuse  themselves  with 
the  whimsies  of  circumscribed  Islands. 

13th.  Literature.  May  our  schools,  academies  and  universities,  diffuse 
abundance  of  light  and  knowledge  abroad,  and  produce  a  long  list  of 
sages  and  patriots,  whose  souls  shall  so  widely  expand,  that  they  shall 
know  something  more  than  just  how  to  decline  a  noun  and  conjugate 
a  verb. 

14th.  The  American  Indians.  May  the  scalping-knife  and  hatchet  be 
intercd  in  the  earth,  and  their  fertile  soil  be  cultivated  by  themselves. 
May  they  excel  their  white  brethren  ia  honesty,  liberality  and  religion. 

15th.  The  Territory  of  Ohio.  May  the  new  state  be  properly  organized 
by  the  year  1804,  and  cast  four  republican  votes  into  the  box  at  the  next 
presidential  election. 

16th.  The  Gospel.  The  only  hope  of  man  :  may  it  prevail  everywhere 
in  its  virgin  purity — free  from  the  legal  apparatus  and  traditional  com- 
plexion which  have  long  covered  its  native  beauty.  May  the  combination 
of  rulers  and  priests,  church  and  state,  be  dissolved,  and  never  re-unite. 

17th.  The  Day,  May  it  be  kept  as  the  birth-da)^  of  independence, 
with  that  gratitude  and  joy  that  become  free-men  and  Christians. 

Gentlemen  :  I  conclude — I  retire.  I  hope  nothing  will  be  done  this 
day,  that  will  disgrace  the  republican  or  the  Christian. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  271 


CORRESPONDING   LETTER 


SHAFTSBURY    ASSOCIATION,    1803. 

Dear  brethren  :  Amidst  the  carnage  of  war,  the  revolutions  of  em- 
pire, the  spasms  of  contending  parties,  the  jarring  interests  and  turbulent 
passions  of  infuriated  men,  which  have  deluged  the  world  in  confusion,  it 
has  been  the  privilege  and  delight  of  the  saints,  that  they  have  a  God  to 
apply  to  in  every  time  of  need — a  God,  who  has  been  a  present  help,  a 
refuge  from  the  storm,  a  strong  tower,  a  munition  of  rocks,  and  a  hiding- 
place. 

This  all-puissant  Jehovah,  self-glorious  in  his  nature,  and  independent  in 
all  his  works,  has  not  confined  his  glory  to  the  heavens,  nor  his  goodness 
to  the  angels  of  light ;  but  the  inhabitants  of  this  world  have  largely  re- 
ceived of  the  fulness  of  his  grace.  Though  the  Lord  be  high,  yet  hath 
he  respect  unto  the  lowly.  He  who  has  the  high  heavens  for  his  throne, 
and  the  earth  for  his  footstool — before  whom  all  the  nations  of  the  earth 
are  as  drops  of  the  bucket,  or  small  dust  of  the  balance,  in  infinite  conde- 
scension and  boundless  love,  receives  and  protects  every  broken  heart  and 
contrite  spirit ;  and,  for  their  encouragement,  has  given  them  many  pre- 
cious promises,  by  which  they  are  made  partakers  of  the  divine  nature.  If 
these  foundations  are  destroyed,  what  can  the  righteous  do  ?  The  saints 
have  an  omnipotent  God  on  their  side,  who  has  promised,  with  an  oath,  to 
be  a  God  unto  them,  and  bless  them.  With  an  Almighty  Friend,  they  may 
triumph  over  all  their  mighty  foes,  and  say,  "  We  will  not  fear  what  man 
can  do  unto  ■  us." 

Brethren,  while  the  world  is  emblazoning  the  virtues  of  valor,  policy 
and  industry,  in  agriculture,  mechanism,  and  science,  we,  who  are  not  of 
the  world,  wish  to  treat  those  virtues  as  the  pigmy  valor  of  game-cocks, 
the  policy  of  bees,  and  the  industry  of  ants ;  and  display  the  noble  valor  of 
a  Christian,  to  resist  Satan,  conquer  sin,  and  destroy  error ;  to  be  wise  in 
the  policy  of  Christ's  kingdom,  and  industrious  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord  : 
that  what  part  soever  we  are  called  upon  to  act  in  the  civil  department,  we 
would  always  esteem  the  high  calling  of  God,  in  Christ  Jesus,  infinitely 
paramount. 


272  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

We  are  not  disposed  to  eulogize  the  period  in  which  we  live,  as  the 
only  day  of  light,  reason  and  liberty  ;  nor  to  despise  the  pittance  of  time 
allotted  us,  as  worse  than  former  days  ;  for  the  same  contest  between  truth 
and  error,  right  and  wrong,  which  has  been  in  the  world  from  the  begin- 
ning, still  exists.  But  it  is  truly  pleasing  to  the  children  of  light,  to  con- 
sider  that  all  the  error  and  wrong  of  creatures,  can  never  destroy  the 
truth  and  rigteousness  of  the  Creator. 

The  day  in  which  we  live,  is  neither  dark  nor  light ;  not  the  darkness 
of  sin,  superstition  and  idolatry,  nor  the  clear  light  of  heaven ;  but  at 
"  evening  time  it  will  be  light ;"  at  the  evening  of  life,  as  it  respects  indi- 
viduals,  and  the  evening  of  the  world,  as  it  applies  to  all  the  saints, — then 
it  will  be  light  without  darkness. 

In  some  of  our  churches  there  have  been  painful  trials,  since  the  last 
meeting  of  our  association  ;  others  have  escaped  such  trials  ;  while  some 
have  received  showers  of  heavenly  grace. 

It  is  with  pleasure  we  receive  your  messengers,  minutes  and  letters, 
from  time  to  time,  being  confident  such  a  procedure  tends  to  edify  the 
whole  body  ;  and,  on  our  part,  we  shall  pursue  the  same  measures,  for 
similar  purposes. 

Since  our  last  meeting,  one  of  our  ministerial  brethren  (Elder  Nathan 
Haskins,  of  Savoy,)  has  departed  this  life.  Help,  Lord  !  for  the  godly 
man  ceaseth.     We  hope,  however,  that  our  loss  is  his  gain. 

Brethren,  farewell.  May  a  gracious  God  preserve  us  from  every  evil, 
and  bring  us,  at  last,  into  the  full  enjoyment  of  himself,  through  a  blessed 
Mediator.     Amen. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  273 


THE 

GOVERNMENT  OF  CHRIST  A  CHRI STOCRACY. 


FIRST    PUBLISHED    IN    1804. 


THE  MAIN  QUESTION. 


Is  the  government  of  Christ  according  to  the  genius  of  the  Monarchical, 
or  like  Democratical  government ;  or  is  it  distinct  from  both,  being  unlike 
all  the  governments  on  earth  ? 

In  answering  this  comprehensive  question,  I  shall,  fii-st,  consider  the  ge- 
nius of  Monarchical  government ;  secondly,  elucidate  the  nature  of  De- 
mocratical government ;  in  the  third  place,  I  shall  endeavor  to  state  the 
difference  between  the  universal  government  of  the  Almighty,  the  Theo- 
cracy of  Israel,  and  the  government  of  Christ,  intended  in  the  main  question ; 
fourth,  I  shall  attempt  to  show,  that  although  there  are  some  parts  of  this 
government  which  resemble  monarchy,  and  other  parts,  democracy,  yet  it 
is,  upon  the  whole,  different  from  all  other  governments,  forming,  of  itself, 
a  Christocracy. 

First,  I  am  to  consider  the  genius  of  Monarchy.  The  origin,  use,  ex- 
tent and  abuse  of  government,  are  not  articles  of  present  investigation,  but 
the  genius  only,  which  may  be  thus  described.  The  monarch  on  his  throne 
is  the  fountain  of  power  and  honor.  His  will  is  law  for  all  his  subjects  ; 
their  privileges  are  his  favors  ;  he  is  responsible  to  none  of  them  for  his 
conduct ;  he  appoints  and  commissions  all  officers  for  every  department, 
who  are  accountable  to  him  alone  ;  he  confers  honors  and  pardons  on  whom 
he  pleases,  and  takes  away  the  lives  of  his  subjects  at  pleasure.  Some 
monarchies  are  absolute,  and  some  are  qualified,  while  others  have  the 
monarchical  power  distributed  among  a  number  of  nobles,  forming  what  is 
called  aristocracy  ;  but  whenever  it  is  understood  that  men  are  born  to 
rule,  that  government  is  founded  in  birth,  that,  by  some  inconceivable,  in- 
expressible mystery,  some  are  born  with  a  right  to  rule  over  others,  with 
out  the  choice  or  consent  of  those  ruled,  whether  this  right  is  held  by  one 
king,  or  a  number  of  nobles,  it  is  monarchical  government. 

Secondly,  I  am  to  elucidate  the  nature  of  Democratic  government.     It 

35 


274  THE    WRITINGS    Of 

is  simply  this :  that  men  have  the  right,  and  exercise  tlie  power,  of  gor- 
erning  themselves  ;  that  all  men  are  born  equal,  and  that  government  is 
founded  in  compact,  by  mutual  agreement  for  general  good.  It  is  most 
likely  that  there  never  was  an  unlimited  democratical  government  on  earth  ; 
for  among  American  savages,  the  women  and  children  have  no  choice  in 
framing  their  laws,  nor  have  the  hunters  as  much  influence  as  the  chief. 
Nor  does  democracy  suppose  that  all  the  body  politic  must  be  present  on 
every  legal  occasion ;  but  it  supposes  that  all  men,  ripe  in  years,  have  a 
voice  in  the  choice  of  their  agents,  and  that  they  are  themselves  eligible  to 
office.  That  all  officers  are  amenable  to  those  who  appoint  them,  and  must, 
at  a  certain  period,  return  to  private  life.  That  those  in  power,  have  not 
and  cannot  have,  any  power  but  what  they  receive,  in  small  constituent 
parts,  from  all  the  community.  It  disclaims  allegiance  to  any  foreign  ty- 
rant, and  to  every  domestic  usurper. 

Thirdly,  I  am  to  state  the  difference  which  exists  between  the  universal 
government  of  the  Almighty,  the  Theocracy  of  Israel,  and  the  govern- 
ment of  Christ,  intended  in  the  main  question. 

1st.  The  great  Jehovah  is  the  moral  governor  of  all  rational  beings. 
His  law  is  binding  on  all  of  them.  He  requires  reasonable  service  of  them 
all,  and  they  are  all  accountable  to  him  for  their  conduct.  All  the  angels 
in  heaven  and  hell,  all  men,  in  the  body  and  out  of  the  body,  are  under 
obligation  to  love  and  obey  God,  and  acknowledge  the  Messiah ,  and  their 
opposition  and  rebellion  have  no  excuse.  Yea,  further,  in  some  sort,  his 
government  extends  over  all  creation.  The  material  world,  which  arose 
at  his  command,  exists  by  his  power,  and  will  be  destroyed  at  his  word. 
In  the  intermediate  time,  the  seas  roll,  the  winds  blow,  the  clouds  fly, 
the  thunder  roars,  the  rain  and  snow  descend,  and  the  earth  brings  forth 
her  increase  in  obedience  to  his  will.  The  beasts  of  the  field,  the  birds 
of  the  air,  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  all  the  creeping  things,  were  made,  are 
preserved  and   fed,  and  will  decease  by  the  hands   of  the  Almighty. 

2d.  The  nation  of  Israel,  at  Mount  Horeb,  were  formed  into  an  eccle- 
siastico-political  government,  and  as  they  received  all  their  laws  of  reli- 
gion and  government  from  God  alone,  their  government  is  called  a  Theo- 
cracy. All  the  nation,  whether  good  or  bad,  belonged  to  that  church,  for 
the  bounds  of  the  church  and  the  state  were  commensurate.  Those  who 
sinned  away  their  lives  in  the  wilderness,  all  the  sinners  of  God's  people 
until  the  time  of  Christ,  together  with  those  in  his  day,  called  serpents  and 
generation  of  vipers,  belonged  to  that  Theocracy,  as  well  as  the  righteous. 
In  the  days  of  Samuel,  the  government  was  altered  in  some  respects ;  kings 
were  appointed  instead  of  judges  ;  but  still  the  Theocracy  continued,  for 
those  kings  were  to  execute  the  laws  which  God  had  given  to  the  people, 
and  make  none  themselves.  When  David  was  on  the  throne,  the  state  of  the 
people  was  considerably  changed  from  what  it  was  when  their  code  of  laws 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND,  275 

was  given  them  ;  yet  the  alterations  which  David  made,  were  done  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  which  was  upon  him. 

3d.  Tlie  glorious  Mediator  is  spoken  of  under  the  most  dignified  titles, 
according  to  the  highest  sense  of  the  words.  He  is  called  Leader,  Com- 
mander, Captain,  Counsellor,  Ruler,  Governor,  Prince  and  King  ;  and  it  is 
said  of  the  increase  of  his  government  and  duration  of  his  kingdom,  there 
shall  be  no  end.  This  government,  or  kingdom,  is  not  of  this  world ;  the 
subjects  are  not  of  this  world,  but  are  called  out  of  it.  Those  that  fear  God 
and  work  righteousness,  are  the  only  persons  that  belong  to  it.  No  man 
can  understand  the  nature  of,  or  enter  into  this  kingdom,  unless  he  is  born 
agaia.  And  such  may  say,  "  We  are  thine  ;  thou  never  bearest  rule  over 
them,  (the  men  of  the  world,)  they  were  not  called  by  thy  name." 

I  proceed,  in  the  fourth  place,  to  show  that,  although  some  parts  of  this 
government  resemble  monarchy,  and  other  parts  of  it  a  democracy,  yet, 
upon  the  whole,  it  is  different  from  all  other  governments,  forming  of  it- 
self, a  Christocracy. 

There  is  some  likeness  between  the  government  of  Christ,  and  a  mon- 
archy. 

1st.  Christ  is  absolute  legislator.  His  will  is  law.  He  consults  not  with 
angels  or  men,  in  framing  his  orders.  He  is  king,  without  a  privy  council, 
and  judge,  without  any  associates. 

2d.  He  appoints  and  commissions  all  the  spiritual  ofllicers  in  his  govern- 
ment. The  ministers  of  the  gospel  receive  their  orders  from  Christ  alone. 

There  is  also  some  likeness  between  the  government  of  Christ  and  a  de- 
mocracy. 

1st.  Liberty  and  equality,  the  boast  of  democracy,  is  realized  in  the 
church.  The  saints  are  set  at  liberty  from  the  prison  of  sin,  and  freed 
from  the  curse  of  the  law.  They  are  all  one  in  Christ ;  the  poor  are  ex- 
alted, and  the  rich  brought  low. 

2d.  The  saints  on  earth'are  Christ's  subjects,  forming  his  kingdom  be- 
low. When  Christ  went  to  heaven,  and  left  his  house  below,  he  gave  au- 
thority to  his  servants,  and  to  every  man  his  work  ;  and  as  far  as  church 
government  on  earth  is  the  government  of  Christ,  it  is  of  democratical  ge- 
nius. Church  government  is  congregational,  not  parochial,  diocesan,  nor 
national.  Each  congregated  church  disclaims  the  power  of  Popes,  kings, 
bishops,  parliaments,  kirks,  or  presbyteries,  and  claims  the  right  and  power 
to  govern  itself  according  to  the  laws  of  Christ.  And  it  must  be  confessed, 
that  the  spirit  and  rule  by  which  the  subjects  of  Christ's  kingdom  are  to 
live  one  among  another,  greatly  resemble  the  genius  of  a  republic,  and  as 
greatly  confronts  the  inequality  and  haughtiness  of  monarchies.  So  far 
as  Christ's  government  may  be  compared  to  governments  on  earth,  we 
may  say,  that  as  many  democracies  as  there  are  chuches,  form  one  abso- 
lute  empire.     But  such  a  government  was  never  on  earth. 


276  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

The  difference  that  exists  between  Christ's  government,  and   all  others, 
I  shall  now  attend  unto. 

1st.  Christ's  laws  are  spiritual,  reaching  to  the  hearts,  thoughts,  and 
motives  of  men,  and  requiring  truth  in  the  inward  parts  ;  whereas,  the  laws 
of  state  take  cognizance  of  actions  only,  and  of  those  actions  only,  where- 
by  one  man  injures  another,  in  life,  liberty,  or  property.  So  that  a  man. 
innay  be  a  good  'citizen  of  state,  and  at  the  same  time  be  an  enemy  to  God,, 
and  not  worthy  to  be  numbered  among  the  subjects  of  Christ.  His  laws,, 
moreover,  reach  to  every  case,  taking  into  view  all  actions,  temptations, 
circumstances,  and  motives,  which  the  laws  of  men  cannot  do. 

2d.  The  government  of  which  I  am  treating,  admits  of  an  atonement 
for  transgressions,  by  the  vicarious  sufferings  of  the  innocent  for  the  guilty  ; 
which  is  not,  and  ought  not  to  be  allowed  in  any  government  of  this  world. 
In  civil  cases,  if  one  man  owes  another,  the  surety  may  pay  the  debt,  and 
set  the  debtor  free  ;  but  not  so  in  criminal  cases,  for  if  a  man  is  guilty  of 
an  overt  act  and  exposed  to  the  penalty  of  corporeal  punishment,  no  gov- 
ernmenton  earth  admits  of  a  substitute  ;  the  criminal,  and  the  criminal  only, 
must  suffer.  Here,  then,  appears  that  mystery  which  philosophy  and  state 
policy  never  found  out, — the  mysterious  way  how  sin  could  be  atoned  for, 
and  sinners  saved.  Yes,  men  have  sinned,  and  incurred  the  divine  dis- 
pleasure, but  the  blessed  Jesus  died  for  sinners, — died,  the  just  for  the- 
unjust,  that  God  might  be  just,  and  justify  the  ungodly  who  believe.  This 
atonement,  unlike  any  thing  seen  in  all  governments  on  earth,  is  the  sin- 
ner's only  hope  of  acceptance  before  God. 

3d.  In  all  other  governments,  whenever  grace  is  administered  to  a  crimi- 
nal, it  is  done  at  the  expense  of  the  law  ;  the  law  dies,  that  grace  may  reign. 
I  mean  this  :  when  a  criminal  is  condemned  to  death  by  a  legal  process, 
if  he  is  pardoned,  both  law  and  adjudication  are  overruled.  But,  in  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  sinners  are  pardoned  and  the  law  honored — pardoned, 
not  in  the  light  of  benefit  of  clergy,  but  through  satisfaction  made  to  the 
law  by  the  suffering  of  another — pardoned,  not  by  an  absolute'prockmation 
of  grace,  but  by  the  price  of  blood. 

4th.  Another  singularity  of  Christ's  kingdom,  is  this  ;  characters,  as 
well  as  facts,  are  noticed.  If  my  words  are  not  well  chosen,  I  will  explain 
thus:  In  the  governments  on  earth,  if  two  men,  say  A.  and  B.,  are  proved 
guilty  of  one  and  the  same  crime,  and  adjudged  to  the  same  punishment,  if 
A.  appears  hard  hearted  and  furious,  and  B.  discovers  all  the  symptoms  of 
sorrow  and  reformation,  still  they  must  equally  suffer,  for  the  law  has 
nothing  to  do  with  characters,  but  facts.  But,  in  the  divine  government, 
in  the  name  and  by  the  atonement  of  Christ,  all  those  who  repent,  receive 
remission  of  sins,  while  those  who  harden  their  hearts,  fall  into  mischief. 

5th.  All  monarchies,  empires,  kingdoms,  and  states,  on  earth,  have 
their  limits  and  boundaries.     Seas,  lakes,  rivers,  mountains,  or  lines  of  lat- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 


277 


itude,  form  the  boundaries,  and  mark  the  division  among  them,  so  that  no 
place  or  people  is  under  the  control  of  two  of  those  governments  at  the 
same  time.  But  Christ's  government  has  no  territorial  bounds — it  is  not 
located,  but  general — it  runs  into  all  the  kingdoms  and  states  on  earth,  and 
claims  all  those  who  fear  God  and  work  righteousness  for  its  subjects,  and 
at  the  same  time  does  not  deprive  any  kingdom  or  state  of  a  single  sub- 
ject OF  citizen.  For  the  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand,  the  vast  multi- 
tude  of  Christ's  subjects,  which  no  man  can  number,  are  scattered  over 
every  kingdom,  nation,  tongue  and  people,  and  while  they  are  the  devoted 
subjects  of  king  Jesus,  they  are,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  loyal  subjects 
and  best  citizens  in  the  kingdoms  and  states  where  they  reside. 

6th.  The  kingdom  of  Christ  is  a  kingdom  of  truth,  righteousness,  and 
peace,  without  error,  injustice,  or  discord.  When  Pilate  asked  Jesus  if  he 
were  a  king,  he  said,  "  I  am ;  for  this  end  was  I  born,  that  I  might  bear 
witness  unto  the  truth."  And  St.  Paul  informs  us,  that  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  righteousness  and  peace.  Truth,  righteousness,  and  peace,  have 
but  little  to  do  in  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  but  without  treating  them 
with  any  severity,  it  will  not  be  denied,  that  abundance  of  corruption,  par- 
tiality, oppression  and  fraud,  creep  into,  and  proceed  from  the  best  gov- 
ernments on  earth,  but  none  of  these  attend  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Justice 
and  judgment  are  the  habitation  of  his  throne,  mercy  and  truth  go  before 
his  face.  He  sits  upon  a  great  white  throne,  free  from  every  stain  of  error. 
The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter,  therefore,  is,  that  the  government  of 
Christ  is  radically  different  from  all  the  governments  on  earth,  forming,  of 
itself,  a  divine  Christocracy.  By  a  Christocracy,  1  mean  nothing  more  than 
a  government  of  which  Christ  is  law-giver,  king,  and  judge,  and  yet  soar- 
ranged,  that  each  congregational  church  is  a  complete  republic  of  itself, 
not  to  be  controlled  by  civil  government  or  hierarchy.  Let  this  govern- 
ment be  called  by  what  name  soever,  it  is  not  of  the  world,  and  therefore* 
the  rulers  of  this  world  have  nothing  to  do  with  it,  in  their  official  capacity. 
It  is  distinct  from  the  government  of  state,  and  consequently,  should  never 
be  mixed  with  it.  It  is  complete  of  itself,  and  disdains  the  assistance  of 
human  laws. 

Civil  government  is  designed  to  protect  the  lives,  liberty,  and  property, 
of  the  community,  but  the  divine  government  is  adapted  to  pardon  the  guilty, 
reform  the  heart,  instruct  the  mind,  and  improve  the  morals  of  the  wicked. 
The  promotions  and  punishments  of  civil  governments,  are  all  this  side  of 
the  grave,  but  those  of  the  divine  government,  are  in  the  succeeding  world. 
Blood,  warlike  valor,  and  state  policy,  raise  men  to  high  rank  in  the  gov- 
ernments on  earth,  but  self-abasement,  love  to  enemies,  simplicity  and  hu- 
mility, are  the  characteristics  of  those  whom  the  King  delights  to  honor. 
The  great  names  of  Alexander,  Caesar,  Washington,  or  Jefferson,  will  be 
no  more  regarded  in  the  judgment  day,  than  the  names  of  their  meanest 


278  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

servants,  unless  they  possess  that  moral  excellency  which  their  servants  do 
not. 

Whenever  churches,  (the  little  republics  which  form  the  empire  of  Christ,) 
are  formed  according  to  the  gospel,  acknowledging  Christ  for  their  head, 
and  his  laws  for  their  rules,  all  that  such  democratical  societies  expect, 
wish  for,  or  are  entitled  to,  from  civil  government,  is  the  protection  of 
their  rights  to  worship  God  as  they  judge  best,  without  the  molestation  of 
others.  But  whenever  churches  are  formed  by  civil  law,  whether  they  are 
national,  diocesan,  or  parochial,  and  become  bodies  politic,  and  appeal  to 
any  authority,  either  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  higher  than  the  authority  of  a 
church,  for  a  final  decision  of  controversies,  such  churches  wish  for,  re- 
ceive,  and  exercise  a  power  over  the  rights  of  others,  which  is  inconsistent 
with  the  genius  of  Christianity.  Such  societies  may  call  themselves  churches 
of  Christ,  but  in  reality,  they  are  creatures  of  state.  Let  there  be  more 
or  less  of  the  subjects  of  Christ  in  such  societies,  (who  are  held  there  through 
ignorance  or  by  force,)  yet,  as  bodies  collective,  they  are  not  those  demo- 
cracies which  form  the  divine  Christocracy  ;  for  the  reason  why  the  nation 
of  Israel  was  called  a  Theocracy,  was,  because  they  received  all  their  laws 
from  (Theas)  God  alone,  so  churches  must  be  governed  by  the  laws  of 
(Christos)  Christ  alone,  to  form  the  Christocracy  here  spoken  of.  I  am 
not,  however,  tenacious  for  a  name  ;  let  the  church  be  called  a  kingdom, 
empire,  republic,  or  commonwealth,  and  let  the  saints  be  called  subjects, 
servants,  or  fellow-citizens,  yet  keep  up  the  idea  that  the  government  is 
complete  of  itself,  and  no  gap  is  left  for  magistrates  to  interfere,  and  also 
that  it  is  different,  in  many  particulars,  from  all  the  governments  on  earth, 
as  has  been  shown.  Experience,  the  best  teacher,  has  informed  us,  that 
the  fondness  of  magistrates  to  foster  Christianity,  has  done  it  more  harm 
than  all  the  persecutions  ever  did.  Persecution,  like  a  lion,  tears  the  saints 
to  death,  but  leaves  Christianity  pure :  state  establishment  of  religion,  like 
a  bear,  hugs  the  saints,  but  corrupts  Christianity,  and  reduces  it  to  a  level 
with  state  policy.  Magistrates  frequently  love  the  advantages  of  Chris- 
tianity more  than  the  precepts  of  it,  and  flatter  themselves  that  they  are 
doing  much  for  God,  and  themselves,  when  they  make  laws  to  protect  what 
they  esteem  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and  to  reward  the  preachers  of  that 
truth,  but  every  law  which  they  make  of  that  complexion,  proves  their 
aversion  to  the  scheme  of  pure  Christianity  :  for,  by  such  a  procedure,  they 
arraign  either  the  wisdom,  or  good  will  of  Christ,  the  Lord,  for  not  giving 
enough,  and  the  best  of  laws  for  the  government  of  the  church,  at  all  times, 
and  in  all  places.  A.nd  further,  they  arrogate  to  themselves  a  lording  over 
consciences,  which  is  God's  prerogative,  and  a  favor  which  is  not  attached 
to  their  civil  office.  They,  moreover,  lead  the  preachers  to  trust  in  them, 
and  not  in  the  Lord :  at  least,  they  become  the  legal  bondsmen  of  Christ. 
The  exercises  of  Christ's  government  are  moral  excellencies  which  force 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  279 

can  never  effect.  The  freedom  of  the  will,  and  volition  of  choice,  are  so 
essential  to  moral  virtue,  that  it  cannot  exist  vv'ithout.  We  must,  therefore, 
give  up  the  idea  of  legal  force  in  matters  of  religion,  or  own  that  there  is 
no  moral  worth  in  them  :  hence  the  conclusion  is,  that  religion,  in  all  its 
parts,  is  distinct  from  civil  government,  or,  otherwise,  Deism  will  triumph. 
For,  if  there  is  no  moral  virtue  in  religion,  the  cost  and  contention  about 
it,  sink  it  far  below  Deism. 

While  I  am  reflecting  on  these  things,  it  strikes  my  mind  that  the  reli- 
gion of  Massachusetts  is  somewhat  dissimilar  to  the  religion  of  the  gospel, 
in  the  following  particulars. 

First.  Whoever  consults  the  third  article  of  the  Bill  of  Rights,  in  the 
Constitution  of  Massachusettss,  together  with  sundry  existing  laws,  will 
find  that  Protestant  Christianity  is  the  established  religion  of  the  state. 
Pagans,  Turks,  Jews,  and  Papists,  are  minor  departments  ;  whereas,  the 
primitive  Christians  had  no  such  establishment — no  such  preference — and 
they  were  so  tenacious  of  the  laws  of  Christ,  that,  before  they  would  sub- 
mit to  traditions  of  elders,  (among  the  Jews,)  or  the  established  religion 
among  the  Gentiles,  they  exposed  both  property  and  life.  There  was  no 
Pope  to  protest  against  in  those  times,  nor  ever  would  have  been,  had 
Christianity  never  been  established  by  law.  It  is  true,  that  the  Christians, 
at  first,  were  but  a  feeble  band,  but  Chi-ist,  as  a  prophet — as  a  God — cer- 
tainly knew  that  the  Christians  by  name,  would,  thereafter,  become  so  nu- 
merous as  to  form  a  majority  in  the  empire  which  then  claimed  universal 
sway ;  why,  then,  did  he  not  give  some  hint,  that,  when  that  should  be  the 
case,  the  Christians  should  regulate  their  religion  by  law  ?  This  he  has 
not  done, — this  the  apostles  are  silent  about.  They  understood  better  the 
will  of  their  Master,  who  had  said,  "  my  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world." 
.  Second,  This  state  is  formed  into  a  great  number  of  ecclesiastico-politico, 
major-vote  parishes.  Some  of  these  parishes  are  personal,  but  most  of 
them  are  territorial.  They  are  religious  societies,  made  bodies  politic, 
and  governed  by  major  vote.  Let  any  man  read  the  New  Testament,  and 
find  any  account  of  such  societies  among  primitive  Christians,  if  he  can, 
or  any  orders  for  Christians  to  be  formed  in  that  manner,  whenever  they 
should  be  numerous  enough. 

Third.  These  Pharisees  are  now  exposed  to  a  fine  of  from  thirty  to  a 
hundred  dollars  for  every  six  months  that  they  are  destitute  of  a  teacher  of 
piety,  morality,  and  religion,  which  is  a  little  different  from  New  Testa- 
ment times.  Now,  the  laws  of  state  impose  fines  upon  the  people  if  they 
are  destitute  of  preachers  ;  then,  the  laws  of  Christ  imposed  prayers  : 
"  Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  would  send  forth  laborers  into 
the  harvest." 

Fourth.  When  a  territorial  parish  have  chosen  a  minister  by  major  vote, 
and  contracted  with  him  for  his  salary,  the  sum  is  levied  upon  all  within 


280  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

the  limits  of  the  parish,  according  to  poll  and  property,  and  collected  by  a 
legal  officer.  If  all  within  the  parish  are  acquiescent,  I  have  only  to  say, 
it  is  putting  the  law  to  a  use  for  which  it  was  never  designed  by  Hinti  who 
rules  above,  and  sinking  religion  to  a  level  with  worldly  articles.  But, 
when  any  are  dissentients,  such  force  and  cruelty  follows,  as  to  disgrace 
the  religion  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus.  Disgrace  it,  did  I  say  ?  It  is 
as  foreign  from  gospel  religion,  as  darkness  from  light.  Some  relief,  how- 
ever, is  provided  for  a  certain  description  of  deficients,  by  giving  in  cer- 
tificates, or  suing  their  money  out  of  the  treasury,  but  the  mode  is  so  intri- 
cate, and  the  event  so  uncertain,  that,  in  many  cases,  where  the  deficients 
have  exerted  themselves,  they  have  gained  only  heavy  costs  upon  the  back 
of  the  original  sum.  In  many  cases,  also,  the  deficients  are  not  allowed 
to  sit  upon  the  jury,  because  they  are  parties  concerned,  but  their  oppres- 
sors, not  being  interested,  judge  the  case  alone.  The  expense  of  building 
meeting-houses,  has  the  same  course  as  ministerial  salaries.  Now,  where 
shall  we  find  the  chapter  or  verse  in  the  New  Testament,  that  coincides 
with  such  proceedings  ? 

Fifth.  The  framers  of  our  state  Constitution,  and  the  makers  of  our 
canonical  laws,  seem  to  have  been  conscious  that  the  hierarchy  which 
they  were  forming,  was  distinct  from  the  gospel,  for  they  uniformly  give  it 
other  names.  The  privileged  order  of  preachers,  which  these  laws  are 
designed  to  foster,  are  never  called  ministers  of  the  gospel,  but  invariably, 
"  teachers  of  piety,  morality,  and  religion."  Peter  gave  the  following 
definition  of  piety :  "  But  if  any  widow  have  children  or  nephews,  let  them 
learn  first  to  shew  piety  at  home,  and  to  requite  their  parents."  Piety,  then, 
consists  in  relieving  distressed  widows,  and  not  in  taking  away  their  pro- 
perty to  pamper  the  teachers.  James  explains  religion  thus :  "  Pure  religion, 
and  undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father,  is  this,  to  visit  the  fatherless  and 
widow  in  their  afiliction,  and  to  keep  himself  unspotted  from  the  world." 
But  how  can  the  saints  keep  themselves  unspotted  from  the  world,  when 
they  get  the  world  to  define  their  religion,  and,  by  worldly  power,  force  the 
people  to  attend  their  worship,  build  their  temples,  and  pay  their  teachers  1" 

The  word  morality,  is  not  in  the  Bible  :  it  is  a  word,  however,  of  com- 
mon use,  but  of  somewhat  indefinite  signification.  The  Armenians  use  the 
word  to  express  those  actions  of  men  which  tend  to  the  good  of  families, 
societies,  etc.,  when  there  is  no  gracious  disposition  in  the  men  who  per- 
form those  actions.  The  Hopkinsianists,  and  Calvanists,  make  use  of  the 
word  to  describe  the  quality  of  actions,  or  the  motives  which  stimulate. 
Others,  again,  say,  there  is  a  legal  honesty,  and  there  is  also  a  moral  hon- 
esty ;  supposing  that  a  legal  honesty  consists  in  conducting  so  to  ourselves 
and  others,  that  the  laws  cannot  impeach  us,  but  that  moral  honesty  is  from 
a  sense  of  God's  laws,  and  a  love  to  his  ways ;  doing  that  which  is  right  of 
itself,  whether  the  laws  of  men  enjoin  it  or  not.    But  so  far  as  my  acquaint- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  281 

ance  extends,  all  parties  agree  that  the  words  of  our  Lord  give  the  best 
description  of  morality  that  ever  was  given  :  "  Whatsoever  ye  would  that 
men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  the  same  to  them."  Taking  this  to  be  a 
just  description  of  morality,  I  wish  to  ask  whether  the  hierarchy  of  Mas- 
sachusetts teaches  men  this  lesson  ?  Let  the  ruling  party  in  the  state 
answer.  Gentlemen,  were  you  the  minor  part,  should  the  Quakers,  Meth- 
odists, or  Baptists,  form  a  majority  in  the  various  towns  and  parishes  in 
this  state,  and  tax  all  those  of  the  standing  order  to  pay  their  preachers, 
build  their  meeting-houses,  endow  their  colleges,  etc.,  or,  in  order  to  get 
relief  therefrom,  that  you  must  give  in  a  certificate,  or  sue  your  money 
back  out  of  the  treasury,  and  that  none  of  your  order  could  be  admitted 
jurors,  but  the  case  must  be  decided  solely  by  them,  would  you  not  in  such 
cases  say,  (if  you  are  allowed  to  speak,)  "  you  know,  in  your  consciences, 
that  you  are  not  doing  as  you  would  be  done  by  V' 

The  question  then  arises,  whether  the  establishment  of  religion  is  friendly 
to  piety,  morality,  and  religion,  or  whether  it  is  not  rather,  in  its  nature 
and  tendency,  sapping  the  foundation  of  all  of  them  ?  "I  speak  as  unto 
wise  men,  judge  ye  what  I  say." 

To  myself,  there  remains  no  doubt,  that  the  religious  establishments  of 
Massachusetts,  and  all  state  establishments  of  Christianity  in  the  world,  are 
all  of  them,  Anti-Christocracies. 


86 


AN 


ELECTIVE    JUDICIARY, 

WITH    OTHER    THINGS, 


KECOMMENDED  IN  A 


SPEECH, 


PRONOUNCED   AT 


CHESHIRE,    JULY    4,    1805 


There  is  none  that  holdeth  with  me,  in  these  things,  but  Michael,  your  Prince. Daniel. 


AN  ELECTIVE  JUDICIARY. 


In  family  registers,  and  biographical  writings,  the  birth-day,  the  wed- 
ding-day, and  the  dying-day  of  individuals,  are  noticed  with  peculiar  em- 
phasis :  so,  with  regard  to  nations,  the  rise,  alliances,  and  downfall  of  em- 
pires and  states,  are  articles  of  great  notoriety  with  historians.  In  this 
point  of  light,  this  fourth  of  July  is  the  birth-day  of  the  United  States. 
Twenty-nine  years  have  elapsed  since  the  British  colonies,  in  North  Ame- 
rica, cast  off  the  tyrant's  yoke,  and  assumed  a  rank  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth. 

The  American  revolution  has  opened  a  scene — is  the  beginning  of  a 
drama,  which  will  not  close  until  time  shall  be  no  more.  While  we  cele- 
brate the  day,  the  birth-day  of  long-lost  freedom  returning  to  visit  the 
earth,  and  take  up  her  abode  among  men,  we  will  not  be  unmindful  of  the 
agents  which  the  Almighty  has  used  in  his  hand  to  effect  that  work,  for 
which  nations  will  arise  and  call  them  blessed. 

When  the  distresses  of  our  country  called  forth  a  deputation  from  each 
colony,  who  convened  in  Philadelphia,  in  the  year  1776,  their  cry  to  hea- 
ven, in  behalf  of  their  constituents,  was,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  us  to 
do  ?"  It  was  a  bold  attempt,  in  Richard  H.  Lee,  to  make  the  motion  of 
Independence  ;  which  was  no  sooner  done,  than  the  intrepid  Samuel 
Adams  seconded  it.  The  motion  was  carried — the  declaration  was  made, 
which  forever  separated  the  United  States  from  Great  Britain,  from  her 
policy,  her  corruption,  and  her  debts.  But  Lee  is  gone  to  his  long  home 
— Adams  sleeps  in  dust — Randolph  is  no  more — Hancock  is  gone  the  way 
of  all  the  earth — Henry's  all-persuasive  voice  no  more  is  heard — Franklin 
commands  the  shafts  of  heaven  no  more.  These  worthies,  with  most  of 
the  fathers  of  the  revolution,  having  served  their  generation,  according  to 
the  will  of  God,  have  fallen  asleep  and  seen  corruption. 

But  after  the  declaration  was  made,  arduous  was  the  struggle  to  support 
it.  Warren,  Montgomery,  Worcester,  Mercer,  Nash,  and  others,  lost 
their  lives  in  the  field  of  battle ;  with  thousands  of  our  sons,  equal,  per- 
haps, in  virtue,  though  not  in  rank.  Those  who  survived  the  contest,  and 
saw  the  return  of  peace,  found  that  mortality  was  not  conquered.  Yes,  a 
Washington  and  a  Greene,  the  boast  of  Virginia  and  Rhode  Island,  and 
the  triumph  of  America,  are  no  more.     They  were  swifter  than  eagles, 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 

they  were  stronger  than  lions  ;  but  they  are  fallen  by  death.  The  quinsy 
was  an  overmatch  for  Washington — a  stroke  of  the  sun  too  powerful  for 
Greene.  "  How  are  the  mighty  fallen,  and  the  weapons  of  war  perished." 
But,  notwithstanding  the  great  destruction  of  those  who  made  destruction 
of  tyranny,  some  of  the  fathers  and  patriots  remain.  Jefferson  yet  lives 
— may  he  long  live — may  he  outlive  all  his  enemies — may  he  live  till  the 
debt  of  the  nation  is  entirely  defrayed.  Clinton,  the  friend  of  man,  the 
persevering  republican,  the  long  guide  of  New  York,  is  yet  on  the  stage 
of  action. 

It  is  pleasing  to  contemplate,  that  though  most  of  the  fathers  of  the  re- 
volution have  closed  their  eyes  in  death,  yet  their  sons  have  risen  up  to 
maintain  the  same  cause  ;  so  the  young  Elisha  caught  the  mantle  and  a 
double  portion  of  the  spirit  of  Elijah,  when,  with  a  whirlwind,  he  rode  to 
heaven  in  a  fiery  car.  Among  these,  a  Bidwell  is  the  boast  of  this  dis- 
trict ;  like  Barnabas  of  old,  a  son  of  consolation,  meek  in  temper,  and 
amiable  in  manners.  His  talents  and  integrity,  which  have  appeared  so 
conspicuous,  as  a  writer,  an  advocate  at  the  bar,  a  treasurer,  a  senator, 
etc.,  in  the  small  circle  of  one  state,  will  shine  with  a  longer  tail,  and 
more  effulgence,  in  the  large  orbit  of  the  Union.  May  he  ever  lighten, 
but  never  scorch.* 

While  I  am  eulogizing  character,  not  for  their  names',  but  their  works' 
sake,  I  feel  under  some  obligation  to  reply  to  several  charges  lodged  against 
the  president.  His  flight  to  Carter's  mountain,  his  attempt  to  cheat  Mr. 
Jones,  his  intrigue  with  Mrs.  Walker,  and  his  sending  from  France  after 
black  Sail,  are  the  four  topics  of  censure.  These  crimes,  it  is  said,  were 
all  committed  between  the  years  1776  and  1790.  I  do  not  absolutely 
know  but  all  the  charges  are  true  ;  but  one  thing  I  know  to  be  true.  I 
lived  in  Virginia,  from  December,  1776,  until  April,  1791,  not  far  distant 
from  Monticello  ;  yet  I  never  heard  a  syllable  of  either  of  those  crimes, 
till  I  read  them  in  these  eastern  newspapers  ;  said  to  be  extracts  from 
Calender  &  Co.  I  shall,  therefore,  be  an  infidel  in  these  reports,  until  I 
have  better  evidence. 

That  his  public  administration  has  been  just  and  enconomical,  I  think 
no  candid  man  will  deny.  Some,  however,  attribute  the  means  to  the  for- 
mer administration  ;  and  say  that  Jefferson  &  Co.  rise  upon  the  revenue 
which  was  left  by  the  former  administration  in  bank.  The  truth,  I  conceive 
to  be  this.  The  avenues  of  revenue  were  opened  before  the  funding  system, 
and  other  collateral  measures,  split  the  nation  into  two  parties  ;  after  the 
split,  the  Federal  party,  being  paramount,  added  to  the  revenue  by  internal 
taxation.     The  internal  taxes,  at  the  close  of  Mr.  Adams'  administration, 

*  This  patriotic  wish  was  not  realized.  The  "  scorching"  effects  of  Bidwell'a  subse- 
quent defection  were  severely  felt  by  the  republicans  of  Berkshire. 


ELDER    JOHN     LELAND.  287 

formed  one-eleventh  part  of  the  revenue  ;  but,  with  all  the  imposts  and  in- 
ternal taxes,  the  debt  of  the  nation  was  so  far  from  being  diminished,  that 
it  increased  about  one  million  of  dollars  per  year.  That  the  federal  Con- 
gresses understood  how  to  levy  taxes  and  swell  the  revenue,  no  man  de- 
nies ;  but  that  they  put  the  money  to  the  right  use,  is  denied  ;  so  that,  if 
we  give  them  the  credit  of  procuring  the  means,  we  must  certainly  give  to 
the  present  administration  the  praise  of  applying  those  means  to  their 
proper  ends.  One-eleventh  part  of  the  taxes  are  taken  off  the  people,  and 
with  the  ten-elevenths,  more  than  twelve  millions  of  dollars  of  the  national 
debt  was  reduced  during  the  first  four  years  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  adminis- 
tration. 

The  auxiliaries  in  the  executive  department  merit  some  attention,  at 
this  time.  Mr.  Madison  is  secretary  of  state.  From  a  child,  he  has 
been  a  pattern  of  sobriety,  study,  and  inflexible  justice.  From  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  him,  1  feel  satisfied  that  all  the  state  of  Massachusetts, 
for  a  bribe,  would  not  buy  a  single  vote  of  him.  A  saying  of  his  is  fresh 
in  my  memory.  "  It  is  ridiculous  for  a  man  to  make  use  of  underhanded 
means  to  carry  a  point,  although  he  should  know  that  the  point  is  a 
good  one  :  it  would  be  doing  evil  that  good  might  come."  This  saying  of 
his,  better  describes  the  man  than  my  pen  can  do.  He  has  been  in  public 
life  from  the  beginning  of  the  revolution  until  now ;  and  is  at  this  time  as- 
sisting to  administer  that  government,  which  he  (the  first  man  in  the  Uni- 
ted States)  made  a  motion  to  call  a  convention  to  form.  Should  Jefferson 
die,  or  resign,  on  whom  would  the  office  of  president  fall  with  as  much 
propriety  and  safety,  as  on  Mr.  Madison  ? 

In  the  treasury  department,  Mr.  Gallatin  is  principal.  A  foreigner  by 
birth,  but  by  naturalization  an  American.  Having  filled  many  important 
officers  in  Pennsylvania,  he  was  sent  a  delegate  to  Congress ;  and  was  an 
able  opposer  of  all  those  measures  which  were  so  abhorrent  to  the  people 
as  to  cause  a  change  of  administration.  In  the  Congressional  debates, 
when  the  souls  of  men  were  tried,  he  discovered  such  financial  talents, 
that  his  enemies  prophesied,  that  if  Jefferson  became  president,  Gallatin 
would  have  charge  of  the  treasury ;  which  is  the  only  part  of  the  federal 
prophecy  that  has  ever  come  to  pass.  With  propriety  he  may  be  called 
the  American  Neckar.  Never  did  Sir  Isaac  Newton  search  into  the  laws 
of  gravitation,  or  explore  the  starry  heavens,  and  give  to  each  star  its  mag- 
nitude, distance  and  orbit,  with  more  depth  of  thought,  accuracy,  and  de- 
spatch, than  Albert  Gallatin  surveys  all  the  sources  of  revenue,  and  points 
out  the  proper  mode  of  collecting  and  applying  the  same,  in  a  manner 
highly  economical,  making  just  allowances  for  contingent  events,  and 
closing  his  statements  to  the  tenth  part  of  a  cent.  We  know  he  is  wise — 
we  believe  he  is  honest.  May  his  fiscal  arrangements  be  such,  as  will 
sink  the  debt  of  the  nation  in  a  short  period. 


288  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

But,  while  I  am  passing  encomiums,  it  strikes  my  mind  that  the  same  rea- 
son  which  forbids  us  to  write  the  history  of  a  man,  while  he  is  living,  warns 
us  against  being  too  lavish  of  eulogium  on  men,  until  they  leave  the  theatre 
where  so  many  play  the  worst  part  af  their  lives  in  their  latest  days.  Ar- 
nold was  the  song  of  '77,  and  many  of  the  quondams  of  our  country  were 
famous  for  a  while  ;  yet  Arnold  betrayed  his  trust,  and  the  quondams  have 
fallen  into  disgrace,  or  sunk  into  the  state  of  doubtful  disputation.  The 
saying  of  a  citizeja  of  Tarsus,  "  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  he" 
is  applicable  to  statesmen,  in  the  point  of  light  before  us.  We  have  a  re- 
cent instance  before  us,  which  proves  that  a  man  may  be  one  day  contend- 
ing for  liberty  and  equality — the  next  be  a  qualified  consul — then  consul 
for  life — after  that  emperor — and  with  that  have  the  crown  of  another 
kingdom  placed  on  his  head. 

Let  gratitude  swell  our  bosoms,  to  render  the  tribute  of  praise  to  all 
who  deserve  well  of  their  country  ;  but  let  inflexible  patriotism  inspire 
us  to  withhold  our  suffrages  from  all  the  unworthy.  By  unworthy  cha- 
racters,  I  mean  those  who  wish  to  plunge  the  nation  into  debt ;  make 
offices  permanent,  and  destroy  responsibility ;  make  government  a  mys- 
tery, and  induce  the  people  to  call  neither  men  nor  measures  in  ques- 
tion ;  use  others  as  a  ladder  to  climb  the  tree  of  eminence  with,  and 
when  once  risen,  kick  down  the  ladder ;  join  churches,  and  make  a  great 
noise  about  religious  qualifications  in  rulers,  and,  at  the  same  time,  be  as 
void  of  them  as  an  ice-cake  is  of  fire;  plead  much  for  the  constituted  au- 
thorities  and  the  laws,  while  they  themselves  are  in  office,  but  speak  evil 
of  dignities  when  themselves  are  neglected.  In  such  men  place  no  con- 
fidence ;  for  they  that  are  such,  serve  not  their  country,  but  their  own 
bellies,  and,  with  good  words  and  fair  speeches,  deceive  the  hearts  of  the 
simple. 

Men  who  are  best  qualified  for  office,  are  generally  the  least  ambitious 
after  it ;  so  it  was  with  Moses,  David,  Seranus,  Cincinnatus,  Washington, 
and  others.  Being  furnished  with  rectitude  and  variety  within,  they  court 
not  the  trappings  and  tinsel  without :  yet,  when  duty  calls,  they  will  hazard 
their  all  to  serve  their  country.  Pleased,  however,  when  the  object  is 
gained — when  the  period  arrives  that  they  can,  with  true  honor,  quit  the 
noisy  world  to  enjoy  themselves-  But  I  close  my  encomiastic,  and  char- 
acteristical  preface,  and  proceed  to  objects  more  sentimental. 

The  sages  of  America  declared,  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
that  government  was  instituted  for  the  good  of  the  people,  and  not  for  the 
aggrandizement  of  a  few  ;  and  therefore,  whenever  the  form  of  government 
did  not  preserve  the  lives,  liberties,  and  property  of  the  people,  they  had 
an  indubitable  right  to  amend  it,  so  as  to  answer  those  valuable  purposes. 
This  sage  opinion,  in  the  year  1776,  was  eagerly  adopted  by  the  people 
of  the  United  States.     In  1787,  the  patriotic  fathers,  in  general  conven- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND,  289 

tion,  held  the  same  sentiment  as  dear  as  the  ligaments  of  their  hearts. 
Possessed  of  this  right,  in  behalf  of  their  constituents,  they  changed  the 
then  existing  government;  and  in  the  machine  of  government  which  they 
formed,  great  care  and  wisdom  were  used  to  secure  the  same  right  to  their 
children.  The  provision  made  in  the  constitution,  for  peaceable  amend- 
ments, whenever  defects  are  discovered,  is  one  of  the  brightest  ornaments 
of  that  model  of  policy. 

Men  in  political,  as  well  as  in  agricultural,  mechanical,  and  scientifical 
life,  are  prone  to  conceive  themselves  nearly  infallible,  and  often  seek  to  erect 
barriers  to  prevent  their  children  from  forsaking  the  opinions  and  pursuits 
of  their  fathers  ;  but,  with  wonder  and  gratitude,  we  behold  the  American 
fathers  assiduously  engaged  to  leave  to  their  children  the  golden  legacy 
of  choosing  their  own  form  of  government,  and  making  their  own  laws, 
without  any  danger  of  noise  or  convulsion.  Hitherto,  it  had  been  supposed, 
that  no  government  could  be  altered  or  amended,  without  war  and  carnage 
abroad,  and  national  injustice  and  bankruptcy  at  home ;  but  the  people  of 
the  United  States  have  acquired  the  art  of  changing  their  mode  of  govern- 
ment, as  often  as  experience  dictates  the  utility  thereof,  with  as  little  dan- 
ger as  they  repeal  a  law.  Nor  do,  nor  can  any  men  wish  to  deprive  the 
people  of  this  privilege,  except  those  who  are  something,  or  conceive  them- 
selves something,  in  the  existing  order  of  things,  and  fear  they  shall  be 
nothing,  should  a  change  take  place. 

As  a.number  of  amendments  have  been  made  to  the  naUpnal  constitu- 
tion, since  its  first  adoption,  and  others  are  now  before  Congress,  with 
great  diffidence,  I  shall  here  propose  one,  which  i-s  an  Elective  Judiciary. 
Pagans  have  a  notion,  that  certain  gods  or  godesses  preside  over  certain 
limited  countries.  Whether  their  notion  is  substantial  or  fanciful,  it  ap- 
pears very  evident  to  me,  that  the  election  of  all  officers,  to  fill  all  parts  of 
the  government,  is  the  natural  geniu^:!  that  presides  over  the  United  States, 
and  if  my  conviction  is  just,  theie  will  be  spasms,  and  commotions  in  the 
states,  until  such  amendment  takes  place.  I  have  labored  under  this  con- 
viction for  a  number  of  years ;  but  as  I  have  never  borne  any  office  in 
state,  to  try  my  theory  by  experiment ;  and,  as  my  calling  in  life  is  in 
another  department,  I  have  quieted  myself  in  silence ;  waiting,  in  the  mean 
time,  for  some  to  plead  the  cause  of  an  Elective  Judiciary,  or  overcome 
the  reasonings  of  my  mind,  by  demonstrating  the  impropriety  of  such  an 
establishment ;  but  neither,  as  yet,  has  taken  place. 

All  the  arguments  which  I  have  yet  heard,  to  prove  that  judges  must 
hold  their  office  for  life,  or  during  good  behaviour,  in  order  to  make  them 
independent,  honest,  and  impartial,  have  been  as  inconclusive,  as  the  ar- 
guments are  which  are  adduced  to  prove  that  a  national  debt  is  a  national 
blessing.  If  the  arguments,  however,  are  more  conclusive  than  I  have 
conceived  them  to  be,  and  support  the  doctrine  that  judges  once  appointed, 

37 


290  THE    WEITINGS    OF  * 

should  have  a  life-lease  of  their  office,  except  for  high  crimes  and  mis- 
demeanors, they  also  prove  something  more  ;  they  equally  prove,  that  the 
executive  and  legislative  officers  should  hold  their  office  by  a  coeval  tenure, 
to  make  them  independent,  honest,  and  impartial. 

The  objections  that  are  made  against  an  elective  judiciary,  may  be  sum- 
med up  under  two  general  heads.  First,  "  the  body  of  the  people  have 
not  wisdom  and  sedateness  enough  to  select  from  among  themselves,  those 
who  are  the  best  qualified  to  be  judges."  Secondly,  "  if  judges  hold  their 
office  by  the  tenure  of  periodical  elections,  they  will  have  such  strong 
temptations  to  please  the  strongest  party,  in  order  to  secure  their  next 
election,  that  they  will  not  judge  uprightly." 

The  first  of  these  objections,  applies  with  all  its  force  against  the  two 
other  departments  of  government ;  for  if  men  have  not  wisdom  enough 
to  choose  the  judges,  they  have  not  enough  to  choose  presidents,  govern- 
ors, or  legislatures  ;  which  notion  saps  the  foundation  of  all  representative 
governments,  and  supports  the  monarchical.  If  men  are  incompetent  to 
elect  their  judges,  they  are  equally  incompetent  to  appoint  others  to  do  it 
for  them. 

Government,  originating  among  men,  is  the  cool  result  of  reason  against 
vicious  passion.  Men  find  within  themselves,  and  discover  in  others,  a 
number  of  vicious  propensities,  which  reason  condemns ;  to  prevent  these 
propensities  from  breaking  out  into  overt  acts,  reason  fixes  a  standard 
containing  a  number  of  rules,  which  all  have  to  submit  unto ;  and  pray, 
have  not  the  people,  whose  sovereign  voice  declares  all  these  rules,  wis- 
dom enough  to  designate  the  agents  to  enforce  them  ?  If  the  people,  how- 
ever, make  an  unwise  choke,  the  catholicon  of  suffrage  will  correct  the 
error ;  but,  when  they  are  apipointed  for  life,  (in  substance,)  there  is  no 
remedy  in  the  hands  of  the  people. 

Judges  are  above  all  the  laws  thut  the  legislature  can  enact;  being 
under  oath  to  adhere  to  the  constitution,  nny  law  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing. In  one  point  of  light,  this  power  is  proper ;  for  legislatures 
may  forget  their  political  bibles,  in  a  gust  of  psLssion,  and  make  laws  un- 
constitutional  and  pernicious  ;  the  judiciary,  in  suc\i  cases,  have  the  power 
to  prevent  the  mischief:  but,  though  the  people  have  this  judiciary  check 
against  the  usurpation  of  the  legislature,  what  check  have  they  against  the 
usurpation  of  the  judiciary?  When  judges  set  up  their  opinion  on  the 
constitution,  in  opposition  to  the  legislature,  and  in  opposition  to  the  great 
mass  of  the  people,  who  can  check  them  ?  The  people  cannot,  for  they 
have  no  direct  voice  in  setting  them  up,  or  taking  them  down.  The  legis. 
lature  cannot,  except  by  impeachment,  which,  in  such  cases,  would  be  no 
more  than  a  whistle.  The  executive  cannot,  for  they  hold  their  office  by 
a  tenure,  which  the  executive  cannot  destroy. 

These  remarks  are  applicable  to  our  national  government,  and  to  some 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  291 

of  the  state  governments  ;  but  not  to  all  of  them,  for  in  some  of  the  states, 
the  judges  are  chosen  annually  by  the  legislature,  &c.  In  New  York  they 
cannot  serve  after  they  are  sixty  years  old. 

The  second  objection  is,  that  if  judges  are  chosen  by  the  people,  at  pe- 
riodical elections,  they  will  have  such  strong  temptations  to  please  the 
strongest  party,  in  order  to  secure  their  next  election,  that  they  will  not 
judge  uprightly  j  and  therefore,  they  must  be  appointed  three  or  four  re- 
moves from  the  people,  and  hold  their  office  by  a  tenure,  that  neither  the 
two  other  arms  of  government,  nor  the  people,  can  disannul ;  with  an  in- 
variable salary  attached  to  the  office,  in  order  for  them  to  judge  uprightly. 

This  doctrine  appears  to  be  founded  on  the  opinion,  that  perfection  is 
attached  to  the  judicial  office  ;  but  the  opinion  is  fallacious,  for  once  there 
was  an  unjust  judge  in  a  city,  that  feared  not  God,  nor  regarded  men ; 
and  1  will  appeal  to  candor  itself,  if  there  are  not  judges  to  be  found,  who 
are  deaf,  sovereign,  insulting,  and  superannuated.  Is  the  board  of  ap- 
pointments— is  the  legislature — or  are  the  body  of  the  people,  satisfied 
with  the  talents  and  conduct  of  all,  who  are  now  in  office  ?  If  all  were 
satisfied  with  them  at  their  first  appointment,  must  the  present  inhabitants 
bear  with  them  as  long  as  they  breathe  through  their  nostrils  ?  My  age 
authorises  me  to  say,  that  the  leading  doctrine  of  the  American  revolution 
has  been,  "  that  responsibility  was  the  best  expedient  to  keep  men  hon- 
est." And  why  this  maxim  should  be  inverted  in  the  judiciary  establish- 
ment alone,  I  never  could  see. 

The  more  permanent  and  lucrative  an  office  is,  the  more  self-important 
and  avaricious  characters  seek  after  it.  And  yet,  it  is  said,  that,  "  if 
offices,  are  not  permanent  and  lucrative,  men  of  talents  will  not  accept  of 
them."  But  if  experience  is  to  be  our  guide,  we  shall  find  such  offices 
too  much  filled  with  aspiring,  unfeeling  men  ;  while  those  places  of  trust, 
which  are  more  precarious,  more  responsible  and  less  lucrative,  are  filled 
with  better  characters. 

Trial  by  juries,  is  held  as  a  sacred  right  in  these  states  ;  on  their  ver- 
dicts hang  suspended  life  and  death,  poverty  and  wealth,  in  many  cases. 
If  judges  cannot  judge  uprightly  without  a  permanent  appointment,  how 
can  jurors? — Why  not  have  standing  juries  for  life,  with  honorary  salaries 
secured  to  them  ?  | 

If  judges  should  be  elected  by  the  people,  common  sense  would  dictate 
that  all  over  whom  they  should  have  jurisdiction,  should  have  a  voice  in 
the  choice.  This  being  the  case,  there  would  be  but  a  very  few  cases,  in 
which  the  parties,  between  whom  they  were  to  judge,  would  be  so  large  as 
to  affect  their  next  election  materially.  Should  a  judge,  in  such  cases,  dis- 
cover partiality,  it  would  disgust  even  his  friends.  Nothing  would  make 
him  so  popular,  in  his  district,  as  a  constant,  uniform  adherence  to  justice  ; 
whereas,  in  the  present  mode  of  appointing  judges,  they  are  under  no  obli-    ^ 


292  THE    WRITINGS   OP 

gation,  (except  their  oath,)  to  be  just  ta  any  man,  or  even  to  treat  him  with 
civility. 

Judges  should  be  independent,  and  feel  important  enough  to  keep  or- 
der in  court,  direct  the  jury  in  matters  of  law,  keep  the  witnesses  to  the 
proper  point,  prevent  the  lawyers  from  eloping  from  the  direct  subject,  etc., 
which  could  be  done  as  well  by  men  who  were  chosen  by  the  people  for  a 
limited  term,  as  by  those  who  are  appointed  by  the  executive  or  legislature 
for  life  ;  and,  if  the  necessary  work  could  be  done  as  well,  the  evil  of  hav- 
ing superannuated,  tyrannical,  heady,  unsociable  judges  would  be  prevented. 
In  this  case,  judges  would  not  only  feel  the  importance  of  judicial  officers, 
but  also- the  salutary  obligation  to  be  men.  A  judicial  monarch  is  a  char- 
acter as  abhorrent  as  an  executive  or  legislative  monarch,  in  my  view. 

Considering  the  habits  and  prejudices  of  my  country,  I  have  but  small 
hopes  that  an  elective  judiciary  will  take  effect  very  soon,  unless  the  state 
of  Pennsylvania,  (which  state  has  taken  the  lead  in  many  of  the  American 
improvements,)  should  introduce  it.  Well,  if  the  judiciary  establishment 
must  continue  as  it  is — must  be  monarchical,  while  the  executive  and  legis- 
lative departments  are  representative — let  us  make  the  best  of  it,  and  have 
nothing  to  do  with  courts  of  judicature,  that  we  can  possibly  avoid,  but 
settle  all  our  controversies  by  mutual  arbitration,  then  the  host  of  lawyers, 
who  infest  our  land  like  the  swarms  of  locusts  in  Egypt,  and  eat  up  every 
green  thing,  will  have  nothing  to  do,  but  apply  themselves  to  that  happy 
vocation,  which  they  now  recommend  to  others,  *'  plough,  hoe,  go  to  meet- 
ing and  learn  good  things." 

Laws — government — courts  of  judicature  must  exist,  otherwise  the  in- 
jured could  not  arrest  the  guilty  and  bring  them  to  the  standard  of  justice  ; 
but  when  controversies  arise  between  man  and  man,  he  who  is  unwilling 
to  have  the  dispute  amicably  settled  by  mutual  arbitration,  manifests  a  de- 
sii^e  to  injure  his  neighbour.  In  this  particular,  I  am  happy  that  I  agree 
with  the  founder  of  Rhode  Island,  Roger  Williams,  who,  through  his  life, 
and  with  his  last  breath,  recommended  arbitrations  as  the  best  mode  of 
adjusting  variances. 

The  right  of  suffrage  is  more  fully  and  equitably  enjoyed  in  the  United 
States,  I  believe,  than  in  any  part  of  the  world,  and  still  it  is  a  question, 
whether  that  right  may  not  be  extended  farther  with  safety.  Place  all  men 
on  a  level,  and  the  poor,  who  pay  little  or  nothing  for  the  support  of  gov- 
ernment, can  vote  away  the  money  of  the  rich ;  proscribe  the  poor  from 
voting,  and  the  rich  can  vote  away  the  labor  of  the  poor.  The  rich  have 
often  oppressed  the  poor,  by  laws  which  they  have  made,  but  I  have  met 
with  no  account  in  history,  neither  have  I  known  any  instance,  where  the 
poor  have  Itegally  oppressed  the  rich.  Government  is  designed  to  protect 
the  life,  liberty  and  property  of  individuals ;  the  poor  have  life  and  liberty 
to  be  protected,  but  no  property  ;  here,  then,  is  two  arguments  against  one, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  293 

in  favor  of  the  poor.  Should  every  man,  who  is  of  age,  be  allowed  the 
right  of  suffrage,  without  any  of  those  prerequisites  which  are  required, 
in  almost  all  the  states,  the  citizens  would  be  more  free,  equally  safe,  and 
much  more  economical  in  the  redemption  of  time. 

I  have  noticed,  several  times,  the  proceedings  of  congress,  which  I  con- 
ceive to  be  erroneous.  The  proceedings  which  I  have  in  view,  are,  the 
confounding  of  justice  and  mercy  together,  in  a  manner  to  destroy  both 
of  them,  by  forcing  the  people,  under  the  authority  of  law,  to  be  merciful 
to  those  who  had  suffered  by  fire.  Human  laws  reach  no  farther  than  to 
force  a  man  to  be  just  to  his  neighbor.  The  divine  law  enjoins  on  men, 
bowels  and  mercies.  Mercy  is  a  moral  duty,  but  not  a  legal  one.  No 
man  can  perform  moral  virtue  when  forced  against  his  will.  The  volition 
of  the  will  is  essential  to  moral  exercises.  If  men  are  forced  to  relieve 
the  distressed,  it  cannot  be  mercy.  To  force  a  man  to  part  with  his  hard- 
earned  property,  to  relieve  the  needs  of  another,  cannot  be  just.  When 
men  suffer  by  fii-e,  or  otherwise,  and  are  reduced  to  distress,  let  the  mem- 
bers of  congress,  as  individuals,  have  compassionate  hearts  and  liberal 
hands,  and  let  the  same  glow  of  good  will  spread  far  and  near,  then  it  will 
be  mercy.  I  see  no  clause  in  the  constitution  which  authorises  congress 
to  dispose  of  the  money  in  the  treasury  for  the  relief  of  any  sufferers  by 
fire ;  therefore,  such  laws  must  be  unjust,  for  whenever  money  is  taken  out 
of  the  national  chest,  without  a  constikitional  key,  the  nation  sustains  a 
fraud. 

From  a  small  error  in  government,  great  mischief  may,  and  often  does 
arise.  "  Behold  how  great  a  matter  a  little  fire  kindleth."  At  first  it  is 
so  small  that  great  men  hate  to  meddle  with  it,  while  little  men  do  not  per- 
ceive it,  but,  like  a  nest-egg,  it  does  not  continue  alone,  it  becomes  a  habit — 
a  precedent — a  plea  for  other  errors  of  the  same  kind,  but  more  fatal.  Six 
hundred  dollars  a  year  is  a  trifle,  far  less  than  the  three  pence  on  a  pound 
of  tea  :  distributed  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States,  it  would  not 
be  the  tenth  part  of  a  mill  per  soul.  It  cannot,  therefore,  of  itself,  ever  be 
oppressive  to  the  people.  But  the  very  principle  upon  which  this  money 
is  given,  has  drenched  the  world  with  blood,  and  made  fiery  havoc  of  the 
most  virtuous  citizens. 

The  two  chaplains  to  congress,  have  about  that  sum  annually.  This 
money  they  receive  for  religious  services,  by  the  force  of  the  laws  of  the 
national  legislature.  That  a  legal  compensation  for  religious  services,  is 
a  species  of  religious  establishment,  will  not  be  denied,  it  is  presumed,  and 
to  what  extent  this  little  horn  may  grow,  is  a  matter  of  uncertainty. 

The  rulers  of  the  earth  are  under  obligation  to  serve  the  Lord  with  fear, 
as  much  as  other  men,  and  if  they  are  disposed  to  have  chaplains,  it  is  not 
to  be  reprehended  J  but  to  support  them  by  law,  and  make  the  nation  pay 
for  their  devotion,  is  the  thing  to  be  reprobated. 


294  THE    WRITINGS   OF 

This  error,  however,  is  perfectly  congenial  with  the  constitutions  and 
laws  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire,  and  with  the  old  habits  and 
laws  of  Connecticut,  in  which  states  religion  is  considered  an  object,  and 
religious  societies  creatures  of  state  policy. 

The  evil  of  blending  religion  and  property — religion  and  education — 
religion  and  commissions — religion  and  politics  together,  has  been  abun- 
dantly exposed,  but  not  yet  forsaken.  In  addition  to  all  the  arguments 
which  have  been  used  to  dissolve  the  firm,  I  shall  here  subjoin  two,  which 
I  have  seldom  or  never  seen  brought  into  the  debate. 

First.  Every  article,  which  is  so  mysterious  and  subtle  in  its  nature,  that 
natural  men,  as  such,  cannot  understand  it,  must  be  excluded  from  legis- 
lation, otherwise  men  would  be  called  upon  to  legislate  about  that  which 
they  cannot  understand.  Now,  the  Christian  religion,  "is  not  of  this  world — 
is  hidden  from  the  wise  and  prudent — the  things  thereof  are  not  received 
and  cannot  be  known  by  natural  men."  These  sayings  are  prominent  in 
the  scheme  itself.  If,  then,  the  Christian  religion  be  true,  these  sayings 
are  true  ;  and  if  these  sayings  are  true,  then  natural  men  cannot  under- 
stand what  religion  is  ;  and,  if  they  cannot  understand  it,  they  are  utterly 
incompetent  to  legislate  about  it. 

But,  if  the  Christian  religion  be  false,  it  cannot  be  right  to  make  laws 
to  support  it,  for,  in  so  doing,  government  would  undertake  to  support  a  lie. 
Whether,  therefore,  the  Christian  religion  be  true  or  false,  it  is  not  an  ar- 
ticle of  legislation.  In  this  case,  Bible  Christians,  and  Deists,  have  an 
equal  plea  against  self-named  Christians,  who  (because  they  are  void  of  the 
spirit,  and  ignorant  of  the  precepts  of  the  gospel)  tyranize  over  the  con- 
sciences of  others,  under  the  specious  garb  of  religion  and  good  order. 

To  avoid  the  force  of  this  argument,  some  undertake  to  support  the  idea, 
that  none  but  saints  should  bear  rule,  and  such  characters  do  understand, 
and,  therefore,  are  competent  to  legislate  in  matters  of  religion. 

If  this  argument  has  any  weight  at  all,  it  proves  that  government  is  found- 
cd  in  grace,  and  I  appeal  to  the  truth  of  history,  if  any  governments  have 
ever  been  so  unjust  and  cruel,  as  those  which  have  claimed  a  gracious  foun- 
dation.  With  this  pretence,  the  mad-men  of  Munster  esteemed,  it  lawful 
to  kill  and  plunder  all  the  wicked  princes.  In  the  same  view  of  the  subject, 
the  Spaniards  justified  themselves  in  the  massacre  of  two  hundred  thou- 
sand South  American  idolaters.  In  the  same  point  of  light,  the  Pope  of- 
fered to  give  America  away  the  year  after  it  was  discovered,  to  his  Chris- 
tian subjects.  On  the  same  foundation  crusades  have  been  formed  (i.  e., 
armies  raised  under  the  cross  of  Christ,)  to  kill  and  take  possession  of  all 
the  property  of  ungodly  infidels.  And  I  appeal  to  experience,  if  any  of 
the  governments  of  the  United  States  are  so  cruel,  in  matters  of  conscience, 
as  these  eastern  states,  where  there  is  the  greatest  noise  made  about  reli- 
gious qualifications  for  rulers. 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  295 

These  consequences  always  have,  and,  I  believe,  always  will  follow  the 
erroneous  idea,  that  "  goyernraent  is  founded  in  grace."     But 

Secondly.  If  the  affairs  of  the  souls  of  men  and  eternity  are  articles  of 
legislation,  of  course  they  are  cognizable  before  the  courts  of  judicature. 

A  few  years  past,  a  criminal  was  tried  for  his  life,  at  Newport.  The 
counsel  for  the  prisoner  at  the  bar,  addressed  the  jury  thus  :  "  Gentlemen, 
you  have  the  life  of  the  prisoner  in  your  hands,  and  with  that,  in  some 
sense,  the  disposal  of  his  soul ;  for,  should  you  condemn  him  to  death,  and 
his  soul  be  unprepared,  he  would  go  to  eternal  woe."  "  Hold  !  hold  !" 
cried  the  judge,  "the  jury  have  nothing  to  do  with  his  soul  and  eternity." 
*^  I  know  it,"  replied  the  crafty  attorney,  "  but  the  thought  was  so  impres- 
sive that  I  could  not  forbear."  The  spectators  beheld  the  art  of  the  bar- 
rister to  affect  the  jury,  which,  in  the  event,  produced  a  verdict  of  not  guilty. 
In  this  case,  the  great  judge  and  great  lawyer  both  agreed  that  courts  of 
justice  had  no  cognizance  of  the  affairs  of  souls  and  eternity,  and  I  con- 
clude that  all  who  hear  me  to-day,  approve  of  their  judgment.  Well,  if 
courts  of  justice  have  nothing  to  do  with  those  affairs,  of  course  legisla- 
tures  have  not ;  otherwise  there  would  be  no  correspondence  between  the 
judiciary  and  legislative  departments.  I  know  men  often  make  use  of  that 
little,  indescribable  something,  which  is  made  anything,  everything,  and 
nothing  of,  (I  mean  conscience,)  to  assist  them  to  do  that  which  reason 
condemns,  and  nature  shudders  at. 

In  the  year  1780,  when  the  constitution  of  Massachusetts  was  formed, 
the  third  article  of  the  bill  of  rights  occasioned  a  long  and  close  debate. 
A  gentleman,  at  the  head  of  his  party,  said  :  "  We  believe  in  our  con- 
sciences that  the  best  way  to  serve  God,  is  to  have  religion  protected  and 
ministers  of  the  gospel  supported  by  law,  and  we  hope  that  no  gentlemeft 
here  will  wish  to  wound  our  tender  consciences."  The  plain  English  of 
which  is  :  "  Our  consciences  dictate  that  all  the  commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts must  submit  to  our  judgments,  and  if  they  do  not,  they  will  wound 
our  tender  conscience."  Had  a  Jew  and  a  Turk  been  in  the  same  con- 
vention, and  founded  a  plea  on  tender  conscience — the  first,  to  abstain  from 
hogs'  flesh,  and  the  last,  to  abstain  from  wine,  would  the  gentleman  have 
been  so  careful  of  hurting  the  soft  feelings  of  the  son  of  Isaac,  and  the  son 
of  Ishmael,  that  he  would  have  abstained  from  pork  and  wine  all  his  days  ? 
And  yet  the  Israelites  were  forbidden  to  eat  swine's  flesh,  and  the  Naza- 
rites  and  Rechabites  were  forbidden  to  drink  wine,  in  the  sacred  volume, 
the  Bible ;  but  where  shall  we  turn  to  the  page,  in  that  blessed  book,  which 
gives  orders  to  the  rulers  of  this  world,  to  make  any  laws  to  protect  the 
Christian  religion,  or  support  the  preachers  of  it  ? 

Why  is  my  liberty  judged  ?  and  why  am  I  condemned  by  another 
man's  conscience  ?  Condemned  for  that  for  which  I  give  thanks.  But 
I  forbear — I  must  suppress  the  feelings  of  my  heart — to  dwell  longer 
on  this  subject,  would  not  correspond  with  the  arrangements  of  the  day. 


296  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Gentlemen  :  this  town,  Cheshire,  has  been  famous  for  republican  prin- 
ciples. In  those  times,  when  no  timber  was  put  into  the  building  but 
Federal  oak,  and  when  no  sentimental  currency  passed  but  that  which  came 
from  Federal  mints ;  when  it  was  sedition  to  question  the  infallibility  of 
those  in  authority,  and  disorganization  to  dispute  the  divinity  of  every 
part  of  the  administration  ;  even  then,  the  inhabitants  of  Cheshire  were 
firm,  and  almost  unanimous  in  their  suffrages,  for  a  change  of  measures. 
With  placid  patriotism,  they  saw  their  lands  valued,  and  their  glass 
numbered,  which  let  in  the  light  of  heaven  to  their  houses,  together 
with  their  paper  stamped ;  all  to  support  an  army,  which  was  raised 
for  a  war,  that  existed  nowhere,  but  in  the  heads  of  those  who  adopt- 
ed the  measures  ;  yet  no  mean  murmuring  was  heard  among  it  all ;  but 
when  your  voices  were  constitutionally  called  for,  you  were  decided  for 
a  change.  Your  exertions,  with  the  exertions  of  others  in  the  United 
States,  have  been  crowned  with  success.  A  change  has  taken  place — 
a  change  for  the  better — a  change  which,  without  the  internal  taxes, 
has  sunk  millions  of  our  debt,  and  added  to  the  United  States  an  ex- 
tensive empire,  without  a  drop  of  blood,  which  can  be  paid  for  without 
recourse  to  taxes,  by  continuing  the  sinking  fund  but  three  years  longer 
than  the  time  first   allotted  for  the  redemption  of  the  debt. 

In  view  of  all  these  things,  the  words  of  an  illustrious  gentleman,  who 
resided  on  the  fertile  banks  of  the  Nile,  to  his  brethren,  are  applicable  : — 
"  See  that  ye  fall  not  out  by  the  way."  "  Let  us  divide  and  conquer  them," 
was  the  doctrine  of  Great  Britain,  in  the  revolutionary  war.  "  Let  them 
be  divided,  and  we  shall  yet  conquer  them,"  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Fede- 
ralists. "  United  we  stand,  divided  we  fall,"  was  the  song  of  the  Whigs, 
through  the  war.  "  United  we  stand,  divided  we  fall,"  is  still  the  watch- 
word for  Republicans.  In  high  Federal  times,  we  were  assured  that  the 
men  who  were  then  in  office  were  the  exclusive  friends  of  the  people  and 
of  the  constitution,  and  that  all  the  measures  of  government  were  pure — 
that  no  other  men  in  the  nation  were  equally  able  to  wield  the  sceptre,  and 
that  a  different  line  of  administration  would  ruin  the  people.  A  change  of 
men  and  measures,  however,  has  taken  place,  notwithstanding  the  hideous 
outcry.  Upon  this  change,  the  hopes  of  the  Federalists  were,  that  the 
people  would  not  be  eased  of  their  burthens,  and  that  the  debt  would  not 
be  diminished,  that  the  hearts  of  the  people  might  be  weaned  from  the  Re- 
publican agents,  and  be  turned  to  themselves.  But  herein  their  hopes  have 
been  blasted.  At  present,  their  only  hope  seems  to  be,  that  the  Republi- 
cans will  fall  out  by  the  way,  and  that  they  themselves  shall  rise  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  divided  house.  Hence,  the  propriety  of  the  text,  "see  that 
ye  fall  not  out  by  the  way."  Sacrifice  a  thousand  little  electioneering 
quibbles,  rather  than  lose  sight  of  the  great  importance  of  union.  Gentle- 
men, I  plead  for  the  rights  of  men  to-day,  against  the  insatiable  thirst  of 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  297 

ambitious  mortals,  to  subjugate  their  fellow  creatures  to  the  lowest  grade 
of  vassalage,  I  plead  the  cause  of  my  own  life  ;  for,  should  the  Federal 
party  once  more  gain  the  ascendency,  it  is  beyond  calculation  to  tell  at 
what  point  they  would  stop.  From  principle,  and  fi'om  the  chagrin  which 
they  have  had,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  measures  of  '98  would 
be  no  more  than  the  first  stair  in  the  case.  I  honestly  declare,  that  if  that 
inauspicious  day  should  come,  I  should  esteem  ray  life  very  insecure — I 
should  hardly  value  my  head  at  a  cent ;  and,  empty  as  it  is,  I  am  fond  of 
it.  Should  it  be  cut  off,  I  question  whether  there  is  a  head  in  the  United 
States,  that  would  suit  my  shoulders  as  well. 

My  words  may  be  rude,  but  they  are  full  of  meaning — they  flow  from 
the  centre  of  my  heart.  For  more  than  twenty  years,  the  rights  of  men, 
civil  and  religious,  have  been  fostered  in  my  bosom  ;  and  (next  to  the  sal- 
vation of  the  soul)  have  called  forth  the  exertion  of  my  small  talents  in 
their  defence,  against  the  attacks  of  tyrants,  bearing  what  name  soever. 
It  is  not  the  prospect,  nor  the  desire  of  any  office,  that  makes  me  take 
a  decided  part  in  the  laws,  and  modes  of  administration,  but  principle 
alone. 

Let  the  people  be  sovereign — let  their  earnings  be  secured  to  them  by 
law,  deducting  therefrom  what  is  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  rest — 
let  their  alienable  rights  be  defended  by  government,  and  their  inalienable 
rights  be  sacred  as  the  holy  ark — too  awful  for  government  to  meddle 
with.  Then,  so  far  as  happiness  is  to  be  expected  from  government,  the 
sacred  benediction  is  applicable  :  '*  Happy  is  the  people  that  is  in  such 
a  case." 

Government  is  frequently  blamed  for  those  evils  which  arise  from  other 
sources.  Where  people  are  indolent,  profligate  and  quarrelsome,  given  to 
tattling,  drunkenness,  dissipation  and  debauchery,  no  government  on  earth, 
nor,  indeed,  in  heaven  itself,  can  make  them  happy.  The  habits  of  indus- 
try, frugality,  friendship,  sobriety  and  morality,  must,  therefore,  be  cher- 
ished among  a  people,  or  all  the  proficiency  which  they  can  make  in  con- 
stitutions and  laws  will  not  help  them. 

Here  let  me  recommend  to  your  view,  as  a  model  of  life,  the  simple, 
balmy  precepts  of  the  gospel.  I  grant  the  gospel  has,  for  its  main  object, 
the  state  of  the  soul  in  a  succeeding  world ;  yet  the  precepts  of  it  are  won- 
derfully calculated  for  the  good  of  men  in  this  present  life.  A  few  of  them 
I  will  here  extract.  "  Lie  not  one  to  another — let  every  man  speak  the 
truth  to  his  neighbor — see  that  ye  love  one  another — live  peaceably  with 
all  men — do  good  unto  all  men — owe  no  man  anything  but  to  love  one 
another — let  not  the  sun  go  down  on  your  wrath — use  not  your  liberty  for 
an  occasion  to  the  flesh,  but  by  love  serve  one  another — be  courteous  and 
tender-hearted,  forgiving  one  another — render  unto  all  their  due — remem- 
ber  them  who  are  in  bonds,  as  bound  with  them — study  to  be  quiet,  and  do 

38 


298  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

your  own  business,  and  to  work  witli  your  own  hands — be  patient  towards 
all  men — see  that  none  render  evil  for  evil — speak  evil  of  no  man — be 
not  overcome  of  evil,  but  overcome  evil  with  good — whatsoever  ye  would 
that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  also  unto  them — be  not  forgetful  to 
entertain  strangers — husbands,  love  your  wives — wives,  obey  your  hus- 
bands— parents,  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath,  lest  they  be  discou- 
raged— children,  obey  your  parents — masters,  give  unto  your  servants 
that  which  is  just  and  equal — servants,  obey  your  masters — let  every  soul 
be  subject  to  the  higher  powers — thou  shalt  not  speak  evil  of  the  ruler  of 
thy  people.  Finally,  whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever  things  are 
honest,  whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever 
things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report ;  if  there  be  any 
virtue,  and  if  there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these  things." 

These  extracts  contain  a  kw  of  the  maxims  and  precepts  of  the  New 
Testament,  written  with  amazing  simplicity  and  perspicuity,  enjoining  a 
temper  of  mind  and  correspondent  behaviour  towards  men,  superlatively 
excellent,  which  every  man  must  own,  whether  he  believes  in  the  atone- 
ment of  a  mediator,  and  a  consequent  pardon  of  sin,  together  with  the  res- 
urrection from  the  dead,  or  not.  No  treatises  on  heathen  morality,  nor  any 
code  of  ethics,  drawn  by  human  pencil,  unassisted  by  inspiration,  that  I 
have  seen,  bears  any  comparison  therewith.  How  different  the  picture  of 
virtue,  given  in  the  gospel,  from  that  which  is  given  by  pagan  authors, 
which  consists  only  in  heroism,  love  of  country,  revenge  and  suicism.  Let, 
then,  these  sacred  essays  be  cherished  among  you  ;  they  will  greatly  assist 
republicans — they  will  reform  Federalists,  and  make  something  of  nothing- 
arians— they  are  calculated  to  amend  the  hearts  of  the  vicious,  and  reform 
the  lives  of  the  profligate. 

Let  me  also  recommend  to  you,  a  line  of  proper  decorum  on  days  of  elec- 
tion and  at  all  your  town  meetings.  If  any  thing  on  earth  would  disgust 
me  at  popular  government,  the  disorders  and  confusion  that  too  often  attend 
such  meetings,  would  do  it.  How  painful  it  is  to  the  presiding  officer  of  the 
day,  to  grow  hoarse  calling  to  order.  How  mortifying  to  a  man  of  wisdom 
and  prudence,  to  be  interrupted  by  the  loud,  unmeaning  words  of  another. 
It  is  true  that  men  sometimes  carry  their  points  against  wisdom  and  experi- 
ence, by  loud,  insignificant  declamation.  In  such  cases,  the  wise  had  rather 
lose  their  object  than  to  contend  for  it  in  a  manner  so  impolite  and  clown- 
ish ;  so,  stronger  beasts  yield  their  path  to  the  skunk,  rather  than  to  con- 
tend with  a  combatant  so  disagreeable. 

The  laws  of  this  state  give  almost  universal  right  of  suffrage  to  men  of 
a^e  ;  seeing  then  that  ye  have  all  an  equal  voice,  strive  to  be  equal,  strive 
to  excel  in  civil  virtue.  The  good  rule,  laid  down  in  ancient  book,  is,  '"'ye 
may  all  speak  one  by  one,  that  all  may  hear,  all  learn  and  all  be  edified." 
A  man  has  no  excuse,  in  the  rules  of  good  manners,  to  interrupt  another, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  299 

when  speaking,  in  common  cases  ;  yet  such  interruptions  are  not  only 
common,  but  the  intruder  often  wins  fame,  as  a  man  of  public  spirit,  con- 
tending for  his  right. 

There  is  a  respect  due  to  age  ;  the  ancient  should  be  treated  as  fathers. 
What  can  be  more  unseemly  than  for  young  men,  with  fierce  spirits  and 
voices,  to  drown  the  voice  of  that  wisdom  which  is  gained  alone  by  age  and 
experience.  To  this,  however,  there  is  a  counter  evil.  Old  men  often  grow 
sovereign  and  sour,  self  conceited  and  dogmatical.  Their  natural  powers 
have  failed,  they  will  own,  but  their  moral  powers  are  in  bloom  ;  their 
judgment,  in  particular,  is  in  its  meridian  ;  and  young  men  are  but  upstarts, 
hardly  fit  to  be  set  with  the  dogs  of  their  flocks.  Such  men  do  not  rejoice 
that  others  increase,  while  they  themselves  decrease;  nor  exult  that  Sparta 
has  fifty  men  more  virtuous  than  they ;  but  strive  to  crush  youthful  inge- 
nuity, lest  it  should  supplant  superannuated  importance. 

Let  this  fiend  of  society  have  no  habitation  among  you,  but  cherish  ev- 
ery appearance  of  talents  in  young  men.  Information  is  the  very  lungs 
of  republicanism  ;  for  want  of  it,  free  governments  languish,  and  give  way 
to  despotism.  It  would  be  a  laudable  strife  among  the  towns  in  Berkshire, 
to  produce  the  best  statesman.  By  a  statesman,  I  do  not  mean  the  man 
who  will  be  most  noisy  at  town  meetings,  nor  he  who  publishes  most  ego- 
tism in  newspapers  ;  not  the  man  who  is  always  pleading  for  the  prerogatives 
of  government,  and  forgetting  the  rights  of  the  people,  nor  the  crouch- 
ing sycophant,  who  will  fish  all  day  for  a  royal  nibble,  or  a  lucrative  office. 
But  the  man  who  understands  the  laws  of  nations,  and  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  his  country — who  can  draw  the  proper  line  between  the  alienable 
and  inalienable  rights  of  men — who  has  distinct  ideas  of  those  objects  which 
are  legal  and  those  which  are  moral — who  can  trace  effects  up  to  their 
causes,  and  follow  causes  down  to  their  effects — who  conceives  government 
to  be  a  national  compact,  a  simple  agreement  among  the  citizens,  and  not 
a  mysterious  monster — who  can  pursue  the  sly  arts  and  arguments  of  mon- 
archists and  aristocrats,  those  curses  to  the  world,  through  their  various 
windings,  and  drive  them  from  their  intrenchments — who  will  not  be  de- 
coyed by  the  flowery  sophistry  of  a  courtier,  but  abide  firm  by  simple, 
fundamental  principles-r— who  will  not  buy  an  office  by  flattery  and  deceit, 
and  then  sell  the  people  to  pay  for  it — who  loves  responsibility,  and  is  aim- 
ing to  give  rulers  power  enough  to  do  good,  and  yet  have  it  so  counter- 
poised that  they  can  do  no  hurt.  Such  men  would  be  precious  as  gold,  yea, 
more  precious  than  a  golden  wedge  of  Ophir.  Young  gentlemen,  here  is 
a  copy  for  you,  and 

"  Tho'  of  exact  perfection  we  despair, 

Yet  ev'ry  step  to  virtue's  worth  our  care." 

Let  the  vices  and  follies  of  the  age  shift  for  themselves,  while  you  apply 
your  hearts  to  the  acquisition  of  wisdom.  While  you  think  with  the  wise, 
you  will  often  find  it  expedient  to  speak  with  the  vulgar. 


/ 


300  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Veritas  in  puteo  ;  as  truth  lies  in  a  well,  you  will  have  to  dig  deep  and 
draw  long  to  get  it.  "  How  dark  !  how  intricate  the  road  that  leads  to  in- 
tellectual  light."  As  you  gain  wisdom  you  will  grow  in  modesty,  for  mod- 
esty is  the  child  of  wisdom,  and  impudence  the  offspring  of  ignorance.  Let 
your  conclusions  be  the  result  of  much  study — form  your  judgments  upon 
a  preponderancy  of  evidence — let  your  arguments  be  dispassionate,  and  the 
reasons  you  offer  exceed  your  assertions — never  betray  the  smallest  trust 
reposed  in  you — discharge  every  ofhce  you  are  entrusted  with,  with  fidel- 
ity and  despatch — husband  well  your  time,  while  your  powers  of  body  and 
mind  are  active — remember  it  is  beneath  the  dignity  of  human  nature  to 
be  employed  about  trifles — never  foul  your  hands  or  spot  your  garments 
with  the  dirty  contentions,  scandals  and  prejudices  of  the  age — finally,  be 
men — add  human  dignity  to  the  genius  of  the  mind,  candor  to  information, 
and  bestow  pity  on  ignorance.  Never,  with  keen  reply,  consume  the  af- 
fections of  those  who  stand  astonished  at  the  copious  lustre  of  your  argu- 
ments. Were  a  young  Randolph,  that  prodigy  of  genius,  present,  I  would 
deal  out  the  same  lecture,  nor  think  the  admonition  either  unfriendly  or  ill- 
timed. 

The  fundamental  principle  of  republicanism  is  this  ;  "  that  all  powers  of 
government  arc  vested  in,  and  consequently  derived  from,  the  many  indi- 
viduals that  form  the  body  politic ;  and  therefore  all  those  who  are  raised 
to  power,  are  responsible  to  their  constituents  for  their  conudct."  With 
this  sage  maxim  before  your  eyes,  you  will  rarely  err  in  your  pursuits ;  and 
if  this  principle  does  not  justify  an  Elective  Judiciary,  it  is  because  there 
is  no  logical  force  in  argument. 

If  my  address,  young  gentlemen,  appears  too  dictatorial,  the  habits  which 
I  have  contracted,  by  my  calling,  the  furrows  in  my  cheeks,  and  the  de- 
sire I  have  for  you  to  excel,  are  my  only  apologies. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  301 


S  E  R  M  0  I 

PREACHED   AT  ANKRAM,  DUTCHESS   COUNTY,  N.  Y.,  AT 
THE  ORDINATION  OF  REV.  LUMAN  BIRCH, 

JUNE    17,    1806. 


Isaiah,  vi.,  6,  7.—"  Then  flew  one  of  the  Seraphims  unto  me,  having  a  live  coal  in  his 
hand,  which  he  had  taken  with  the  tongs  from  off  the  altar:  And  he  laid  it  upon  my 
mouth,  and  said,  Lo,  this  hath  touched  thy  lips  ;  and  thine  iniquity  is  taken  away,  and 
thy  sin  purged." 

With  more  than  eastern  pomp  of  diction — in  language  sublime,  beyond 
the  power  of  art— the  sacred  poet  here  represents  the  Almighty,  in  awful 
emblems  of  divine  majesty.  Uzziah,  the  king  of  Judah,  with  a  complex 
character,  had  reigned  upon  the  throne  of  the  house  of  David  for  more 
than  fifty  years  :  but  kings,  as  well  as  slaves  must  die.  In  the  year  that 
Uzziah  died,  the  prophet  Isaiah  had  a  vision  of  the  King,  the  Lord  of 
Hosts,  sitting  upon  a  throne,  more  resplendent  than  the  ivory  throne  of  Solo- 
mon— higher  than  the  heavens — with  a  train  which  filled  the  superb  tem- 
ple of  glory,  while  the  dazzling  seraphims,  with  veiled  faces,  clapped  their 
golden  wings,  and  proclaimed,  "  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  his  glory." 

Whoever  reads  the  visions  of  Isaiah,  Ezekiel  and  John,  will  not  hesitate 
to  pronounce  them  the  same  in  substance.  Isaiah  calls  these  winged  song- 
sters seraphims.  Ezekiel  calls  them  living  creatures  and  cheruhims.  John 
calls  them  four  leasts,  but  their  appearance  and  employment  is  the  same 
in  all  their  accounts,  except  the  more  particular  description  given  by  some, 
which  is  omitted  by  the  others. 

Various  are  the  opinions  of  men  respecting  these  seraphims,  and  per- 
haps no  man  can  certainly  tell  what  or  who  they  represent.  The  greatest 
number  of  expositors,  however,  that  I  have  read  after,  conclude  that  the 
angels  of  God  are  intended.  They  seem  to  imagine  that  their  appearance 
and  employment  are  too  celestial  to  be  accommodated  to  any  beings  on 
earth.  But  one  insurmountable  difficulty  attends  their  comment.  In  Reve- 
lations, v.,  9,  they  sing  to  the  Lamb,  "  Thou  wast  slain  and  hast  redeemed  lis 


302  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

to  God  by  thy  blood."  If  Angels  in  light  were  confirmed  by  God  in  a  Me- 
diator, which  is  highly  probable,  yet,  as  they  never  left  their  first  estate,  it 
cannot  be  admitted  that  they  were  ever  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  the  Lannb. 
Of  course  then  angels  cannot  be  intended. 

With  all  the  embarrassments  that  attend  the  interpretation,  yet,  with  Dr. 
Gill,  it  appears  most  likely  to  me,  that  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  are  .to 
be  understood  by  these  singular  creatures.  In  this  light,  therefore,  I  shall 
consider  them.  And,  as  there  is  the  most  minute  description  given  of  them 
in  the  first  chapter  of  Ezekiel,  I  shall  make  many  of  my  bearings  upon 
that  chapter. 

They  are  there  said  to  be  Living  creatures.  Ministers  are  creatures, 
made  by  God,  and  poor  feeble  creatures  they  are — earthen  vessels,  subject 
to  human  passions  and  frailties.  But  yet  they  are  living  creatures,  being 
raised  from  the  death  of  sin  to  the  life  of  holiness.  Though  they  die  daily, 
and  are  crucified  with  Christ,  yet  they  live,  and  the  life  which  they  live  is 
by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  lives  in  them.     Their  number  is 

Four.  Reference  may  here  be  had  to  the  four  principal  standards  of 
the  Hebrew  camp  in  the  wilderness,  on  which  it  is  said,  the  four  emblems 
of  a  lion,  ox,  man,  and  eagle,  were  inscribed :  or  to  the  four  evangelists 
who  wrote  the  gospel,  and  all  their  successors  in  the  four  quarters  of  the 
world. 

And  every  one  had  four  faces.  First,  the  likeness  and  face  of  a  man. 
Ministers  are  men,  not  angels — their  work  is  among  men,  unto  whom  they 
are  sent,  and  they  should  ever  remember  that  they  are  but  men.  To  pre- 
vent Ezekiel  from  being  self-exalted  through  the  abundance  of  sublime 
revelations,  he  is  called  the  son  of  man  about  ninety  times. 

Second.  The  face  of  a  Lion.  The  righteous  are  bold  as  a  lion,  and  sure- 
ly ministers,  who  are  clothed  with  the  garments  of  salvation,  and  the  robes 
of  righteousness,  may,  ought  to  be,  and  are,  bold  as  lions.  Peter  and  John, 
though  unlearned  and  ignorant,  by  their  boldness,  made  the  rulers  and 
elders  of  Israel  marvel.  They  spake  the  word  of  God  with  boldness.  The 
religion  of  Jesus  makes  men  bold,  but  not  impudent — modest,  but  not  shame- 
faced and  hypocritical. 

Third.  The  face  of  an  Ox.  The  Israelites  were  not  to  muzzle  the  ox 
that  trod  out  the  corn,  which  Paul  says,  was  written  for  the  ministers. 
Much  increase  is  by  the  strength  of  the  ox.  Ministers  are  patient  and 
laborious,  like  oxen,  bending  their  neck  in  obedience — bearing  the  yoke  of 
the  gospel  on  their  shoulders — drawing  the  plough  of  God's  word,  to  break 
lip  the  fallow-ground  of  the  heart. 

Fourth.  They  four  had  the  face  of  an  Eagle.  As  lions  are  the  strong- 
est among  beasts,  and  turn  not  aside  for  any — disdaining  all  subtle  arts, 
and  trusting  alone  to  their  strength — so  eagles  are  kings  of  the  air,  taking 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  303 

the  loftiest  flight  of  all  birds,  having  the  keenest  eyes  of  any,  which  can 
gaze  on  the  sun  without  winking,  and  fixing  their  eyes  on  the  sun,  will  steer 
their  course  upwards,  until  they  lose  sight  of  the  earth.  So  the  ambassa- 
dors of  Christ  take  their  lofty  flights  to  the  throne  of  God — have  their  con- 
versation in  heaven — gaze  on  the  Son  of  Righteousness  by  faith — and  are 
so  allured  by  heavenly  objects,  that  they  lose  sight  of  earth  and  earthly 
things  ;  and,  like  the  eagle,  where  the  slain  are,  there  is  she  :  where  Christ, 
the  slain  lamb — the  sacrifice  for  sin,  is  revealed  in  the  gospel — there  the 
preachers  dwell. 

It  is  moreover  said,  that  these  living  creatures  were  full  of  eyes  within — 
before  and  behind.  Ministers  have  eyes  within,  to  see  their  own  corruption 
and  weakness ;  eyes  before  to  look  unto  God  for  instruction  and  strength  ; 
eyes  behind,  to  see  the  world  lying  in  wickedness,  and  also  have  an  eye 
over  the  saints,  who  are  following  them,  as  they  are  following  Christ. 

These  Seraphims  had  every  one  of  them  fixed  loings.  Ezekiel  speaks  of 
but  four  of  them,  but  Isaiah  and  John  describe  six.  With  twain  he  covered 
his  face.  Repentance  and  humility  cover  the  face  of  the  minister  of  Je- 
sus, and,  indeed,  the  face  of  every  human  saint.  As  creatures,  we  are 
needy — as  sinners,  we  are  guilty ;  as  creatures,  we  should  be  humble — as 
sinners,  repentant ;  that,  as  creatures  we  may  be  supplied,  and  as  sinners 
be  pardoned.  The  call  to  the  ministry  does  not  exalt  the  preacher  to  be 
Lord  over  God's  heritage,  nor  deliver  him  from  the  internal  mass  of  cor- 
ruption, or  the  outward  adversities  of  life  :  hence  humility  and  repentance 
ever  cover  his  face. 

With  twain  he  covered  his  feet.  That  is,  he  runs  as  if  he  flew  :  at  least, 
like  the  ostrich,  his  wings  assist  his  feet.  Fervency  and  resolution  are  sub- 
servient to  his  feet.  When  the  preacher  turns  his  course  to  heaven,  with 
what  fervency  does  he  pursue  the  road  of  prayer,  and  with  what  resolution 

does  he  resist  the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked — the  accusations  of  Satan his 

inbred  unbelief  at  the  delays  of  divine  beneficence.  When  he  steers  his 
course  among  men,  with  what  fervency  does  he  run  to  and  fro  ,•  being  fer- 
vent in  spirit,  he  speaks  and  teaches  diligently  the  things  of  the  Lord,  with 
a  resolution  so  great  that  neither  entreaties  nor  threats  can  prevent  him 
from  finishing  his  course  with  joy. 

And  with  twain  he  did  fly.  Faith  and  love  are  the  two  wings  with  which 
he  flies.  Faith  in  God — in  the  mediation  of  Christ — in  the  divinity  of  the 
Scriptures — in  the  accountability  of  all  rational  beings — in  the  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead,  and  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishment ;  together 
with  love  to  God — to  the  gospel,  and  to  the  souls  of  men,  constrain  him 
to  preach  and  bear  him  up  as  on  wings.  By  these  six  wings  the  heralds  of 
Christ  fly  through  the  midst  of  heaven,  having  the  everlasting  gospel  to 
preach  to  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth. 

When  they  went,  their  wings  were  lifted  up,  but  when  they  stood,  they  let 


304  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

dow7i  their  wings.  When  ministers  are  engaged  in  preaching,  and  repent- 
ance and  humility,  fervency  and  resoUjtion,  faith  and  love  arc  all  in  lively 
exercise,  how  charming  is  their  voice,  how  beautiful  their  feet ;  but  when 
they  cease,  and  attend  to  the  lawful  callings  of  this  life,  to  provide  neces- 
sary things  for  their  own  houses,  and  those  heavenly  accomplishments  do 
not  appear,  how  different  they  seem  to  be :  a  bystander,  with  difficulty  be- 
lieves them  to  be  the  same  men. 

And  their  feet  were  straight  feet.  It  is  required  of  stewards  that  a  man 
be  found  faithful.  A  bishop  must  be  blameless — must  have  a  good  report 
of  them  who  are  without — must  be  an  example  to  the  flock — a  pattern  of 
them  that  believe — must  make  straight  paths  for  his  feet,  and  walk  uprightly 
without  crooking  in  conversation  or  practice. 

In  some  preachers,  there  is  so  great  discordance  between  their  preaching 
and  conduct,  that  when  they  are  in  the  pulpit  we  wish  they  would  never 
come  out,  and  when  they  are  out,  we  wish  them  never  to  ascend  it  again : 
but  the  true  ministers  of  Jesus  have  straight  feet.  The  sense  of  the  phrase, 
however,  seems  to  be,  that  they  were  cloven-footed  like  an  ox  or  calf. 
Beasts  of  prey  have  crooked  feet,  at  least  crooked  claws  in  them,  with 
which  they  devour  the  lives  of  others ;  but  the  ministers  of  Christ  carry 
neither  mental  or  material  weapons  to  deceive  the  souls,  or  destroy  the 
lives  of  men  with.  Like  the  clean  beasts  of  Moses,  they  chew  the  cud  of 
God's  precepts  and  promises,  and  are  cloven-footed,  without  claws  to  de- 
vour. 

And  they  sparkled  like  the  color  of  burnished  brass.  Ministers  like  John 
the  Baptist,  are  burning  and  shining  lights,  and,  like  the  prophet,  are  like 
iron  pillars  and  a  brazen  wall.  It  is  further  added,  their  appearance  was 
like  unto  burning  coals  of  fire,  to  consume  the  chaff  and  stubble  of  error 
and  hypocrisy,  sin  and  self-righteousness  :  and  also  to  warm  the  affections 
and  soften  the  hearts  of  the  saints,  as  well  as  to  frighten  and  drive  off  the 
wolves  and  dogs,  and  all  the  enemies  of  the  flock.  And  like  the  appear- 
ance of  lamps,  it  tvent  up  and  doion  among  the  living  creatures.  From  this 
it  seems  that  each  cherub  had  a  lamp  in  his  hand,  and  as  they  sometimes 
were  rising  on  their  wings,  and  at  other  times  standing  on  their  feet,  the 
lamp  of  each  went  up  and  down  among  them.  The  word  of  the  Lord  is 
a  light  to  our  feet,  and  a  lamp  to  our  path,  and  preachers  hold  forth  this 
word  of  life,  the  entrance  of  which  giveth  light :  preach  the  word,  the  sure 
word  of  prophecy,  which  is  a  light  shining  in  a  dark  place,  and  thereby 
enlighten  the  children  of  God  to  walk  on  in  this  world  of  darkness. 

And  the  fire  was  bright,  and  out  of  the  fire  toent  forth  lightning.  The 
light  of  scripture  is  bright.  All  the  mighty  volumes  of  philosophers  are 
trifling  to  the  Bible.  They  give  no  account  how  sin  can  be  pardoned,  or 
the  dead  raised,  but  the  sacred  volume  informs  us  how  the  first  can  be,  and 
assures  us  that  the  last  shall  take  place  :  and  from  this  fountain  of  bright 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  305 

light,  lightnings  proceed.  When  ministers  have  their  wings  up — full  of 
burning  love — holding  up  the  lamp  of  the  gospel,  and  succeeded  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  effect  on  the  hearers  is  frequently  like  a  flash  of  lightning. 
Lightning  will  burst  the  strongest  wall — break  down  the  loftiest  tree — fol- 
low the  vein  of  a  tree  from  top  to  bottom — melt  the  buckle  in  the  shoe,  and 
spare  the  man  who  wears  it — kill  the  child  unborn  without  injuring  the 
mother,  etc.  All  which  seems  to  be  expressive  of  the  power  of  the  gospel 
in  the  hand  of  the  spirit,  when  ministers  are  proclaiming  the  truth.  This 
word  of  God  is  quick  and  powerful,  sharper  than  a  two-edged  sword,  pier- 
cing even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  joints  and  marrow, 
and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart.  It  tears  off" 
the  veil  of  the  heart — rends  the  stupor  from  the  conscience — removes  the 
film  from  the  eye  of  the  soul — lays  death  naked,  and  destruction  without  a 
covering — destroys  self-righteous  props,  and  hypocritical  hopes,  and  teaches 
the  sinner  that  he  must  perish  forever  unless  he  repents  of  his  sin,  believes 
in  the  Saviour,  and  submits  to  his  laws. 

When  preachers  are  thus  assisted,  and  thus  succeeded,  it  may  whh 
truth  be  said,  the  sound  of  the  cherubim's  wings  is  heard,  even  to  the  outer 
court,  as  the  voice  of  the  Almighty  God,  when  he  speaketh. 

When  Isaiah  had  this  vision  of  the  King,  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  on  his  daz- 
zling throne  of  glory,  and  saw  the  splendor  of  his  attendants,  and  heard 
their  celestial  doxology,  he  cried  out,  wo  is  me.  Unlike  those  shining 
songsters — unfit  to  dwell  among  them  !  this  body  of  sin  renders  me  ob- 
noxious, and  sinks  me  beneath  a  heavy  wo  ;  nor  can  I  extricate  myself, 
for  I  am  undone.  Undone  in  character,  for  I  have  risen  in  rebellion 
against  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  and  am  guilty  of  high  treason.  Undone  in 
health  and  strength,  for  the  first  born  of  death  is  in  my  tabernacle.  I  am 
reduced  to  perfect  weakness,  and  my  obstinate  disease  will  reduce  me  to 
the  caverns  of  death.  Undone  in  interest,  being  a  fugitive  and  bankrupt, 
owing  ten  thousand  talents,  and  having  nothing  to  pay  ;  nor  can  I  solicit 
remission  from  my  creditor,  in  a  manner  that  becomes  his  majesty  and  my 
own  wretchedness,ybr  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips.  Out  of  the  abundance 
of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh.  My  heart  abounds  with  corruption,  which 
vitiates  all  I  say  and  do.  Had  I  the  hallowed  lips  of  these  seraphims,  how 
would  I  address  the  throne  of  glory,  and  plead  for  my  life  !  but  now,  like 
a  crane  or  a  swallow,  so  do  I  chatter  ;  I  mourn  sore,  like  the  dove  ;  nor 
can  I  expect  relief  from  any  around  me,  for  I  dwell  among  a  people  of  un- 
clean lips,  who  are  in  a  state  of  apostacy,  like  myself,  none  of  whom  can, 
by  any  means,  redeem  a  brother,  nor  give  to  God  a  ransom  that  he  should 
still  live,  and  not  perish.  But,  ruined  and  unclean  as  I  am,  and  vile  as  all 
my  fellow  creatures  are,  I  did  not  perceive  it  till  of  late.  While  I  only 
heard  of  God  with  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  and  was  ignorant  of  the  nature 
of  the  divine  law,  I  conceived  myself  to  be  better  than  my  neighbors — 

39 


306  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

worthy  of  heaven,  and  peculiarly  interested  in  the  favor  of  God.  But  now 
mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King,  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  which  discovers  to  me 
how  wretchedly  I  am  fallen  from  that  image  in  which  I  was  created.  Now 
I  see  the  holiness,  justice  and  goodness  of  the  divine  law,  whereby  sin  re- 
vives, and  I  see  how  unclean  I  am.  Tn  presence  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
and  the  holy  throng  of  seraphims,  I  abhor  myself,  repenting  in  dust  and 
ashes.     (The  text  follows.) 

TJien  jiew  one  of  the  seraphims.  By  special  commission  from  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,  he  came,  not  reluctantly,  but  of  a  ready  mind — he  flew  on 
wings  to  my  relief.  I  did  not  go  to  him,  nor  meet  him  half  way,  but 
he  came  unto  me,  not  empty  handed,  but  having  a  living  coal  in  his 
hand.  An  emblem  of  the  promise  of  eternal  life  through  the  Mediator  ; 
which  promise  God  made,  ere  time  began,  to  Christ  the  Lord,  and  re- 
vealed it  unto  men  in  ancient  times — which  runs  through  the  Old  Tes- 
tament like  a  golden  cord,  and  which  was  sent  unto  them  that  believed, 
by  the  apostles.  But  this  coal,  which  ever  lives,  ever  glows,  and  never 
burns  out,  cannot  be  taken  by  merely  human  hands,  but  with  the  tongs 
— the  dispensation  of  the  gospel.  Though  men,  as  such,  cannot  lay 
hold  of,  carry,  and  apply  this  coal  to  its  designed  use  ;  yet,  by  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  gospel,  committed  to  their  trust,  the  ministers  of  Christ 
can  and  do.  This  promise  comes  to  penitent  sinners,  through  Christ ; 
who,  through  the  eternal  spirit,  offered  himself  to  God,  who  was  himself 
priest,  offering  and  altar.  Hence  this  coal  is  said  to  be  taken  from  off 
the  altar. 

And  he  laid  it  upon  my  mouth.  Which  encouraged  him  to  pray — 
enabled  him  to  offer  the  calves  of  his  lips  in  praise,  and  prepared  him 
to  speak  to  the  people,  unto  whom  he  was  now  sent.  And  said,  lo,  this 
has  touched  thy  lips.  For  the  purposes  just  mentioned.  And  thine  iniquity 
is  taken  away,  through  the  atonement  of  Christ,  who  was  made  sin  for  us, 
that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him.  And  thy  sin 
purged,  by  the  grace  of  God,  which  is  shed  abroad  in  the  hearts  of  men, 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  through  the  righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  is  probable  that  the  narrative,  which  I  have  been  animadverting 
upon,  is  a  history  of  the  first  conversion  of  Isaiah  to  God  ;  if  so,  then, 
like  Paul,  he  was  called  to  the  prophetic  work  at  the  time  when  he  was 
called  out  of  darkness  into  the  light  of  truth.  He  began  his  prophecies 
in  the  days  of  Uzziah  ;  and,  if  not  until  the  last  year  of  his  reign,  this 
vision  was  his  inauguration.  But,  if  he  had  begun  before  the  year  in  which 
Uzziah  died,  then  this  vision  was  made  to  him,  to  prepare  him  for  greater 
usefulness. 

At  the  close  of  this  vision,  Isaiah  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  saying, 
whom  shall  I  send  ?  and  who  will  go  for  us  ?  To  which  the  prophet 
answered,  here  am  I,  send  me.     And  he  said,  go.     And  as  the  seraphim 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  307 

has  done  to  you,  so  do  you  to  all  humble  penitents.  Whenever  you  find 
any  person  lamenting  thus,  "  wo  is  me,  for  1  am  undone,"  fly  with  all 
speed  to  administer  relief,  and  say  unto  the  penitent,  "  thine  iniquity  is 
forgiven,  and  thy  sin  purged." 

In  this  view  of  the  subject,  the  character  of  an  humble  penitent,  and 
the  work  of  a  gospel-preacher,  solicit  the  attention  of  this  august  as- 
sembly. 

Though  repentance  can  never  atone  for  the  crime,  yet  it  is  an  essential 
characteristic  of  the  sinner  who  shall  find  pardon  and  salvation.  There  is 
one  excellency  of  mind  which  is  preferable  to  repentance,  and  that  is  in- 
nocence. It  is  better  to  be  innocent,  free  from  any  crime,  than  it  is  to  re- 
pent of  a  crime  committed.  But  when  men  have  become  criminal,  repent- 
ance may  be  considered  a  qualification  of  the  first  grade.  That  all  have 
sinned,  is  certain,  and,  therefore,  to  expect  salvation  by  innocency,  is  out 
of  the  question. 

Such  is  the  relation  between  the  Creator  and  rational  creatures,  that, 
whatever  the  Creator  reveals  and  commands,  the  creatures  are  under  ob- 
ligation to  believe  and  obey  ;  and  no  place  or  condition  that  the  creatures 
can  be  in,  does  in  any  wise  fi'ee  them  from  this  obligation.  The  apostacy 
of  men,  therefore,  forms  no  good  excuse  for  them  to  disbelieve  or  rebel, 
either  in  this  life  or  in  that  to  come.  That  all  men,  everywhere,  are  com- 
manded to  repent,  is  certain ;  and  he  who  does  not  obey  this  command, 
condemns  the  law  and  lawgiver,  and  pleads  for  the  usurpation  of  sin.  Such, 
however,  is  the  apostacy  of  men — so  great  is  their  obstinacy,  pride,  rebel- 
lion and  love  of  sin,  that  neither  the  precepts  of  the  law,  the  threatenings 
of  God,  the  lashes  of  conscience,  the  pangs  of  death,  nor  the  torments  of 
hell,  will  bring  them  to  that  repentance,  to  which  is  annexed  forgiveness 
of  sins.  Until  the  Lord  works  Jirst  in  the  human  heart,  by  his  gracious 
influence,  nothing  is  to  be  expected,  to  purpose.  In  the  change  of  mind, 
commonly  called  conversion,  or  the  neio  birth,  there  are  three  distinct 
things  to  be  conceived  of. 

First.  The  communication  of  divine  life.  Not  the  same  life  that  Adam 
possesed  in  innocency,  for  that  was  lost,  whereas  this  which  is  given  is 
called  eternal  life.  In  some  respects,  it  is  like  the  Adamic  life,  in  that  it 
makes  us  love  holiness,  and  take  complacency  in  the  character  and  gov- 
ernment of  God.  In  other  respects,  it  is  inferior,  not  delivering  us  from 
all  moral  evil  ;  but,  in  other  respects,  vastly  superior,  being  eternal  in  its 
nature,  and  tending  to  a  station  far  more  exalted.  Whether  this  grace  is 
called  living  water — incorruptible  seed — new  creation — an  unction  from 
the  Holy  One,  or  by  what  name  soever,  it  comes  down  from  God,  through 
the  Mediator,  and  rectifies  all  the  powers  of  the  soul.  This  lays  a  foun- 
dation for  spiritual  instruction  ;  for,  as  well  may  a  lifeless  corpse  under- 
stand natural  things,  as  a  natural  man  understand  spiritual  things.    In  this 


308  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

detached  part  of  the  work,  the  preachers  and  preaching  are  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, Christ  having  reserved  the  power  to  do  this  in  his  own  hands.  It 
should  be  carefully  noticed,  that  a  change  of  heart,  is  one  thing,  and  the  in- 
formation of  the  mind,  another.     When  the  soul  is  renewed,  then  follows 

Secondly.  An  active  and  voluntary  turning  to  God.  In  this  stage  of  the 
work,  nature  and  grace,  sin  and  holiness,  truth  and  error,  darkness  and 
light,  ignorance  and  information,  hope  and  fear,  desire  and  languor,  Christ 
and  Satan,  all  assail  the  soul.  Some  are  held  years  in  this  restless  state, 
and  others  but  a  short  time.  But,  notwithstanding  all  embarrassments, 
the  soul  is  willing,  and  comes  to  Christ  voluntarily,  and  chooses  the  good 
part.  After  men  repent  and  believe,  and  before  they  are  sealed  with  the 
holy  spirit  of  promise,  their  views  are  accurately  described,  by  the  pro- 
phet, in  my  context.  "  Wo  is  me,  for  I  am  undone  ;  for  I  am  a  man  of 
unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell  among  a  people  of  unclean  lips."  Or  thus  : 
"  Lord,  I  am  a  sinner,  and  deserve  to  perish.  Thy  character  is  good,  thy 
law  is  just,  but  I  am  carnal,  sold  under  sin.  If  thou  sendest  me  to  hell,  I 
cannot  impeach  thy  righteousness  ;  but,  oh  !  spare  me,  if  pardon  may  be 
had.  My  sins  are  many  and  great,  and  my  best  works  need  to  be  washed, 
as  well  as  my  soul.  I  have  no  hope,  but  in  thy  mercy,  through  the  medi- 
ation of  Christ.  At  the  feet  of  Jesus,  I  cast  me  down,  and,  if  I  must  pe- 
rish, I  will  perish  there." 

The  Bible  is  full  of  encouragements,  invitations  and  promises,  to  such 
gracious  penitents  ;  all  these  promises  of  God  are  in  Christ  Jesusi  From 
this  altar,  the  preachers  may  take  their  living  coals,  and  ministerially  ap- 
ply them  to  all  such  humble  mourners.  For,  if  preachers  and  preaching 
are  excluded  from  the  first  part  of  the  work,  yet  in  the  stage,  of  which  I 
am  now  speaking,  they  are  workers  together  with  God. 

But,  Thirdly.  Free  pardon,  which  is  graciously  bestowed  by  God,  and 
gratefully  received  by  the  returning,  humble  penitent.  It  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at,  that  those  who  belie  v6  that  pardon  of  sin  is  the  change  of  heart, 
that  men  are  not  renewed  until  they  obtain  sealing  deliverance,  should 
have  so  high  opinion  of  the  self-exertion  of  natural  faculties,  to  forward 
ihem  on  to  a  change  of  heart ;  for  they  well  know  that  before  they  obtained 
pardon,  they  had  sorrow  for  sin,  longings  after  God,  love  to  the  saints,  and 
a  regard  for  the  worship  of  God,  and  perhaps  found  the  pardon  of  sin,  while 
they  were  praying  and  striving  for  it.  Taking  it  for  truth,  that  they  were 
not  graciously  changed,  before  they  obtained  pardon  and  deliverance,  they 
suppose  that  others,  in  their  natural  state  of  mind,  can  do  what  they  did. 
Hence  the  opinion,  that  self-exertion  of  the  natural  powers  greatly  helps 
the  sinner,  and  lays  God  under  obligation  to  bestow  pardon.  I  cannot  by 
any  means  concede  to  this  opinion,  for  a  multitude  of  reasons  ;  but  am  full 
in  belief  that  the  exercises  of  humble  penitents,  before  they  receive  a 
sealing  pardon,  are  as  acceptable  to  God  as  the  exercises  of  those  who  have 


ELDER    JOHN     LELAND.  309 

had  the  forgiveness  of  sins  sealed  to  them,  and  equally  bring  them  within 
the  compass  of  the  promise, "  if  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just 
to  forgive  us  our  sins."  For  I  cannot  conceive  of  any  difference  of  inter- 
nal character  between  them.  No  difference  in  the  subjects  ;  the  difference 
is  objective  ;  one  having  the  comfort  of  believing  his  sins  pardoned,  and 
the  other  without  that  comfortable  hope.  Men  are  either  for  Christ  or 
against  him,  enemies  or  friends,  dead  or  alive  ;  no  medium  can  be  con- 
ceived of.  To  say  that  a  sinner  has  spiritual  light,  but  not  life  ;  that  he  is 
quickened,  but  not  renewed  ;  that  he  mourns  for  sin,  but  does  not  love  ho- 
liness ;  that  he  feels  the  burden  of  sin,  but  has  no  gracious  sensation ;  that 
he  loves  the  saints,  but  is  not  born  of  God,  &c.,  to  me  is  perfectly  absurd. 

From  the  moment  a  sinner  receives  the  grace  of  lite  (infants  and  those 
who  are  incapable  of  reflection  excepted)  he  begins  to  cry  like  the  leper, 
"  unclean,  unclean."  Or  like  the  prophet  before  us,  "  wo  is  me,  for  I  am 
undone."  And  not  only  continues  this  cry,  until  he  obtains  pardon,  through 
Christ,  but  on  thereafter  as  long  as  he  draws  mortal  breath.  For  when  a 
penitent  receives  pardon  of  sin,  it  only  gives  him  new  and  pleasing  views 
of  his  state,  not  of  his  internal  character.  Of  course  repentance  is  not 
an  exercise,  confined  to  the  period  between  being  changed  and  pardoned, 
but  continues  to  operate  in  the  soul  of  a  saint  through  his  whole  pilgrimage 
on  earth.  The  complaint  of  Isaiah,  "  wo  is  me"  etc.,  was  not  the  com- 
plaint of  a  backslider,  fallen  from  grace ;  for  these  things  said  Esaias 
when  he  saw  his  glory  and  spake  of  him.  Now,  as  the  saints  are  constantly 
sighing  and  crying,  repenting  and  lamenting,  (at  least  these  complaints 
mingle  with  all  their  heavenly  joys,)  ministers,  like  the  seraphim,  are  sent 
by  God,  with  a  "  comfort  ye,  comfort  ye,  my  people,  saith  your  God — feed 
my  lambs  and  sheep — let  your  profiting  appear  to  all ;  teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you,"  etc.  ^^^ 

Nor  is  the  preacher  to  confine  his  addresses  to  penitents  alone,  but  is 
commanded  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  d\-eature.  There  is  no  article  in 
Christendom,  in  which  ministers  are  more  divided,  than  in  that  of  addressing 
a  congregation  of  sinners,  as  such.  Most  of  the  addresses  of  the  prophets, 
were  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  a  people  in  circumstances  dissimilar  from 
all  other  nations,  or  unto  other  nations  in  their  political  capacities  ;  for  which 
reasons,  a  gentile  gospel  preacher  cannot  find  a  sure  sample  in  the  Old 
Testament.  Jssus  Christ,  who  spake  with  authority,  spake  as  man  never 
spake,  confined  his  ministry  to  the  twelve  tribes,  which  still  continues  the 
difficulty  of  finding  a  sure  precedent  in  the  four  evangelists.  But  when  we 
come  to  the  tenth  chapter  of  the  Acts,  we  find  something  direct.  Peter  was 
called  by  a  heavenly  vision  to  go  and  preach  to  a  gentile  congregation, 
the  principal  of  which  was  warned  by  a  holy  angel  to  send  for  Peter  ;  and 
who,  with  the  congregation,  presented  themselves  before  God,  to  hear  all 
things  which  God  commanded  Peter  to  preach.     Here  the  drama  opens. 


310  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Here  the  first  gospel  sermon  was  preached  to  the  Gentiles.     From  this 
instance  we  may  expect  the  best  pattern.     And  what  is  it  ? 

After  Peter  had  introduced  the  subject,  of  declaring  his  conviction  that 
God  did  not  respect  the  Jews  more  than  the  Gentiles,  but  equally  accepted 
those  of  all  nations,  who  feared  him  and  wrought  righteousness ;  and  spo- 
ken a  little  of  the  word  which  God  sent  to  the  children  of  Israel,  preaching 
peace  by  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  Lord  of  Jews  and  Gentiles  ;  that  this 
word  was  published  from  Galilee,  through  all  Judea  ;  testifying  that  God 
hadannointed  Jesus  Christ  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power,  who  went 
about  doing  good,  and  healing  all  that  were  oppressed  with  the  devil ;  he 
then  proceeds  to  the  main  business  of  his  mission.  "  And  we  are  witnesses 
of  all  things  which  he  did,  both  in  the  land  of  the  Jews  and  in  Jerusalem ; 
whom  they  slew  and  hanged  on  a  tree.  Him  God  raised  up  the  third  day, 
and  showed  him  openly,  not  to  all  the  people,  but  unto  witnesses  chosen 
before  of  God,  even  to  us,  who  did  eat  and  drink  with  him  after  he  rose 
from  the  dead.  And  he  commanded  us  to  preach  unto  the  people,  and  to 
testify  that  it  was  he  who  was  ordained  of  God  to  be  the  judge  of  quick 
and  dead.  To  him  give  all  the  prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name 
whosoever  believeth  in  him  shall  receive  remission  of  sins."  This  short 
sermon  was  delivered  extempore.  Without  abstruse  questions  or  metaphys- 
ical niceties,  the  preacher  gave  a  detail  of  important  facts  and  doctrines, 
in  the  most  simple  manner,  in  which  we  discover  the  following  truths : 

1.  That  God  does  not  respect  the  person,  rank  or  national  character  of 
one  man  more  than  another. 

2.  That  he  accepts  of  such,  and  only  such,  as  fear  God  and  work  right- 
eousness. 

3.  That  the  word  of  the  gospel,  which  was  first  sent  to  the  Jews,  by 
John,  and  afterwards  prevailed  abundantly,  proclamed  peace  to  men,  through 
Jesus  Christ. 

4.  That  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord  of  all  worlds,  nations  and  beings. 

5.  That  the  work  of  Christ  on  earth  was  doing  good,  and  healing  al' 
that  were  oppressed  of  the  devil. 

6.  That  the  miracles,  precepts  and  examples  of  Christ  were  incompe- 
tent to  save  men.  That  without  the  shedding  of  his  blood  there  could  be 
no  remission.  That  the  Jews  contrived  his  death — slew  him  and  hanged 
him  on  a  tree  ;  they  meant  it  for  evil,  but  God  meant  it  for  good.  That 
he  died  both  as  a  martyr  and  Mediator. 

7.  That  he  was  raised  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day ;  being  the  first 
born  from  the  dead ;  thereby,  opening  the  way  for  the  resurrection  of  all 
men. 

8.  That  ministers  are  commanded  to  preach  and  testify,  that  this  same 
Jesus,  who  died  and  rose  again,  is  ordained  of  God  to  judge  the  world,  both 
those  who  are  living  and  those  that  are  dead. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  311 

9.  That  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  united  in  the  truth  of  Christ's 
character;  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him,  shall  receive  remission  of  sins. 

10.  That  ministers  are  only  witnesses,  to  declare  the  truth,  Christ  hav- 
ing reserved  the  power  of  changing  hearts  in  his  own  hands. 

These  seem  to  have  been  the  main  topics  of  Peter's  sermon,  the  lan- 
guage of  which,  to  all  gospel  ministers,  among  the  Gentiles,  is,  "  go  ye, 
and  do  likewise." 

As  Peter  spake  these  words,  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  upon  all  those  that 
heard  the  word.  While  the  truth  fell  from  Peter's  lips,  the  Holy  Ghost 
fell  from  heaven,  which,  when  Peter  beheld,  he  commanded  them  to  be  bap- 
tized in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  The  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  not  an  es- 
sential prerequisite  to  water  baptism,  but  repentance  towards  God,  and 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  are  essential  characteristics  ;  but  the  baptism  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  does  not  exempt  the  possessor  from  the  duty  of  water-bap- 
tism  :  hence  the  injunction  of  Peter. 

On  the  whole,  may  all  of  us,  who  are  ministers  of  Christ,  take  Peter  for 
our  model  in  preaching,  and  may  we  meet  with  at  least  a  portion  of  the 
same  success. 

Another  article,  which  the  foregoing  discourse,  and  the  solemnities  of  j 
this  day  seem  to  call  for,  is  a  description  of  a  ministerial  call  :  that  is, 
how  men  are  called  to  the  ministry. 

First.  The  call  to  the  ministry  does  not  depend  upon  the  brilliancy  of 
natural  talents.  The  mysteries  of  the  gospel  are  hidden  from  the  wise 
and  prudent.  The  world,  by  wisdom,  know  not  God,  etc.  Natural  tal- 
ents  furnish  men  for  usefulness  in  the  things  of  this  world,  but  do  not  qual- 
ify them  for  gospel  ambassadors. 

Second.  Nor  does  it  depend  upon  the  acquisition  of  schools.  By  some, 
the  striplings  of  genius,  or  striplings  without  genius,  are  sent  to  school 
with  the  avowed  purpose  of  preparing  them  for  the  ministry  ;  as  if  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  was  but  the  declension  of  nouns,  or  the  conjuga- 
tion of  verbs,  with  the  knowledge  of  a  little  Greek  and  Latin.  Supposing, 
however,  they  excel,  and  equal  Newton,  Milton,  or  Jefferson,  they  are  but 
prepared  for  the  study  of  astronomers,  the  closet  of  the  poets,  or  the  chair 
of  state.  Amos  was  a  rustic  herdsman^ — John  the  Baptist  was  brought  up 
in  the  wilderness — and  the  apostles,  for  the  most  part,  were  ignorant  Gali- 
leans, who  followed  the  trade  of  fishing ;  yet  these  were  called  by  God, 
while  the  learned  among  them  were  neglected. 

Third.  It  is  not  included  in  a  gracious  call  out  of  darkness  into  the  mar- 
velous light  of  the  gospel ;  this  call  is  experienced  by  all  the  saints,  but 
all  the  saints  are  not  preachers. 

Fourth.  It  is  not  subservient  to  the  Avill  or  choice  of  men.  Where 
preaching  is  a  lucrative  business,  the  avaricious  may  choose  it — where  it 
is  honorable,  the  proud  may  desire  it — where  it  is  attended  with  ease,  the 
indolent  may  covet  it ;  but  all  theseare  ignorant  of  it. 


312  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

Fifili.  It  is  not  miraculous.  It  is  true  that  miracles  have  sometimes  at- 
tended the  commission,  as  in  the  case  of  Moses,  Jeremiah  and  Paul.  But 
the  commissions  to  the  twelve,  and  to  the  seventy,  were  without  miracles, 
which  proves  that  miracles  are  not  essential  to  the  call.  If  the  call  was 
miraculous,  we  should  have  as  good  reason  to  believe  that  God  would  call 
infants,  idiots  or  dumb  men,  as  any  others ;  but  this  we  know  is  not  the 
case. 

Sixth.  The  call  is  by  special  mission.  Men,  who  have  the  common  use 
of  their  senses — who  are  delivered  from  darkness,  and  translated  into  the 
kingdom  of  the  Son  of  God,  receive  a  special  gift  to  qualify  them  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry.  When  Christ  ascended  on  high,  he  received  gifts 
for  men,  and  these  gifts  he  bestowed  on  them  ;  and  he  gives  to  some  apos- 
tles, to  others  prophets,  evangelists,  pastors  and  teachers,  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  etc.  This  spiritual  gift  mc\\xAe,s  two  things.  First,  the ywr- 
niture  of  the.  mind  :  and  secondly,  a  constraint  to  improve.  By  the  furni- 
ture of  the  mind  is  not  meant  extraordinary  endowments  of  talents  or  sci- 
ence, but  a  gift  bestowed  with  the  commission.  It  is  a  treasure  given  to 
earthen  vessels — a  dispensation  of  the  gospel  committed  in  trust.  When 
Jesus  was  on  earth,  he  called  to  him  whom  he  would,  and  sent  them  to 
preach  ;  so,  in  every  age,  the  call  depends  on  the  will  of  God.  Whether 
the  persons  called  excel  in  science  or  not,  when  they  are  sent,  they  have 
a  roll  given  them  to  eat.  The  great  plan  of  salvation  is  opened  to  them, 
and  words  and  arguments  given  them  to  communicate  it  to  others ;  and 
yet  what  they  thus  receive  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  treasure,  for  they  have 
the  key  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  given  to  them,  to  unlock  the  treasure- 
house  (the  Bible)  and  constantly  draw  things  new  and  old  out  of  that  sa- 
cred treasure,  as  occasion  calls,  in  their  ministration.  When  they  have 
eaten  the  roll  and  received  the  key,  they  feel  such  constraint  to  run  and 
point  out  to  men  their  ruin,  and  the  way  of  recovery,  that,  like  the  prophet, 
they  say,  "here  am  I,  send  me."  They  have  such  love  to  God — to  the 
Mediator,  to  the  gospel,  and  to  the  souls  of  men,  that  like  Paul,  they  de- 
clare, "the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us."  And  like  him,  they  will  nei- 
ther be  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision,  nor  confer  with  flesh  and  blood. 

The  customary  address  to  the  candidate  elect,  I  shall  pass  by,  reserving 
that  part  of  the  solemnities  for  my  worthy  brother,  who  is  assigned  to  ad- 
minister the  charge,  and  whose  age  and  experience  qualify  him  in  an  emi- 
nent degree  for  the  task.  But  when  I  look  around  me,  and  see  nearly  one 
thousand  souls  assembled  in  this  grove,  to  hear  and  see  what  is  said  and 
done  to-day,  it  affects  my  heart.  Pardon  the  falling  tear,  I  learned  to  weep 
over  a  multitude,  of  Jesus.  Seeing  the  multitude,  I  feel  compassion  swel- 
ling my  aching  breast.  Were  my  talents  equal  to  my  wishes,  I  would 
brinCT  forth  the  riches  of  the  gospel,  and  hold  them  up  in  all  their  winning 
forms.  But  (applying  the  words  of  the  prophet  to  myself)  by  whom  shall 
Jacob  arise,  for  he  is  small  ? 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  313 

Without  attempting  to  solve  the  questions,  how  it  was  possible  for  sin 
to  take  its  rise  among  sinless  creatures  ;  whether  sin  was  necessary  or 
otherwise;  whether  God  decreed  it  or  not ;  what  part  of  Adam's  trans- 
gression and  corruption  of  nature  is  attached  to  us ;  whether  the  atonement 
of  Christ  is  infinite  or  limited  ;  whether  apostacy  has  affected  the  will  only, 
or  equally  all  the  faculties  of  the  soul ;  whether  the  debility  of  a  sinner  is 
moral,  natural,  or  both  ;  whether  the  want  of  the  holy  unction  is  a  crime 
or  not ;  I  say,  passing  these  questions,  and  a  thousand  more,  which  puz- 
zle the  minds  of  men,  I  would  aver,  that  my  hearers,  in  their  natural  es- 
tate, are  such  guilty  rebels  and  bitter  enemies  to  God,  and  a  life  of  holiness, 
that  notwithstanding  all  the  warnings  of  God ;  the  reproofs  of  ministers  ; 
the  laws  of  state  ;  the  sword  of  the  magistrate  ;  the  ethics  of  philosophy ; 
the  pangs  of  sickness ;  the  fears  of  death ;  the  threatenings  of  future  tor- 
ments, and  the  glories  prepared  for  the  righteous,  they  will  choose  the  road 
that  leads  to  death.  "  The  wicked  will  do  wickedly."  The  same  disposi- 
tion, which  neglects  the  love  and  service  of  God  for  one  minute,  would  for 
one  eternity.  I,  therefore,  utterly  despair  of  ever  seeing  a  single  sinner 
in  this  attentive  assembly  ever  turning  to  God,  until  the  Lord  touches  his 
heart  with  the  finger  of  his  gracious  power. 

If  men  are  ever  honest,  they  will  be  honest  when  they  pray  ;  and  it  is 
a  matter  of  notoriety,  that,  whenever  good  men  pray  for  themselves,  or  for 
others,  their  language  is :  "  Lord,  have  mercy  on  me,  or  I  shall  perish — 
Lord,  have  mercy  on  sinners,  or  they  will  perish."  Such  prayers  express 
the  truth  ,  and,  while  I  speak  the  truth,  I  would  use  the  prayer  to-day  : 
"  Lord,  have  mercy  on  these  poor,  needy,  guilty  sinners  ;  turn  them,  O 
Lord,  and  they  will  be  turned  ;  open  their  eyes  to  see,  their  ears  to  hear, 
and  their  hearts  to  understand.  Grant  them  repentance  and  remission  of 
sins,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ."  How  would  my  poor  soul  rejoice  to 
see  the  goings  of  my  God  and  King  ;  to  hear  the  sound  of  his  going  in  the 
top  of  these  oaks,  or  rather  from  the  mouths  of  these  people. 

It  is  possible,  yea,  (from  the  attention  of  all,  and  the  tears  of  some,)  it 
is  probable,  there  may  be  some  broken-hearted,  heavy-laden  penitents  in 
this  assembly  ;  some,  who  see  the  extent  and  propriety  of  God's  law,  and 
the  evil  nature  of  sin  ;  who  feel  the  plague  of  corrupt  nature,  and  the  pain- 
ful load  of  guilt ;  who  see  the  imperfection  of  all  their  works,  and  the  vi- 
tiation of  all  their  powers;  who  discover  the  excellency  of  true  religion, 
and  long  to  possess  it ;  who  entertain  no  scruples  about  the  power  of 
Christ  to  save,  but  question  his  willingness  to  receive  themselves,  who  are 
so  vile  ;  who  do  not  hesitate  to  bear  all  reproaches  that  attend  religion, 
but  fear  they  shall  perish  at  last,  for  want  of  it.  If  such  there  be  among 
you  to-day,  in  addition  to  the  complaint  of  the  prophet,  "  wo  is  me,  for  I 
am  undone,"  you  make  the  inquiry,  "  what  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  and  sub. 
oin  the  prayer  of  the  publican  :  "  God,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."    To 

40 


314  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

such  I  would  address  myself,  and  fly,  like  the  seraphim,  with  a  promise  of 
eternal  life,  to  administer  relief.  Your  case  is  very  uncomfortable,  but 
not  desperate.  Had  God  been  disposed  to  slay  you,  he  would  not  have 
shown  you  such  things  as  these  ;  and,  as  he  has  begun  to  teach  you,  you 
will  see  greater  things  than  these.  Verily,  you  are  Galileans,  for  your 
speech  agreelh  thereto  :  and  he  that  has  begun  the  work  will  finish  it.  He 
that  has  raised  you  out  of  the  grave  of  carnal  security,  will  loose  you  and 
let  you  go.  He  that  has  opened  your  eyes  to  see  your  dungeon  and 
chains,  will  also  bring  you  out  of  the  prison-house,  and  set  you  free.  To- 
day he  is  willing  to  receive  you ;  he  calls  you  to  come  ;  he  commands  you 
to  believe.  Nor  is  there  any  danger  of  your  being  damned,  if  you  see 
yourselves  bad  enough  to  be  saved  wholly  by  grace.  Then,  like  the  blind 
and  the  lame,  come  to  Jesus,  and  he  will  heal  you.  If  your  father  and 
mother  forsake  you  for  your  religion,  the  Lord  will  take  you  in.  His 
promise  stands  thus  :  "  Him  that  cometh  unto  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast 
out."  Then  stretch  out  the  withered  hand,  and  touch  the  hem  of  his  gar- 
ment ;  cast  away  your  clothes,  and  come  unto  him  begging,  and  you  will 
receive  the  sight  of  pardoned  sin. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  315 


liZNZiS 

INTRODUCED   AT   THE   CONCLUSION  OF   A    DISCOURSif  PREACHED  ON   THE   OCCASION   OF   THE 
DEATH   OF    REV.    SAMUEL    COVELL,    1806. 

Ah  !  my  dear  brother  Covell,  art  thou  gone  ? 
Hast  thou  forsaken  earth  for  worlds  unknown  ? 
And  hast  thou  found  those  mansions,  far  above, 
Where  every  bosom  glows  with  sacred  love  ? 
And  hast  thou  found  the  disembodied  throng, 
To  sound  thy  harp  in  their  triumphant  song? 
And  dost  thou,  now,  with  angels  vie  in  praise, 
And  sweep  the  golden  harp,  in  high  seraphic  lays  ? 
Is  Jesus  in  thy  view?  dost  thou  behold 
His  sacred  head,  adorned  with  radiant  gold? 
Doth  he  appear  as  lovely  in  their  eyes. 
As  revelation  saith,  as  faith  descries? 

Yes,  thou  art  gone — thy  better  part  is  fled — 
Thy  body  only  is  among  the  dead. 
Before  thy  mortal  limbs  were  stiff  and  cold. 
Thy  soul  was  gone  ten  thousand  leagues  twice  told. 

The  news  from  Canada  has  reached  our  ears. 
Which  grieves  our  hearts,  and  fills  our  eyes  with  tears. 
The  news  declares  that  Covell's  spirit's  fled. 
Just  twenty-seven  days  he's  been  among  the  dead. 

Should  some  departed  souls  to  earth  return, 
On  messages  of  love  of  vast  concern, 
To  warn  the  wicked,  comfort  the  distress'd. 
Strengthen  the  feeble,  and  relieve  the  oppress'd; 
Should  Covell's  soul  appear  with  us  to-day, 
And  fill  this  desk  instead  of  worthless  me, 
How  would  the  people  feel  to  hear  him  tell 
The  joys  of  heaven  and  awful  pains  of  hell ! 
Fancy  conjectures,  should  he  come  to  preach, 
He'd  deal  a  double  portion  out  to  each. 

As  spirits  cannot  speak  without  the  help  of  clay, 
I'll  lend  him  my  mortal  tongue  to-day ; 
Then  hark  I  and  hear  what  Covell  has  to  say: 

"  My  wife  I  the  partner  of  my  former  bed, 
Our  conjugal  enjoyments  now  are  dead ; 
We  bound  ourselves  for  life,  but  life  is  gone  ; 
Those  who  had  wives  are  now  as  tho'  they'd  none. 
Fleshly  connections  never  can  abide 
Within  these  mansions  where  I  now  reside  ; 
Yet  friendship  dear,  and  fellowship  divine, 
Are  heavenly  things  which  never  can  decline. 


316  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

"O  Clarissa !  weep  not  for  me — 'tis  vain  ; 
My  face  you  never  will  behold  again. 
A  widow's  hardships  you  must  bear  awhile, 
Expos'd  to  injury,  distress,  and  toil, 
Always  remember  what  the  Lord  hath  said  ; 
'  I'll  be  the  widow's  God,  the  orphan's  aid  ;* 
Trust  in  his  word  ;  he  never  spake  in  vain ; 
He'll  guide  and  guard  you  thro'  this  world  of  pain  ; 

Then,  in  full  glory  you  shall  live  and  reign. 

"  My  first-born,  Deidamia,  hear  your  father's  voice ; 
In  youthful  days,  oh,  make  the  Lord  your  choice. 
All  things  beneath  the  burning  sun  are  vain ; 
But  Christ  is  life,  and  heaven  is  boundless  gain. 
Repent  of  sin,  believe  in  gospel  grace, 
Then  when  you  die,  you'll  see  your  father's  face. 

"  Sally,  my  lovely  Sally,  you  must  die  ; 
Let  youthful  charms  give  way  to  piety. 
Tho'  I  am  dead,  like  Abel  now  I  speak  ; 
O  fall,  like  Mary,  at  your  Savior's  feet, 
For  sinners  Jesus  bore  exquisite  pain  ; — 
Let  not  his  blood  be  spilt  for  you  in  vain. 

"  Cordelia,  know  thy  father  loves  thee  still, 
Though,  cheerfully  resigned  to  the  Almighty's  will. 

My  station  now  forbids  all  earthly  care. 
To  feed  your  body,  or  your  dress  repair; 

Yet  one  grave  warning  I  am  sent  to  give, — 

Look  at  your  Savior,  and  your  soul  shall  live. 
"  Julia,  my  youngest  daughter,  charming  child. 

Be  not,  by  wicked  customs  e'er  beguil'd. 

The  virtuous  pattern  ;  let  the  virtuous  throng 

Govern  your  passions,  and  command  your  tongue. 

Regard  your  mother;  still  her  counsels  hear; 

Keep  from  her  eyes  the  parent's  painful  tear. 
"  Alanson,  my  son,  my  lovely,  only  son, 

Farewell  my  babe,  thy  father's  glass  is  run; 

Whose  hand  may  guide  you,  what  your  lot  may  be. 

Is  only  known  to  the  great  Deity. 

Know  then,  thy  father's  God,  my  son,  in  youth  ; 

Receive  the  Savior ;  trust  the  word  of  truth  ; 

Out  of  the  mouth  of  babes,  God  can  ordain 

Surprising  strength  to  stop  the  mouths  of  men.* 
"  Brethren  and  neighbors,  when  I  left  the  town, 

I  httle  thought  I  never  should  return  ; 

But  God,  who  governs  all  things,  did  ordain  ' 

That  you  and  I  should  never  meet  again, 

Till  time  shall  be  no  more,  and  Christ  shall  come  to  reign." 

Thus  far  my  Covell  speaks,  with  Leland's  tongue  ; 
Now  Leland  speaks  with  sentiments  his  own. 

*  The  child  here  alluded  to,  an  infant  at  the  time  of  his  father's  decease,  became  after- 
wards a  preacher,  at  the  age  of  21,  and  died,  seemingly  in  the  midst  of  usefulness,  at 
the  early  age  of  33- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 

Brethren,  the  preacher  of  your  choice  is  dead  ; 
His  soul  from  earth  and  earthly  things  has  fled, 
And  the  cold  ground  has  now  become  his  bed. 

Alas!  what  shall  poor  weeping  Zion  do? 
Zion,  whose  foes  are  many,  friends  are  few? 
The  sadness  of  your  hearts  your  eyes  betray, 
You  weep  as  Jesus  did  o'er  Lazarus'  clay, 
And  say  '  our  friend  and  pastor's  called  away.' 

But  let  not  funeral  tears  alone  be  shed ; 
Mourn  for  your  sins  as  for  a  bi other  dead : 
Mourn  for  your  sins  which  have  provoked  your  God 
To  send  this  token  of  his  vengeful  rod. 

Cheer  up !  ye  saints,  the  blissful  Jesus  knows 
What's  best  for  you,  and  that  his  hand  bestows ; 
Though  prophets  die,  and  fathers  dwell  in  dust, 
He  will  preserve  the  souls  who  in  him  trust. 


ESFERIENCZS.* 

Come  old,  come  young,  and  hear  me  relate 
My  life  and  adventures,  and  my  present  state  ; 
I  pray  you  all  give  ear,  to  what  you  now  shall  hear, 
For  my  story  will  pleasure  and  sorrow  create. 

My  childhood  and  youth  in  vanity  I  spent, 
Regardless  of  truth,  and  to  folly  intent, 
For  more  than  eighteeH  years,  I  shed  no  mourning  tears. 
But  pleaded  for  my  sins,  and  refused  to  relent. 

Inflexibly  hard,  and  impenetrably  blind. 
The  pleasures  of  sense  bewildered  my  mind  ; 
To  me  it  did  appear,  God's  law  was  too  severe, — 
To  the  cross  of  the  gospel  I  was  not  inclined. 

But  oh !  that  love — the  love  of  God  to  man, — 
That  everlasting  love,  that  drew  the  saving  plan. 
That  love  pursued  my  soul,  when  I  was  sick  and  foul, 
Too  great  to  resist,  and  too  strong  to  withstand. 

Sin  then  appeared  vile, — the  law  appeared  right. 
And  justice  and  grace  and  holiness  shone  bright ; 
The  word  of  God  was  true,  and  lovely  to  my  view. 
But  a  pardon  for  sin  was  out  of  my  sight. 

I  languished  and  mourned,  how  long  I  cannot  tell, 
I  saw  God  was  just,  if  he  sent  me  to  hell. 
My  heart  was  dreadful  hard,  and  the  door  of  grace  seemed  barred. 
And  my  soul  with  the  devil  forever  must  dwell. 

*  Written  about  the  year  1807. 


317 


318  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

The  way  of  salvation  thro'  Christ  I  did  spy, 
How  God  could  be  just  and  his  law  magnify, 
And  yet  bestow  his  grace  on  sinful  Adam's  race, 
But  those  blessings,  I  feared,  were  not  for  such  as  I. 

But  when  all  my  hopes  had  nearly  fled  away, 
And  hell  from  beneath  was  gaping  for  its  prey, 
My  Saviour  did  appear  to  dissipate  my  fear, 
And  washed  all  my  sins  in  a  moment  away. 

What  freedom  I  felt,  what  joy  I  did  receive  I — 
'Twas  easy  to  repent — 'twas  easy  to  believe  ; — 
I  freely  gave  him  all,  and  at  his  feet  did  fall. 
And  the  glory — all  glory  to  him  I  did  give. 

His  voice  then  I  heard,  in  sweet  majestic  sound, 
"  I've  loved  you — I've  sought  you,  and  closed  up  your  wound, 
I've  a  work  for  you  to  do — be  faithful,  just  and  true. 

And  proclaim  to  the  world  what  a  Saviour  you've  found." 

Not  money  nor  fame,  did  e'er  send  me  forth, 
But  love  to  his  name,  and  love  to  his  trutk. 
I  girt  my  armor  on,  and  ventured  forth  alone, 
Trusting  only  in  God  to  preserve  me  a  youth. 

O'er  mountains  and  waters,  as  duty  led  me  on. 
Through  snow  storms  and  tempests,  and  hot  burning  sun, 
I  ran  with  ail  my  might,  and  labored  day  and  night, 
To  proclaim  a  dear  Saviour  to  sinners  undone. 

But  little  have  I  done,  but  what  was  done  wrong. 
Revivals  have  been  short,  and  apostacies  been  long. 
After  six  and  thirty  years,  I  am  greatly  in  arrears. 
And  have  nothing  to  plead  but  pardoning  love  alone. 

And  now  I'm  growing  old,  my  powers  all  decay, 
I  wander  and  grovel,  and  stumble  in  the  way, 
My  sun  is  going  down,  my  work  is  almost  done, 
I  yield  up  my  life,  and  return  to  my  clay. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  319 


IL    BZOGRAPHICAI.    SKETCH 

OF    THE 

LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  THE  REV.  PETER  WERDEN, 

Who  died  at  Cheshire,  on  Lord's  day,  the  21st  of  Feb.  1808.  The 
funeral  was  attended  the  Wednesday  following  by  a  large  assembly  of 
people.  An  appropriate  discourse  was  delivered  on  the  occasion,  from 
Acts  xiii.  36,  37,  by  the  Rev.  John  Leiand  ;  at  the  close  of  which,  the 
following  lines  were  exhibited  : — 

Howl,  fir  tree,  for  the  cedar  is  fallen  ! 

Help,  Lord,  for  the  godly  man  ceaseth  ;  for  the  righteous  is  taken  away  from  among 
men. 

My  father,  my  father,  the  chariots  of  Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof.  Let  me  die  the 
death  of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his. 

Elder  Werden  was  born  June  6th,  1728,  and  ordained  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  at  Warwick,  Rhode  Island,  May,  1751,  in  the  24th  year  of 
his  age. 

When  he  first  began  to  preach,  he  was  too  much  of  a  New-light,  and 
too  strongly  attached  to  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  sovereign  grace,  to  be 
generally  received  among  the  old  Baptist  churches  in  Rhode  Island,  which 
had  been  formed  partly  upon  the  Armenian  plan,  until  the  following  event 
opened  the  door  for  him.  A  criminal,  by  the  name  of  Carter,  was  exe- 
cuted at  Tower  Hill.  This  occasion  collected  abundance  of  people  from 
all  parts  of  the  state.  While  the  criminal  stood  under  the  gallows,  young 
Werden  felt  such  a  concern  for  his  soul,  that  he  urged  his  way  through 
the  crowd  ;  and  being  assisted  by  the  sheriff,  he  gained  access  to  Carter, 
and  addressed  him  as  follows  : — "  Sir,  is  your  soul  prepared  for  that  awful 
eternity,  into  which  you  will  launch  in  a  few  minutes  ?"  The  criminal  re- 
plied, "  I  don't  know  that  it  is,  but  I  wish  you  would  pray  for  me."  In 
this  prayer,  Mr.  Werden  was  so  wonderfully  assisted  in  spreading  the  poor 
man's  case  before  the  throne  of  God,  that  the  whole  assembly  were  aw- 
fully solemnized,  and  most  of  them  wet  their  cheeks  with  their  tears.  This 
opened  a  great  door  for  his  ministrations,  both  on  the  Main  and  on  the 
Island. 

He  preached  at  Warwick,  Coventry,  and  many  other  places  with  good 
success,  about  nineteen  years,  and  then  moved,  in  1770,  into  this  place, 
where  he  has  lived  and  administered  almost  thirty-eight  years. 


320 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


In  his  first  religious  exercises,  he  was  led  to  dig  deep  into  his  own 
heart,  where  he  found  such  opposition  and  rebellion,  that  when  he  obtained 
pardon,  he  attributed  it  to  sovereign  grace  alone  ;  which  sentiment,  so  in- 
terwoven in  his  own  soul,  he  ever  proclaimed  aloud  to  a  dying  world. 
Nothing  appeared  to  be  more  disgustful  to  his  mind,  than  to  hear  works 
and  grace  mixed  together,  as  the  fpundation  of  a  sinner's  hope.  To  hold 
forth  the  Lamb  of  God  as  a  piece  of  a  Saviour  j  or  to  consider  the  self- 
exertions  of  a  natural  man,  to  be  the  way  unto  Christ,  the  true  and  only 
way,  were  extremely  displeasing  to  that  soul  of  his,  which  delighted  so 
much  in  proclaiming  eternal  love,  redeeming  blood,  and  matchless  grace. 
Sound  judgment,  correct  principles,  humble  demeanor,  with  solemn  so- 
ciability, marked  all  his  public  improvements,  and  mingled  with  all  his 
conversation  in  smaller  circles,  or  with  individuals. 

In  him,  young  preachers  found  a  father  and  a  friend ;  distressed 
churches,  a  healer  of  breaches  ;  and  tempted  souls  a  sympathizing  guide. 
From  his  first  coming  into  this  place,  until  he  was  seventy  years  old,  he 
was  a  father  to  the  Baptist  churches  in  Berkshire  and  its  environs,  and  in 
some  sense  an  apostle  to  them  all. 

His  many  painful  labors  for  the  salvation  of  sinners,  the  peace  of  the 
churches,  and  purity  of  the  ministers,  will  never  be  fully  appreciated,  until 
the  time  when  he  shall  stand  before  his  Judge,  and  hear  the  words  of  his 
mouth,  "  Well  done  good  and  faithful  servant." 

The  character  which  I  have  drawn  of  the  life  and  labors  of  the  man, 
who  now  lies  sleeping  in  death  before  our  eyes,  many  of  you  know  to  be 
true.  From  the  sternness  of  his  eyes  and  the  blush  of  his  face,  a  stranger 
would  have  been  led  to  conclude  that  he  was  sovereign  and  self-willed  in 
his  natural  habit  of  mind  ;  but  on  acquaintance,  the  physiognomist  would 
have  been  agreeably  disappointed.  He  has  so  much  self-government,  that 
he  has  been  heard  to  say,  that,  except  when  he  had  the  small-pox,  he 
never  found  it  hard  to  keep  from  speaking  at  any  time,  if  his  reason  told 
him  it  was  best  to  forbear  ;  and  no  man  possessed  finer  feelings,  or  treated 
the  characters  of  others  with  more  delicacy  than  he  did.  He  had  an  ex- 
alted idea  of  the  inalienable  rights  of  conscience  ;  justly  appreciated  the 
civil  rights  of  man,  and  was  assiduous  to  keep  his  brethren  from  the  chains 
of  ecclesiastical  power. 

His  preaching  was  both  sentimental  and  devotional  ;  and  his  life  so  far 
corresponded  with  the  precepts  which  he  taught,  that  none  of  his  hearers 
could  justly  reply,  "  Physician,  heal  thyself." 

A'  number  of  revivals  have  taken  place  in  the  town  and  cono-j-egation 
where  he  has  resided  and  preached,  and  a  number  of  ministers  have  been 
raised  up  in  the  church  of  which  he  was  pastor. 

For  about  ten  years  his  physical  and  mental  powers  have  been  on  the 
decline,  and  how  many  times  have  we  heard  him  rejoice,  that  others  in- 


ELDER    JOHN   LELAND.  321 

creased  though  he  decreased  ;  but  his  superannuation  was  not  so  great  as 
to  prevent  the  whole  of  his  usefulness,  and  his  hoary  head  was  a  crown  of 
glory  unto  him. 

A  number  of  times  he  has  been  heard  (o  prny,  that  he  might  not  outlive 
his  usefulness,  which  has  been  remarkably  answered  in  his  case,  for  the 
Sunday  before  he  died,  he  preached  to  the  people — he  preached  his  last. 

The  disease  which  closed  his  mortal  life,  denied  his  friends  the  solemn 
pleasure  of  catching  the  balm  of  life  from  his  lips,  in  his,  last  moments. 
He  had  finished  his  work  before,  and  nothing  remained  for  him  to  do  but 
to  die.  Socrates,  the  patient  philosopher,  said  to  have  never  been  angry 
in  his  life,  when  dying,  was  vexed.  The  cause  was  this :  his  pupils  asked 
him  what  he  would  have  them  do  with  his  body  after  he  was  dead.  To 
whom  he  sternly  replied,  "  have  I  been  so  long  with  you,  and  taught  you 
no  better?  After  I  am  dead,  what  you  see  will  not  be  Socrates.  Socrates 
will  then  be  among  the  gods."  The  improvement  which  I  now  make  on 
the  words  of  this  philosopher  is  this :  what  we  see  here  lying  before  our 
eyes,  is  not  Werden,  this  is  but  the  shell :  his  soul  is  now  among  the  an- 
gels  and  saints  in  light,  before  the  throne  of  glory.  I  will  not  say  that  his 
soul  is  under  the  altar  with  others,  crying,  "  how  long,  O  Lord,  holy  and 
true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earth,"  because  he  did  not  offer  his  life  on  the  altar  of  martyrdom  ;  but  I 
have  an  unshaken  belief  that  his  soul  has  left  all  its  tribulation,  being  wash- 
ed and  made  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  is  now  basking  in  the 
sun-i)eams  of  immortal  noon. 

Let  the  inhabitants  of  Cheshire  reflect  a  moment  on  the  dealings  of  God 
towards  them.  Within  about  three  years,  three  ministers,  belonging  to 
Cheshire,  have  departed  this  life.  The  pious  Mason  tof)k  the  lead — the 
pleasing  Covell  followed  after — and  now  the  arduous  Werden,  who  has 
been  in  the  ministry  a  longer  term  than  any  B<ipiist  preacher  left  behind, 
in  New  England,  has  finished  his  course,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age, 
while  Leland  remains  alone  to  raise  this  monument  over  their  tombs. 


41 


3S2  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


The  teo  foIIowiDg  hymns  were  published  as  early  as  1809: — 
EVENING   WZTHN. 

The  day  is  past  and  gone, 

The  evening  shades  appear; 
O  may  we  all  remember  well 
The  nigh<  of  death  draws  near. 

We  lay  our  garments  by, 

Upon  our  beds  to  rest ; 
So  death  will  soon  disrobe  us  all 

Of  what  we've  here  possessed. 

Lord,  keep  us  all  this  night, 
Secure  from  all  our  fears ; 

May  angels  guard  us  while  we  sleep, 
Till  morning  light  appears. 

And  if  we  early  rise. 

And  view  th'  unwearied  sun, 

May  we  set  out  to  win  the  prize 
And  after  glory  run. 

And  when  our  days  are  pnst. 
And  we  from  time  remove, 

O  may  we  in  thy  bosom  rest, — 
The  bosom  of  thy  love. 


INVITATION    TO   FIZ.GRIKS. 

Wand'ring  pilgrims,  mourning  Christians, 

Weak  and  tempted  lambs  of  Christ, 
Who  endure  great  tribulation, 

And  with  sin  are  much  distressed  ; 
Christ  haih  sent  me  to  invite  you, 

To  a  rich  and  costly  feast ; 
Let  not  shame  nor  pride  prevent  you, — 

Come, — the  rich  provision  taste. 

If  you  have  a  heart  lamenting, 

And  bemoan  your  wretched  case. 
Come  to  Jesus  Christ  repeniing  ; 

He  will  give  you  gospel  grace  ; 
If  you  want  a  heart  to  fear  hiMi, 

Love  and  serve  him  all  your  days  ; 
Come  to  Jesus  Christ  and  ask  him  ; 

He  will  guide  you  in  his  ways. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 

If  yonr  heart  is  unbelieving, 

Doubting  Jesus'  pard'ning  love. 
Lie  hard  by  Bethesda  wairing 

Till  the  troubled  waters  move. 
If  no  man  appear  to  help  you, 

All  their  efforts  prove  but  talk, 
Jesus,  Jesus,  he  can  heal  you. 

Rise,  take  up  your  bed  and  wal&. 

If,  like  Peter,  you  are  sinking 

In  the  sea  of  unbelief. 
Wait  with  patience,  constant  praying, 

Christ  will  send  you  sweet  relief; 
He  will  give  you  grace  and  glory, 

All  your  wants  shall  be  supplied ; 
Canaan,  Canaan,  lies  before  you, 

Rise  and  cross  the  swelling  tide. 

Death  shall  not  destroy  your  comfort, 

Christ  will  guard  you  thro'  the  gloom; 
Down  he'll  send  a  heavenly  envoy, 

To  convey  your  spirit  home  ; 
There,  you'll  spend  your  days  in  pleasure, 

Free  from  every  want  and  care ; 
Come,  oh  come,  my  blessed  Saviour, 

Fain  my  spirit  would  be  there. 


TBS   INTZSnCBSSIOlT  OF   CBRZST. 

Now  the  Saviour  stands  a  pleading, 

At  the  sinner's  bolted  heart ; 
Now  in  heaven  he's  interceding, 

Undertaking  sinner's  part ; 
Now  he  pleads  his  sweat  and  blood-shed. 

Shows  his  wounded  hands  and  feet ; 
Father,  save  them,  though  they're  blood-red. 

Raise  them  to  a  heavenly  seat. 

Sinners,  hear  your  God  and  Saviour, 

Hear  his  gracious  voice  to-day; 
Turn  from  all  your  vain  behaviour, 

O  repent,  return,  and  pray  ; 
Open  now  your  hearts  before  him, 

Bid  the  Saviour  welcome  in, 
O  receive  and  glad  adore  him, 

Take  a  full  discharge  from  sin. 

Now  he's  waiting  to  be  gracious. 

Now  he  stands  and  looks  at  thee ; 
See,  what  kindness,  love  and  pity. 

Shine  around  to  you  and  me ; 


324  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Sinners,  can  you  hate  that  Saviour  ? 

Can  you  thrust  him  from  your  arms? 
Once  he  died  for  your  behaviour. 

Now  he  calls  you  by  his  charms. 

O  be  wise,  before  you  languish 

On  a  bed  of  dying  strife  ; 
Endless  joy  or  endless  anguish. 

Turn  upon  th'  events  of  life  ; 
Come,  for  all  things  now  are  readji, 

Yet  there's  room  for  many  more  ; 
O  ye  blind,  ye  lame  and  needy, 

Come  to  grace's  boundless  store. 


Blessed  be  God  for  all, 

For  all  things  here  below. 
For  pain,  and  grief,  and  joy  and  thrall. 

To  my  advantage  grow. 

Blessed  be  God  for  shame. 

For  slander  and  disgrace  ; 
Welcome  reproach  for  Jesus'  name, 

And  his  redeeming  grace. 

Blessed  be  God  for  loss. 

For  loss  of  earthly  things ; 
For  every  scourge  and  every  cross^ 

Me  nearer  Jesus  brings. 

Blessed  be  God  for  want 
Of  raiment,  health  and  food  ; 

I  live  by  faith,  I  scorn  to  faint. 
For  all  things  work  for  good. 

Blessed  be  God  for  pain. 

Which  tears  my  flesh  like  thorns^ 
It  crucifies  the  carnal  man. 

To  God  my  soul  returns. 

Blessed  be  God  for  doubts, 

Which  he  has  overcome  ; 
My  soul  in  full  assurance  shouts. 

Of  being  soon  at  home. 

Blessed  be  God  for  fears 

Of  sin,  and  death,  and  hell ; 

When  Christ,  who  is  my  life,  appearSj 
I  shall  in  glory  dwell. 

Blessed  be  God  for  friends ; 

Blessed  be  God  for  foes ; 
Blessed  be  God  whose  gracious  ends, 

No  finite  creature  knows. 


ELDER  JOHN    LELANO.  325 


Blessed  be  God  for  life, 
Blessed  be  God  for  death, 

Blessed  be  God  for  all  he  sends ; 
I  welcome  all  this  faith. 


THX3  CHRISTZAXT'S    C  ON  S  O  X.  ATIOIT 


Come  and  taste,  along  with  me. 
Consolation  running  free, 
From  my  Father's  glorious  throne, 
Sweeter  than  the  honey  comb. 

Wherefore  should  I  seek  alone  ? 
Two  are  better  still  than  one  ; 
More  that  come,  of  free  good  will, 
Make  the  banquet  sweeter  still. 

Saints  in  glory  sing  aloud, 
To  behold  an  heir  of  God, 
Coming  in  at  grace's  door, 
Making  up  the  number  more. 

Goodness  running  like  a  stream 
From  the  New  Jerusalem, 
By  its  constant  breaking  forth, 
Sweetens  earth  and  heaven  both. 

Sinful  nature,  vile  and  base, 
Cannot  stop  the  run  of  grace, 
While  there  is  a  God  to  give. 
Or  a  sinner  to  receive. 

When  I  go  to  heaven's  store. 
Asking  for  a  little  more, 
Jesus  gives  a  double  share, 
Calling  me  a  gleaner  there. 

Then,  rejoicing,  home  I  go. 
From  this  feast  of  heaven  below, 
Gleaning  manna  on  the  road 
Dropping  from  the  mouth  of  God. 

Heaven  there,  and  heaven  here. 
Comforts  every  where  appear. 
This  I  boldly  can  declare. 
Since  my  soul  receives  a  share. 


THIS    FREACHBR'S    XilTB. 

How  arduous  is  the  preacher's  fight  I 

What  pangs  his  vilals  feel  I 
To  preach  the  gospel  day  and  night, 

To  hearts  as  hard  as  steel. 


336 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 

While  some  blaspheme  and  show  their  spite, 

And  mock  at  all  they  hear, 
Others,  in  chase  of  vain  delight, 

Like  adders,  stop  the  ear. 

To  heaven  he  turns  his  weeping  eyes. 

To  antidote  despair. 
With  broken  heart,  and  longing  eyes. 

He  tries  the  effect  of  prayer. 

If  God,  propitious,  hear  his  cry. 

And  some  small  fruit  he  see, 
How  soon  the  hopeful  prospects  die, 

How  short  the  jubilee. 

When  sinners  hear  the  Saviour's  voice, 

And  feel  the  power  divine. 
The  preacher's  heart  and  soul  rejoice. 

To  see  the  gospel  shine. 

What  courage,  faith,  and  holy  zeal, 

Transport  his  ravished  breast, 
What  inward  joy  his  spirits  feel, 

To  sec  Lis  labors  blessed. 

But  ah !  how  short  the  shining  day  ; 

How  soon  the  night  appears  I 
All  those  of  Asia  turn  away. 

How  gloomy  then  his  fears  I 

Good  God  I  he  cries,  with  anxious  breast, 

Are  all  my  labors  vain? 
Must  all  the  lambs  and  sheep  of  Christ, 

Turn  goats  and  wolves  again? 


THS    FZIEACHER'S    ElfQUIRT. 

Brethren,  I  have  come  once  more. 
Let  us  join  and  God  adore  ; 
Joseph  lives,  and  Jesus  reigns. 
Praise  him  in  the  highest  strains. 

Many  days  and  years  have  passed. 
Since  we  met,  before  the  last. 
Yet  otfr  lives  do  still  remain. 
Here,  on  earth,  we  meet  again. 

Many  of  our  friends  are  gone, 
To  their  long,  eternal  home. 
They  have  left  us  here  below, 
Soon  we  after  them  shall  go. 

Brethren,  tell  me  how  you  do. 
Does  your  love  continue  true? 


ELDER    JOHN   LELAND.  327 

Are  you  waiting  for  your  King, 
When  he  comes,  his  saints  to  bring? 

If  you  wish  to  know  of  me, 
What  I  am,  and  how  I  be. 
Here  I  am,  behuld,  who  will. 
Sure,  I  am  a  sinner  still. 

Weak  and  helpless,  lame  and  blind, 
All  unholy,  still  I  find. 
Worse  than  ever,  all  may  see. 
Yet  the  Lord  remembers  me. 


mOVGHTS   ON   THE   jnOGIKZSXffT  DAY. 

Think,  O  my  soul,  the  dreadful  day, 
When  heaven  and  earth  shall  flee  away, 
When  Christ  in  solemn  pomp  shall  come. 
Upon  his  white  majestic  throne. 

Then  Gabriel,  at  the  King's  command, 
Shall  take  the  trumpet  in  his  hand, 
And  sound  alarm,  so  shrill  and  clear. 
That  heaven,  and  eanh,  and  hell  shall  hear. 

The  grand  assize  will  then  take  place. 
On  every  soul  of  Adam's  race  ; 
Both  saint  and  sinner  must  appear. 
And  all  their  final  sentence  hear. 

The  saints,  in  glittering  robes,  shall  stand. 
In  that  great  day,  at  God's  right  hand; 
The  Lamb's  rich  blood  shall  be  their  plea, 
And  they  his  smiling  face  shall  see. 

"Come,  all  the  bless'd  of  God,"  he'll  say, 
"  My  blood  hath  wash'd  your  sins  away ; 
"Come,  take  your  golden  harps  and  sing, 
"And  make  the  heavenly  arches  ring." 

But  what  will  guilty  sinners  do. 
When  all  their  sins  appear  in  view? 
How  will  ihey  tremble,  cry,  and  groan. 
To  see  their  Judge  upon  his  throne ! 

"  Depart  from  me,  ye  sinful  race, 
"  Ye  broke  my  laws,  abused  my  grace; 
"  Go  down  to  darkness  and  despair, 
"  And  dwell  eternal  ages  there." 


328  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

The  occasion  on  which  a  part  of  the  following  Hymn  was  composed,  is  related  in  hj« 
biography.     The  last  three  verses  appear  to  have  been  afterwards  added. 

Christians,  if  your  hearts  be  warm, 
Ice  and  snow  can  do  no  harm ; 
If  by  Jesus  you  are  jjrized, 
Rise,  believe,  and  be  baptized. 

Jesus  drank  the  gall  for  you, 
Bore  the  curse  for  sinners  due; 
Children,  prove  your  love  to  him, 
Never  fear  the  frozen  stream. 

Never  shun  the  Saviour's  cross, 
.  '■'  X  All  on  earth  is  worthless  dross  ; 

If  the  Saviour's  love  you  feel, 
Let  the  world  behold  your  zeal. 

Fire  is  good  to  warm  the  soul. 
Water  purifies  the  foul; — 
Fire  and  water  both  ngree — 
Winter  soldiers  never  flee. 

Every  season  of  the  year, 
Let  your  worship  be  sincere  ; 
When  the  storm  forbids  you  roam, 
Serve  your  gracious  God  at  home- 
Read  his  gracious  word  by  day, 
Ever  watching,  always  pray  ; 
Think  upon  his  law  by  night ; — ■ 
This  will  give  you  great  delight. 


I  SET  myself  against  the  Lord, 
Despised  his  spirit  and  his  word. 

And  wished  to  take  his  place  ; 
It  vexed  me  so,  that  I  must  die, 
And  perish  too,  eternally, 

Or  else  be  saved  by  grace. 

Of  every  preacher  I'd  complain  ; 

One  spoke  thro'  pride,  and  one  for  gain, 

Another's  learning  small ; 
One  spoke  too  fast,  and  one  too  slow  ; 
One  prayed  too  loud,  and  one  too  low  ; 

Another  had  no  call. 

Some  walk  too  straight  to  make  a  show, 

While  others  far  too  crooked  go  ; 
And  both  of  these  I  scorn  ; 

Some  odd,  fantastic  motions  make  ; 

Some  stoop  loo  low,  some  stand  too  straight- 
No  one  is  faultless  born. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 

With  no  professor  I  could  join  ; 

Some  dressed  too  mean,  and  some  too  fine,  ^ 

And  some  would  talk  too  long ; 
Some  had  a  tone,  eome  had  no  gift ; 
One  talked  too  slow,  and  one  too  swift; 

And  all  of  them  were  wrong. 

I  thought  they'd  better  keep  at  home. 
Than  to  exhort  where'er  they  come. 

And  tell  us  of  their  joys ; 
They'd  better  keep  their  gardens  free 
From  weeds,  than  to  examine  me, 

And  vex  me  with  their  noise. 

Kindred  and  neighbors,  too,  were  bad, 
And  no  true  friend  was  to  be  had ; 

My  rulers,  too,  were  vile ; 
At  length,  I  was  reduced  to  see 
The  fault  did  mostly  lie  in  me, 

And  had  done  ail  the  while. 

The  horrid  load  of  guilt  and  shame. 
The  inward  consciousness  of  blame 

Did  wound  my  frighted  soul ; 
I've  sinned  so  much  against  the  Lord, 
Despised  his  goodness  and  his  word. 

How  can  I  be  made  whole  ? 

"  Why,  there  is  balm  in  Gilead, 
"  And  a  physician  may  be  had, 

"  And  balsam  too  most  free  ; 
"  Only  believe  on  God's  dear  son, 
"  Thro'  him  the  victory  is  won — 

"  Christ  Jesus  died  for  thee." 

O,  Christ's  free  love,  a  boundless  sea  I 
What !  to  expire  for  such  as  me  ? 

"  Yes,  'tis  a  truth  divine." 
My  heart  did  melt,  my  soul  o'er-run 
With  love,  to  see  what  God  had  done 
For  souls  so  vile  as  mine. 

Now,  I  can  hear  a  child  proclaim 
The  joyful  news,  and  bless  the  name 

Of  Jesus  Christ,  my  king; 
I  scorn  no  sect — the  saints  are  one ; 
With  my  complaints  I  now  have  done, 

And  God's  free  grace  I  sing. 


42 


329 


330 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


BUDGET  OF  SCRAPS. 


The  following  essays  were  published  in  1810,  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "a 
BUDGET  OF  SCRAPS."  Several  of  the  original  essays  are  omitted  for 
want  of  room. 

A    MAN    MUST    HAVE    SENSE    TO    JUDGE    OF    SENSE. 

This  trite  sentence  is  entitled  to  a  good  degree  of  credit,  but  is  subject 
to  many  exceptions. 

Infantus  could  count  one  hundred,  but  knew  nothing  more  of  arithmetic. 
His  preceptor  told  him  that  ten  times  ten  were  one  hundred  :  this  the  child 
could  not  understand,  but  placing  ten  grains  of  corn  by  themselves,  in  ten 
different  places  on  the  table,  and  counting  them  altogether,  he  found  the 
total  amount  to  be  one  hundred.  The  preceptor  then  told  the  lad,  that  ten 
times  one  hundred  would  make  one  thousand,  on  which  the  pupil  reasoned 
as  follows  :  "  In  the  first  instance,  I  know  my  master  knew  more  than  I  did, 
and  in  the  last,  I  have  good  reason  to  believe,  that  he  knows  more  than  I  do." 

Servitus  entered  an  apprentice  to  architecture.  The  master-builder  pre- 
pared and  framed  each  stick  for  the  house,  in  a  separate  place,  in  the  for- 
est, and  after  collecting  them  together,  reared  up  the  house  in  regular 
squares  and  altitudes  :  at  sight  of  which,  the  astonished  Servitus  exclaimed, 
"  I  know  the  master-builder  knows  more  than  I  know." 

Neptunus  resolved  to  try  his  fortune  at  sea,  though  ignorant  of  naviga- 
tion ;  freighted  a  large  ship  for  Canton,  and  committed  himself  to  sea,  at 
the  direction  of  a  pilot.  In  the  lapse  of  a  few  months,  the  ship  doubled 
the  cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  came  to  her  moorings  before  Canton.  After 
Neptunus  had  adjusted  his  business  in  the  East  Indies,  he  returned  a  differ- 
ent route,  but,  at  length,  landed  at  the  same  port,  whence  he  took  his  de- 
parture :  on  landing,  he  said,  *'  My  sense  tells  me  that  the  pilot  has  more 
sense  than  I  have." 

When  Simplemus  first  read  the  prophetic  calculations  of  Astronomous, 
respecting  the  eclipses  of  the  sun  and  moon,  he  treated  them  as  essays  of 
chimerical  folly,  but  when  he  saw  them  all  accomplished,  he  radically 
changed  his  opinion,  and  now  he  believes  all  such  prophecies,  by  a  faith, 
grounded  on  reason  :  notwithstanding,  he  is  still  as  ignorant  of  the  science 
of  eclipses,  as  he  is  of  the  first  vital  pulse  of  his  heart.  Simplemus  has 
now  adopted  the  maxim,  that  "  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  nfact,  when  sup- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  331 

ported  by  rational  evidence,  although  the  fact  still  continues  to  be  incon- 
ceivable or  incomprehensible. 

As  I  am  much  pleased  with  the  maxim  of  Simplemus,  I  wish  to  accom- 
modate it  to  a  theological  use. 

The  incarnation  of  Christ — the  personal  union  of  the  divine  and  human 
natures,  commonly  called  the  hypostatical  union,  is  one  of  those yacis  which 
admits  of  rational  evidence,  yet  is  incomprehensible  by  men — by  angels — 
by  every  being  except  Ubiquity,  the  great  Eternal. 

That  Jesus  Christ  was  properly  and  truly  God,  his  names — his  claims — 
his  works,  and  the  testimonials  of  inspired  witnesses,  all  confirm. 

His  7iames  are,  King — King  of  kings — Lord — God — Everlasting  Father, 
the  First  and  the  Last — the  Beginning  and  the  End — Alpha  and  Omega — 
the  true  God  and  Eternal  Life — the  Light  of  the  world — the  Life — the 
Creator  and  Upholder  of  all  things,  etc.  Some  of  these  names  are  given 
to  angels  and  magistrates,  it  is  true,  but  others  of  them  are  given  alone  to 
Jehovah. 

It  is  moreover  to  be  observed,  that  the  Hebrew  Adonia,  or  Jodlie  vau  he, 
which  occurs  more  than  six  thousand  times  in  the  Old  Testament,  (trans- 
lated Lord,)  and  which  is  a  peculiar  name  of  the  Almighty,  and  never  given 
to  angels  or  kings,  is  frequently  given  to  Christ,  both  by  the  apostles,  who 
quote  and  apply  such  passages  to  him,  and  by  the  prophets  when  manifestly 
speaking  of  the  Messiah. 

His  claims  to  Godhead  are  also  manifest.  Hear  his  words  :  "  I  and  my 
Father  are  one  ;  that  all  men  should  honor  the  Son  as  they  do  the  Father, 
even  so  the  Son  quickeneth  whomsoever  he  will  ;  I  am  the  resurrection  and 
the  life  ;  he  that  seeth  me  seeth  the  Father  also  ;  I  know  you,  that  ye  have 
not  the  love  of  God  in  you,"  etc. 

His  works  were  many  and  marvellous.  The  prophets  wrought  miracles 
in  the  name  of  the  God  of  Israel.  The  apostles  wrought  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  If  Jesus,  in  some  instances,  wrought  by  prayer  to  his 
Father,  to  establish  his  character  as  a  prophet  of  the  Lord,  and  set  an  ex- 
ample for  the  apostles,  yet,  for  the  most  part,  he  spoke  authoritatively,  not 
in  the  name  of  another,  but  in  his  own  name.  In  his  casting  out  devils — 
controlling  the  winds  and  the  waves,  and  raising  the  dead,  very  little  doubt 
can  remain,  he  wrought  as  an  independent,  self-sufRcient  God. 

By  Christ  all  things  were  created  :  he  is  the  only  Redeemer  of  men: 
by  him  all  the  dead  will  be  raised.  What  works  can  evince  godhead,  if 
creation,  redemption,  and  the  resurrection  do  not  ?  The  two  first  of  these 
works,  however,  have  been  done  by  Christ ;  the  last,  also,  partially, 
and  will  be  completed  by  the  same  hand,  according  to  the  Sciptures.  Now, 
if  Christ  does  all  these  works  by  a  delegated  power,  which,  as  an  exalted 
creature,  he  receives  from  God,  what  difference  can  we  possibly  conceive 
exists  between  the  Creator  and  the  creature  ?  Has  the  Creator  made  a  crea- 


332  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

ture  equal  to  himself?  Or,  are  the  works  of  creation,  redemption,  and 
the  resurrection,  no  proof  of  Omnipotence  ? 

The  ieslimonials  which  Christ  has  received  from  inspired  witnesses  are 
explicit,  viz  :  "  The  word  was  God — all  things  were  made  by  him — He 
thought  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God — the  express  image  of  his  per- 
son  and  the  brightness  of  his  glory.  Thou,  Lord,  in  the  beginning,  hast 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth,  and  the  heavens  are  the  work  of  thine 
hands  ;  they  shall  perish,  and  wax  old  and  be  changed,  but  thou  remainest 
the  same,  and  thy  years  fail  not ;  this  is  the  true  God,  and  Eternal  Life — 
the  only  wise  God,  our  Saviour,"  &c. 

That  Jesus  Christ  was  real  man,  as  well  as  truly  God,  is  also  evident. 
His  flesh,  bone  and  blood — his  hungerings,  thirstings  and  weariness — 

His  weeping,  praying  and  sighing — 
His  groaning,  bleeding  and  dying — 

all  unite  to  prove  him  human.  But  notwithstanding  the  whole  force  of 
evidence  that  is  given  to  prove  the  fact  of  this  hypostatical  union  of  two 
natures  in  Christ,  yet  the  fact  itself,  of  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  is  declared 
by  Paul  to  be  a  great  mystery,  not  to  be  controverted. 

If  I  understand  the  import  of  enthusiasm,  it  consists  in  believing  toithoui 
evidence,  but  it  is  no  part  of  enthusiasm  to  believe  an  article  incomprehen- 
sible in  its  nature,  when  we  have  all  the  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  arti- 
cle, that  its  nature  admits  of. 

It  is,  therefore,  my  devotion,  my  joy  and  my  glory,  to  adore  an  incar- 
nate Jehovah.  Should  I  refuse  this  adoration,  I  should  act  an  unreasonable 
as  well  as  a  wicked  part. 


A    LITTTE    CAKE    FIRST. 1   KINGS,  XVII. 

Elijah,  the  Tishbitc,  was  very  jealous  for  his  God,  but  a  man  of  pas- 
sions like  other  saints.  He  was  led,  by  the  spirit,  to  pray  for  a  sore  judg- 
ment to  fall  on  the  people  of  Israel,  that  those  who  had  despised  the  good- 
ness of  God,  might  be  reclaimed  by  his  severity.  He  prayed  earnestly 
that  it  might  not  rain,  and  it  rained  not  on  the  earth  for  the  space  of  three 
years  and  six  months.  The  drought  was  followed  by  a  want  of  bread  and 
water,  and  the  prophet,  who  prayed  for  judgment,  had,  in  common  with  his 
own  countrymen,  to  combat  the  evils,  which  arose  from  the  answer  of  his 
own  prayer. 

"  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  Elijah,  saying,  get  thee  hence, 
and  turn  thee  eastward,  and  hide  thyself  by  the  brook Cherith,  that  is  be- 
yond Jordan,  and  it  shall  be,  that  thou  shalt  drink  of  the  brook,  and  I  have 
commanded  the  ravens  to  feed  thee  there." 

In  obedience  to  these  orders,  the  prophet  went  and  dwelt  by  the  brook, 
which  was  one  of  the  tributary  sti:eanis  of  Jordan.     A.nd  the  ravens,  that 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  333 

live  upon  prey,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  their  nature,  brought  the  lonely 
saint  bread  and  flesh  in  the  morning,  and  the  same  at  evening,  which,  with 
the  water  of  the  brook,  formed  the  sustenance  of  Elijah. 

But  in  process  of  time,  the  brook  dried  up,  and  the  ravens  neglected  their 
charge,  which  reduced  the  prophet  to  perfect  want,  without  the  least  human 
appearance  of  relief:  but  "the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  him,  saying, 
Arise,  get  thee  to  Zerephath,  which  belongs  to  Zidon,  and  dwell  there:  be- 
hold,  I  have  commanded  a  widow  woman  there  to  sustain  thee."  I  do  not 
send  thee  to  king  Ahab,  nor  any  of  the  princes  of  Israel,  for  they  are 
idolaters,  and  seek  thy  life  :  nor  do  I  send  thee  unto  the  rich,  who  have 
wealth,  but  no  hearts  to  communicate  :  I  send  thee  not  to  any  man  or 
woman  of  Israel,  for  they  are  so  self-conceited  of  their  own  advantages, 
and  their  pre-eminent  virtue,  above  other  nations,  that  they  neglect  all  hu- 
mane and  benevolent  actions  :  but  to  a  widow  woman  of  Zidon  I  send  thee. 

In  compliance  with  those  instructions,  Elijah  arose  and  came  to  Zere- 
phath ;  and  when  he  came  to  the  gate  of  the  city,  behold  !  the  widow  wo- 
man was  there,  gathering  sticks  for  oven-wood,  and  he  called  to  her,  and 
said,  fetch  me,  I  pray  thee,  a  little  water  in  a  vessel,  that  I  may  drink. 
The  woman  (who  had  not  been  civilized  to  barbarity,  nor  gospelized  to 
covetousness.)  very  courteously  went  to  bring  him  the  water  for  which  he 
prayed  :  but  as  she  was  going,  he  called  to  her  again,  and  said,  Bring  me, 
I  pray  thee,  a  morsel  of  bread  in  thine  hand. 

The  Lord  had  given  commandment  to  the  woman  to  sustain  Elijah,  but 
had  not  given  him  any  legal  orders  on  the  woman  ;  hence  he  prayed,  both 
for  water  and  bread.  Water  had  not  yet  grown  scarce  in  Zidon ;  with 
this  request  the  woman  could  easily  comply,  but  when  a  morsel  of  bread 
was  called  for,  it  touched  the  tender  feelings  of  her  heart.  "  And  she  said, 
as  the  Lord  thy  God  liveth,  I  have  not  a  cake,  but  a  handful  of  meal  in  a 
barrel,  and  a  little  oil  in  a  cruise,  and  behold  I  am  gathering  two  sticks, 
that  I  may  go  in  and  dress  it  for  me  and  my  son,  that  we  may  eat  it  and 
die." 

The  Zidonian  woman  swore  by  Elijah's  God,  that  her  case  was  extremely 
pitiable  and  indigent,  and  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  her  narrative 
was  true.  She  had  no  prospect  of  any  future  supply,  but  expected  that 
after  herself  and  son  had  eaten  one  little  cake  more,  they  must  both  of 
ihem  die. 

And  Elijah  said  unto  her,  "  fear  not ;  go  and  do  as  thou  hast  said  ;  but 
make  me  thereof  a  little  cake  first,  and  bring  unto  me ;  and  after  make 
lor  thee  and  thy  son."  How  radically  different  is  the  doctrine  of  the  text, 
from  the  conduct  of  most  of  the  ancients  and  moderns  !  "  Let  me  first 
get  wealth,  and  then  I  will  be  liberal — fi7-st  lay  up  enough  for  myself  and 
my  children,  and  then  I  will  communicate  to  the  servants  of  the  Lord,"  is 
the  pactical  language  of  men  and  women  in  general  ;  but  the  injunction  of 


334  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

the  text  is,  "  Give  the  prophet  of  the  Lord  a  Httle  cake  first,  and  then  pre- 
pare for  thy  family."  This  precept  perfectly  coincides  with  the  instruc- 
tions which  Solomon  has  given  us :  "  honor  the  Lord  with  thy  substance, 
and  with  i\\e  first  fruits  of  all  thine  increase." 

Some  suppose  the  prophets  of  the  Lord  will  perish,  unless  legal  provis- 
ion is  made  for  them  :  this  provision,  however,  was  not  made  for  Elijah. 

Others  imagine  that  when  men  are  called  to  the  holy  and  public  service 
of  the  Lord,  that  the  Almighty  will  support  them  by  miracles.  This  is 
.sometimes  the  case  :  by  ravens,  this  same  Elijah  had  lately  been  fed  ;  but 
in  the  instance  before  us,  the  miracle  was  not  wrought  so  much  for  the 
prophet,  who  received,  as  it  was  for  the  woman,  Y/\\ogave. 

A  certain  class  of  men  have  strong  faith,  that  God  will  provide  for  the 
laborers  in  the  vineyard,  and  their  good  faith  is  all  they  have,  for  they  never 
communicate ;  but  in  the  case  before  us,  the  woman  did  not  speak  the  lan- 
guage that  many  do  in  these  days :  "  Never  fear,  Elijah,  your  God  will 
feed  and  preserve  you ;  for  my  own  part,  I  should  never  be  afraid  to  trust 
him  :  I  have  but  a  little,  and  that  I  need  for  myself  and  my  son  :  no  doubt 
but  others  will  give  you,  and  you  will  do  well  enough."  No,  her  language, 
her  conduct  was  different.  She  reasoned  thus  :  "  I  have  a  little  meal  and 
oil,  and  but  a  little ;  the  Lord  who  gave  me  this  little  store,  has  a  right  to 
it.  He  now  commands  me  to  give  a  little  out  of  my  little,  and  I  must  obey  : 
otherwise  I  should  be  worse  than  the  ravens,  who  checked  their  own  appe- 
tites, to  bring  bread  and  flesh  to  the  prophet.  Obedience  is  my  work  ; 
events  belong  to  God,  who  can  make  all  grace  abound.  The  Lord  has 
not  only  commanded  me  to  give  a  little  cake  first  unto  the  prophet,  but 
has  also  promised  that  my  store  shall  not  be  exhausted.  I  will,  therefore, 
trust  his  promise  and  obey  his  command.  If  my  son  should  ever  reproach 
me,  for  giving  that  to  the  prophet  which  was  his  patrimonial  or  matrimo- 
nial right,  I  will  read  him  a  lecture,  of  what  befel  old  Eli  for  honoring  his 
sons  more  than  his  God,  and  what  judgments  likewise  fell  on  his  sons." 

The  widow,  therefore,  obeyed — made  the  cake  first  for  the  prophet  and 
carried  it  to  him — invited  him  into  her  house,  and  entertained  him  all  the 
time  of  the  drought,  and  the  barrel  of  meal  wasted  not,  neither  did  the 
cruise  of  oil  fail,  according  to  the  word  of  God,  which  he  spake  by  Elijah. 

In  process  of  time,  the  son  of  the  woman  sickened  and  died.  All  the 
human  prospect  of  succor  in  old  age,  was  now  taken  away.  How  pitiable 
her  state  !  yet  she  did  not  murmur,  but  acquiesced  like  a  saint.  She  said 
to  the  prophet,  "  O,  thou  man  of  God !  art  thou  come  hither  to  call  my 
sin  to  remembrance  and  to  slay  my  son  ?" 

It  is  supposable,  but  not  certain,  that  this  vi'as  an  illegitimate  son,  and 
that  now  the  Lord  punished  her  for  her  former  sin  by  the  death  of  her  son, 
as  in  the  case  of  David  and  Bathsheba.  In  either  case,  the  woman  viewed 
this  stroke  as  a  just  punishment  for  her  sins.     Elijah  was  also  extremely 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND,  335 

afflicted,  that  the  woman  who  had  been  so  hospitable  to  him,  should  be 
thus  deprived  of  her  only  son.  He,  therefore,  mourned  and  prayed  to  his 
God,  until  the  soul  of  the  child  returned  to  its  clay.  The  woman  was  now 
greatly  comforted  and  confirmed  in  the  word  of  the  Lord,  which  was  spo- 
ken by  Elijah. 

Here  we  see  that  the  woman  was  supplied  through  a  long  famine,  and 
had  her  son  raised  from  the  dead,  because  she  gave  the  servant  of  the  Lord 
a  little  cake  Jirst.  Let  others  learn  to  do  likewise.  And  let  all  the  ser- 
vants of  the  Lord  learn  from  Elijah,  to  be  not  greedy  of  filthy  lucre,  but 
content  themselves  with  a  little  cake. 


MANY    MEN    OF    MANY    MINDS. 

How  various  are  the  opinions  of  men  respecting  the  mode  of  support- 
ing gospel  ministers. 

A  thinks  that  preachers  of  the  gospel  should  be  qualified,  inducted  and 
supported,  in  a  mode  to  be  proscribed  by  the  statute  laws. 

B  is  of  opinion  that  a  preacher  is  not  entitled  to  any  compensation  for 
his  services,  unless  he  is  poor  and  shiftless,  and  cannot  live  without  the 
alms  of  the  people. 

C  says,  that  it  takes  him  as  long  to  go  to  meeting,  and  hear  the  preacher, 
as  it  does  for  the  preacher  to  go  and  preach,  and  their  obligations  are  there- 
fore reciprocal. 

D  believes  a  rich  preacher  is  as  much  entitled  to  a  reward  for  his  labor 
as  if  he  was  poor. 

E  believes  that  a  preacher  should  give  the  whole  of  his  time  to  reading, 
meditating,  preaching,  praying  and  visiting,  and  therefore  he  ought  to  be 
liberally  supported  ;   not  in  the  light  of  alms,  but  in  that  of  a  gospel  debt. 

F  joins  with  E,  with  this  proviso ;  that  the  liberal  support  be  averaged 
on  all  the  members  of  the  church,  according  to  property  and  privilege. 

G  also  agrees  with  E,  provided  the  liberal  support  be  raised  by  a  free, 
public  contribution,  without  any  knowledge  or  examination  what  each  in- 
dividual does. 

H  chooses  to  tax  himself,  and  constable  his  own  money  to  his  preacher, 
without  consulting  any  other. 

/  loves  the  preachers,  and  pays  them  with  blessings,  but  the  sound  of 
money,  drives  all  good  feelings  from  his  heart. 

When  J  hears  a  man  preach  that  he  does  not  believe  is  sent  of  God, 
he  feels  under  no  obligation  to  give  him  anything ;  and  when  he  hears  a 
preacher,  that  gives  him  evidence,  that  he  is  in  the  service  of  the  Lord, 
and  devoted  to  the  work,  he  forms  the  conclusion,  that  the  Lord  pays  the 
preacher  well  for  his  work  as  he  goes  along. 


336  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

K  likes  preachers  very  well,  but  preaching  rather  better  ;  he  feels,  there- 
fore, best  pleased,  when  the  preacher  fails  coming,  and  a  gap  opens  for 
himself;  for  he  had  rather  work  his  passage,  and  take  his  turn  at  the  helm, 
than  pay  a  pilot. 

L  argues  like  a  man,  that  the  preacher  ought  to  receive  something 
handsome  for  his  services,  and  laments  that  himself  is  in  debt,  and  cannot 
communicate  any  thing,  without  defrauding  his  creditors :  at  the  same 
time,  he  takes  special  care  to  keep  always  in  debt  for  cheap  farms,  wild 
land,  or  some  other  articles  of  an  increasing  nature. 

M  is  a  man  of  a  thousand.  He  argues  that  the  mode  of  supporting 
ministers  is  left  blank  in  the  New  Testament ;  because  no  one  mode  would 
be  economical  in  all  places  ;  but  that  the  deed  itself  is  enjoined  on  all 
who  are  taught  by  an  ordinance  of  heaven.  If,  therefore,  a  contribution 
is  recommended,  M  will  be  foremost  to  the  box.  When  a  subscription  is 
judged  most  advisable,  his  name  will  be  first  on  the  list.  If  averaging  is 
considered  most  equitable,  he  will  add  a  little  to  his  bill,  lest  others  should 
fail.  And  if  no  mode  at  all  is  agreed  upon,  still  M,  as  an  individual,  will 
contribute  by  himself;  for  he  reasons,  that  if  others  are  remiss,  it  is  nei- 
ther precedent  nor  excuse  for  him.  He  does  not  give  to  be  seen  of  men, 
but  because  his  heart  is  in  it ;  and  these  gospel  debts  (as  he  calls  them) 
he  pays  with  as  much  devotion,  as  he  spreads  his  hands  in  prayer  to  God. 
The  creed  of  his  faith,  which  seems  to  be  written  on  his  heart,  is  "  That, 
although  all  the  money  in  the  world  cannot  purchase  pardon  of  sin,  or  the 
smiles  of  a  reconciled  God  ;  yet  religion  always  has  cost  money  or  worth, 
from  Abel's  lamb  to  the  present  day.  And  that  the  man  who  will  not 
part  with  a  little  money,  for  the  sake  of  him  who  parted  with  his  blood 
for  sinners,  is  a  wicked  disciple." 

N  approves  of  the  faith  and  profession  of  M,  in  every  particular,  but 
reduces  nothing  of  it  to  practice. 

O,  like  his  make,  believes  nothing,  does  nothing,  and  is  as  near  noth- 
ing as  anything  can  be. 


THE  BIBLE. 

The  Bible  contains  66  books — 1,189  chapters — 31,114  verses.  The 
name  Lord  is  found  6,062  times  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  name  God, 
2,725  times.  The  name  Jesus  occurs  925  times,  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  the  name  Christ,  555  times.  The  word  Selah,  is  found  74  times  in 
the  Bible.     The  word  Eternity,  in  only  one  place. 

There  are  in  the  Old  Testament,  607,207  words :  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment,  179,476  ;  which  numbers,  added  together,  make  786,683.  In  this 
enumeration,  the  titles  of  books  and  contents  of  chapters  are  excluded. 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  337 

The  head-pieces,  however,  prefixed  to  115  of  the  Psalms,  and  the  22  words 
in  the  119th  Psahn,  are  included.  The  number  was  found  out,  by  count- 
ing  one  by  one,  pjiiiti  ig  every  100,  and  then  adding  up:  which  countings 
employed  my  131)  hours,  and  yet,  after  all  the  pains  and  care  taken,  some 
mistakes  may  have  bjen  nude  ;  but  it  is  believed  but  small. 
Ti»e  Bible  seems  to  be  self-divided  into  six  parts,  viz : 

BOOKS.         CHAP.       VERSES.       ^;    WORDS. 

I.   The  Law  q/'Mbsps,  beginning  with  ^ 
Genesis,  and  ending  with  Deuteronomy;  >      5       187      5853     155,767 
it  contains j 

H.    The  history  of  the  Jews,  beginning^ 
with  Joshua,  and'ending  with  Esther,  con- V    12       249      7024     203,303 
taining, y 

III.  A   book  of  poems,  beginning   with  ^ 

Job,  and  ending  with  Sjloinon's  song,  in-  >      5       243      4794       84,358 
eluding, y 

IV.  The  prophecies  of  sixteen  prophets,'^ 

beffinninii   with    Isaiah,"  and   ending   with  >    17       250      5491     163,780 
M  ilachi,  containing, y 

V.  The  evangelical  part,  containing  the  1 

history  of  Ciirisl  and   the   Apostles,  em-  V      5       117      4785     107,093 
b''acing, > 

VI.  The  epistolary  writings  of  Paul,  ^ 

Peter,  Jam3s,  Judeand  John,  together  with  V    22       143      3171       72,383 

the  book  of  Revelations,  comprising, j    —     • ■ 

Total,       63     1189  31,118     786,683 

The  middle  chapter  in  the  Bible,  is  the  117th  Psalm.  The  middle  of 
Ihe  verses,  is  between  the  102J  and  103d  Psalms.  The  middle  word  is  in  the 
6Dlh  P.salm,  the  4lh  verse  :  "  To  them  that  fear  thee." 

The  double  asseveration,  verily,  verily,  is  found  twenty-five  times  in 
John's  gospel,  and  no  where  else.  The  words,  Lord,  God,  are  not  found 
in  Esther,  nor  Sjlomon's  song ;  so,  likewise,  the  names,  Jesus,  Christ, 
are  not  in  the  3d  epistle  of  John.  The  word  baptism,  with  its  relatives, 
is  found  one  hundred   times  in  the  New  Testament. 

Tiic  Bible  was  more  than  sixteen  hundred  years  in  writing.  It  con- 
tains a  history  of  the  world's  whole  age  ;  partly  in  narrative,  and  partly 
in  prophecy ;  yea,  nure,  it  assures  us  of  some  things  which  took  place 
before  the  m  )Uiitains  were  mide,  or  the  hills  brought  forth  :  it  also  reveals 
unto  us  miny  things  tliat  will  take  place  after  the  world,  and  all  its  works 
are  burnt  up ;  and  yet  the  whole  of  it  can  be  read  over  in  sixty  hours.  It 
is  written  in  a  style  that  no  man  on  earth  can  imitate  ;  which  will  forever 
keep  it  from  bijing  incorporated  with  human   composition. 

Tne  Bible  is  in  its  parts,  historical,  pjetical,  allegorical,  prophetic,  re. 
ceptive,  and  promissory.  It  claims  the  merit  of  being  a  revelation  from 
Gjd  unto  man.     Oi  revelation,  there  are  two  kinds ;  oral,  and  written. 

43 


338  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Oral  revelation  was  first.  In  this,  God  revealed  his  will  unto  men  ; 
but  as  letters  were  not  in  use,  men  had  no  way  of  preserving  those  rev- 
elations, but  by  their  memories ;  these  records  were  so  treacherous,  that 
the  revelations  were  greatly  mutilated  and  perverted.  It  is  from  this 
source,  however,  that  those  nations,  who  are  destitute  of  written  revelation, 
got  their  belief  of  the  future  existence  of  departed  souls ;  for  I  can  see 
nothing  in  all  the  pages  of  nature,  that  proves  that  men  have  immortal 
souls,  but  what  equally  proves  the  same  of  beasts. 

Whether  the  use  of  letters  was  taught  at  once,  or  whether  the  science 
was  gradual,  the  result  is  equally  amazing;  that  with  twenty-two  letters, 
all  the  thoughts  of  the  human  heart  can  be  expressed.  After  letters  came 
in  use,  the  Almighty  directed  the  hands  of  men  to  write  down  those  rev- 
elations of  his  will,  which  he  made  known  unto  them ;  and  such  writings 
are  called  written  revelations.  These  writings,  collected  together  in  one 
book,  form  the  Bible,  or  Holy  Scriptures. 


THE    LONG-ISLAND    INDIAN IMPROVED. 

About  sixty  years  past,  a  very  considerable  revival  of  religion  took 
place,  on  the  east  end  of  Long-Island,  and  some  of  the  Indians  of  that 
place  were  made  partakers  of  the  grace  of  life.  Several  years  afterwards, 
one  of  the  natives  gave  the  following  account  of  himself,  in  his  own  way 
of  speaking : 

"  When  me  first  converted,  me  was  a  poor,  vile,  black  Indian  ;  but  me 
love  all  the  Christians,  and  all  the  ministers  like  my  own  soul.  After- 
wards me  grow,  grow,.grow,  but  me  no  love  Christians.  Then  me  grow, 
wrow,  grow  very  big  ;  then  me  no  love  ministers.  But  one  day.  as  I  was 
in  the  swamp  after  broomsticks,  I  heard  a  voice  saying,  Indian,  how  comes 
it  to  pass,  that  you  no  love  Christians  and  ministers  ?  Me  answer,  be- 
cause I  know  more  than  all  of  them.  The  voice  say  unto  me  again,  In- 
dian, you  have  lost  your  humble.  On  this  I  began  to  look,  and  behold  ! 
my  humble  was  gone.  I  then  go  back,  back,  back,  but  I  no  find  my 
humble.  Me  then  go  back,  back,  back  a  great  way,  and  then  me  find  my 
humble ;  and  when  me  find  my  humble,  I  was  poor,  vile,  black  Indian 
again.  Then  me  love  all  the  Christians  and  all  the  ministers,  just  as  I 
love  my  own  soul." 

This  simple  narrative  of  the  native,  reminds  me  of  the  sayings  of  some  of 
those  illustrious  worthies,  whose  names  and  characters  shine  with  dazzling 
refulgence  in  the  sacred  volume. 

Job  was  a  perfect  and  upright  man,  who  excelled  all  men  on  earth  in 
his  day;  yet  he  experienced  a  great  sight  of  affliction.  In  defending  him- 
self against  the  illiberal  charges  of  his  three  friends,  he  lost  sight  of  his 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  339 

wretchedness  before  God.  But,  when  the  Almighty  summoned  his  atten- 
tion to  behold  the  marvellous  works  of  the  Creator,  and  drew  his  mind 
near  the  immaculate  throne  of  divine  glory,  he  cried  out :  "  behold !  I  am 
vile — I  abhor  myself,  repenting  in  dust  and  ashes." 

When  Isaiah,  the  sublime  prophet,  saw  the  Lord  on  a  throne  of  glory, 
and  the  heavenly  host  adoring  before  him,  from  a  deep  sense  of  his  own 
pollution,  the  pensive  confession  flowed  from  his  lips  :  "  wo  is  me,  for  I 
an;i  undone  ;  for  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips." 

The  knowledge  which  St.  Paul  had  in  the  mysteries  of  God,  was  ex- 
quisite— his  labors  in  the  ministry  were  abundant — his  sufferings,  for 
Christ's  sake,  above  measure — his  tour  to  the  third  heavens,  very  friendly 
for  the  health  of  his  soul — and  yet,  long  after  this,  we  hear  him  lamenting 
in  piteous  groans,  "  O,  wretched  man  that  I  am !  who  shall  deliver  me 
from  the  body  of  this  death  ?  I  yet  find  a  law  in  my  members,  bringing 
me  into  captivity,  to  the  law  of  sin." 

How  very  different  these  confessions  are,  from  the  protestation  of  some 
in  these  days,  who  affirm  that  they  live  in  such  obedience  to  the  laws  of 
God,  and  walk  so  fully  in  the  divine  light,  that,  they  have  attained  to  the 
state  of  sinless  perfection. 


JEMIMA    WILKINSON    AND    TH«    INDIAN IMPROVED. 

The  high  claims  of  Jemima  Wilkinson  (that  Christ  has  descended  the 
second  time,  and  dwells  in  her,)  are  generally  known.  Her  place  of  resi- 
dence is  in  the  town  of  Jerusalem,  Ontario  county,  and  state  of  New  York. 

A  few  years  past,  a  religious  Indian  paid  her  a  visit,  with  intention  to 
find  out  wherein  her  great  strength  lay.  After  discoursing  with  her  some 
time,  in  English,  he  changed  his  dialect,  and  spake  in  his  own  mother 
tongue  ;  to  which  Jemima  replied,  in  her  plain  manner  of  speaking,  "  thee 
must  not  speak  to  me  in  Indian  language,  for  I  do  not  understand  it." 
"  Ah  !"  said  the  Indian,  "  then  I  know  you  are  not  my  Saviour  ;  for  my 
blessed  Jesus  understands  poor  Indians."  How  significant  the  words,  and 
how  marvellous  the  idea  of  the  Indian  ! 

More  than  a  thousand  different  dialects  now  exist,  among  the  various 
nations  of  the  earth,  which  bear  so  little  affinity  to  each  other,  that  the 
people  who  speak  one  of  them  understand  little  or  nothing  of  another. 
Supposing  a  thousand  congregations,  belonging  to  a  thousand  distinct  na- 
tions, should  assemble  in  some  spacious  plain,  and  the  whole  number  of 
individuals,  in  each  congregation,  should  lift  up  their  voices  in  prayer  and 
praise  to  God  ;  is  it  probable  that  Jesus  would  understand  them  all  ?  Like 
the  Indian,  I  believe  he  would.  Should  any  individual,  in  the  vast  assem- 
bly, hear  all  the  voices,  what  a  din  of  confusion  would  assail  his  ears  ;  but 


340  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

all  would  be  order  and  significance  with  the  dear  Redeemer.  If  this  con- 
clusion is  just,  it  is  presumptive  evidence  that  Jesus  Christ  is  omniscient 
God.  If  it  should  be  objected,  however,  that  it  is  possible  for  Omnipo- 
tence to  m;ike  a  creature  of  such  extensive  feculties,  that  he  can  under- 
stand all  that  is  said  by  all,  it  will  not  hastily  be  denied. 

But,  supposing  the  public  worship  of  this  great  assembly  should  close, 
would  Jesus  then  know  the  temper  of  each  heart  ?  Can  an  inarticulate 
prayer  of  the  heart  rise  to  God,  through  the  mediation  of  Clirist,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  Mediator  know  nothing  of  it  ?  It  cannot  be  admitted.  He 
must  then  know  the  hearts  of  men. 

When  he  was  on  earth,  he  perceived  the  thoughts  of  the  people,  and 
knew  what  was  in  man.  If  we  consider  Solomon's  address  to  Israel's 
God,  "  Thou,  even  thou  only,  knowest  the  hearts  of  men,"  it  will  be  sub- 
stantiated that  Jesus,  who  knew  the  thoughts  and  hearts  of  men,  is  Israel's 
Lord  and  Saviour ;  for  it  is  not  possible  for  Omnipotence  to  make  a  crea- 
lure  of  co-omniscience  with  himself. 


ONE    THING    LEADS    ON    TO    ANOTHER. 


In  the  year  1788,  a  term  of  great  religious  awakening  in  Virginia,  a 
negro  man,  by  the  name  of  Peter,  belonging  to  a  Mr.  Steward,  of  Culpep- 
per county,  came  forward  to  declare  the  dealings  of  God  with  his  soul,  in 
order  for  baptism.  As  he  had  been  imported  from  Africa,  his  language 
was  very  broken  ;  but  he  gave  a  satisfactory  account  of  himself,  and  ap- 
peared to  be  in  the  then  present  enjoyment  of  precious  faith.  Soon  as  he 
had  finished  his  detail,  he  boldly  broke  out  in  whistling.  The  minister, 
who  presided,  asked  him  what  he  meant  by  whistling?  To  which  Peter 
made  answer,  "  let  those  sing  the  praises  of  Jesus  wiio  can  ;  I  cannot  sing, 
but  I  can  whistle  for  my  blessed  Jesus." 

Notwithstanding  whistling  is  supposed  to  be  the  exercise  of  a  thought- 
less clown,  yet,  in  the  case  of  Peter,  it  naturally  leads  the  mind  to  con- 
template the  various  ways  in  which  religious  adoration  is  performed. 

Prayer  is  made  by  crying,  weeping,  lifting  up  the  eyes,  groaning,  sigh- 
ing, panting,  breathing,  etc.  Self-abasement  is  also  expressed  by  veiling 
the  face,  rending  the  garments,  kneeling  and  falling  on  the  ground. 

This  again  leads  us  to  treat  on  falling  religion,  so  common  in  these 
days.  As  I  have  lived  among  such  exercises  a  considerable  part  of  my 
life,  I  have  formed  a  difiident  opinion  for  myself. 

Some  take  it  for  undeniable  evidence,  that  a  man  is  converted  if  he  has 
fallen,  by  the  slaying  power  of  God,  under  the  preaching  of  the  word, 
singing  or  praying.  Others  seem  as  well  convinced,  that  all  such  exer- 
cises are  parts  of  hypocrisy. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  341 

When  Paul  and  his  company  drew  nigh  to  the  gates  of  Damascus,  a 
great  light  shone  around  them.  If  we  examine  the  three  accounts  given 
of  this  vision,  in  the  book  of  Acts,  we  shall  find  that  they  all  saw  the  light, 
heard  the  voice,  and  fell  to  the  earth  ;  and  yet  there  is  no  account  that  any 
of  them  received  the  grace  of  life  but  Paul  alone.  It  is  not  absolutely 
certain,  however,  but  what  all  of  them  received  a  heavenly  blessing,  though 
not  recorded.  But  one  thing  is  certain,  viz.,  when  the  gUard  went  to  take 
Jesus,  with  Judas  at  their  head,  and  heard  the  Saviour  preach  a  sermon 
three  words  long — I  AM  HE — they  went  backward,  and  fell  to  the 
ground.  That  those  who  fell  down  at  this  time,  received  a  gracious 
change,  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  in  the  negitive;  for,  as  soon  as 
they  recovered  strength  to  rise,  with  malevolent  hands,  and  cruel  bands, 
they  bound  the  harmless  Jesus,  and  led  him  away  to  the  place  of  unhallow- 
ed judgment. 

Making  no  strictures  on  those  falling  downs  which  are  hypocritical, 
and  others,  which  are  evidently  mechanical,  performed  on  purpose  to 
alarm  and  proselyte,  it  is  rational  to  believe  that  men  may  be,  and  some- 
times are,  so  much  impressed  with  the  majesty  and  truth  of  God,  as  to  fall 
to  the  earth,  and  yet  continue  in  their  enmity  to  him.  That  this  will  be 
the  case  of  all  the  wicked,  at  the  last  judgment,  admits  of  very  little  doubt ; 
and  that  it  should  be  so,  with  some  of  them,  in  this  life,  will  appear  credi- 
ble, when  we  consider  the  two  systems  in  which  God  deals  with  the  chil- 
dren of  men. 

These  two  systems,  some  call  law  and  grace;  others  term  them  the 
covenant  of  works  and  the  covenant  of  grace.  I  am  in  the  habit  of  treat- 
ing them  as  the  system  of  moral  government,  which  God  exercises  over  all 
rational  beings,  and  the  scheme  of  grace,  through  a  Mediator.  That  God 
first  treated  man  as  a  moral  subject — allowing  him  the  freedom  of  his  will 
to  act — at  the  same  time  accountable  for  the  right  use  or  abuse  of  his 
will — bound,  by  a  law  of  perfect  order,  to  do  all  that  was  commanded, 
and  believe  all  that  was  revealed,  to  me  appears  evident ;  otherwise,  it 
was  not  possible  for  sin  ever  to  have  entered  the  human  world.  And 
that  he  still  treats  with  men  in  the  same  system,  is  also  as  evident ; 
for,  without  it,  sin  could  not  be  repeated,  nor  guilt  exist. 

Perfect  obedience  to  this  law,  secured  from  blame,  but  did  not  entitle 
the  obedient  subject  to  any  advanced  station  ;  nor  was  there  any  means 
provided  in  this  system  to  expiate  guilt,  or  regain  lost  favor. 

The  works  of  creation  are  so  evincive  of  the  natural  perfections  of 
Deity,  that  heathen  have  no  excuse  for  worshipping  any  other  being. 
But  the  word  and  worship  of  God,  which  reveal  his  moral  character, 
and  the  influence  of  his  spirit,  are  clothed  with  solemn  majesty. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  wondered  at,  that  guilty  men,  (still  holden 
in  the  moral  system,)  not  only  by  beholding  the  works  of  God,  but  by 
hearing  his  word  dispensed  in  the  power  of  the  spirit — that  word,  which 


342  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

reveals  the  wrath  of  God  against  the  wicked,  and  the  sinner's  doom  ; 
it  is  not,  I  say,  a  wonder,  that  they  should  tremble,  smite  their  knees, 
and  fall  to  the  ground.  Let  it  rather  be  wondered  at,  that  any  sinner 
can  hear  and  remain  unshaken.  Were  not  men  hardened  in  unbelief, 
through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin,  they  could  not  endure  what  is  command- 
ed them ;  no,  this  terrible  sight  would  overcome  their  physical  powers. 
Balaam  and  Saul  were  black  characters,  yet  both  of  them  fell  before 
the  Lord  or  his  angel ;  particularly  Balaam,  was  taught  much — saw  much 
— fell  into  a  trance,  having  his  eyes  open — and  was  greatly  restrained 
by  God ;  when,  at  the  same  lime,  he  was  so  abandoned,  that  he  wished 
to  curse  a  whole  nation,  to  get  the  money  in  Balak's  coffers. 

In  the  system  of  which  I  am  now  treating,  the  Almighty  works  abun- 
dance in  men,  by  men,  and  for  men  ;  all  which  works  are  distinct  in 
their  natures  from  the  work  of  grace  in  the  heart ;  there  is  no  gradation 
from  one  to  the  other,  nor  any  lock-link  that  unites  them  together. 

The  scheme  of  grace,  through  a  Mediator,  was  not  formed  on  sin,  nor 
on  a  foreknowledge  that  sin  would  arise,  but  on  eternal  love,  by  infinite 
wisdom,  to  be  accomplished  by  Omnipotent  power,  in  a  way  of  divine 
favor.  Sin  was  not  the  cause  of  this  scheme,  nor  can  sin  prevent  it.  It 
was  formed  to  secure  those  who  aro  included  in  it,  and  raise  them  to  a 
higher  station  than  they  were  placed  in  at  first.  All  spiritual  and  eternal 
blessings  are  included  in  it,  which  are  communicated  to  men  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Children  may  receive  this  grace  before  they  are  born  of  their 
mothers,  like  John  the  Baptist,  or  in  their  infantile  days,  when  their 
capacities  are  so  small  that  they  cannot  discover  it ;  yet  it  lives  and  reigns 
in  them. 

When  this  grace  (which  is  called  incorruptible  seed — an  unction  from 
the  Holy  One — Water  of  Life,  &c.)  is  given  to  those  who  are  grown  to 
years  of  reflection,  it  discovers  unto  them  the  holy,  just  and  gracious  char- 
acter of  God — the  propriety  and  extent  of  the  holy  law — the  evil  nature 
of  sin — the  insufficiency  of  all  legal  and  ritual  works  to  justify — the  justice 
of  God  in  the  damnation  of  sinners — and  the  sufficiency  of  the  blood  and 
righteousness  of  Christ  to  atone  for  sin  and  secure  the  soul. 

And  as  these  things  are  discovered  to  the  subject,  so  also  his  heart  and 
disposition  are  new  formed  to  love  God — delight  in  his  laws — hate  sin — 
renounce  his  own  righteousness — love  that  justice  which  condemns  sinners, 
and  heartily  embrace  the  salvation  of  God,  through  the  blood  and  righteous- 
ness of  Christ. 

Where  these  discoveries  and  dispositions  are  found  in  the  heart  they  de- 
nominate a  man  a  true  Christian.  But  void  of  that  spirit,  which  produces 
these  views  and  inclinations,  all  the  fears,  horrors,  visions,  raptures  and 
falling-downs  that  a  man  can  experience  ;  yea,  all  that  God  does  in  him, 
by  him,  or  for  him,  are  no  evidences  that  he  is  a  subject  of  that  precious 
faith  which  saves  the  soul. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  843 

A    DIALOGUE    BETWEEN    PHILO    AND    JUBAL. 

PMlo.  My  dear  brother  Jubal,  I  have  come  to  pay  you  a  Christian  visit 
this  afternoon,  and  if  you  are  not  pre-engaged,  I  hope  to  spend  the  time 
in  profitable  conversation. 

Jubal.  1  am  glad  to  see  you,  my  brother  Philo.  Please  to  take  a  seat, 
be  at  perfect  ease,  and  all  your  wants  be  on  me.  Now,  my  brother,  as 
time  is  precious,  and  should  be  put  to  the  best  possible  use,  I  wish  to  know, 
in  the  first  place,  whether  you  come  to  talk  to  me,  with  me,  or  to  hear  me 
talk  ? 

P.  Why  is  my  brother  Jubal  so  particular  in  the  first  essay  of  the  con- 
ference  ? 

/.  Because,  if  you  come  to  talk  to  me,  I  will  place  myself  in  the  atti- 
tude of  hearing,  and  patiently  receive  all  your  discourses.  But  if  you 
come  to  talk  with  me,  I  shall  expect  half  the  time,  without  interruptions. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  you  wish  to  hear  me  discourse,  I  will  entertain  you 
as  well  as  I  can. 

P.  I  perceive  you  are  for  rule  in  all  things ;  but  can  it  be  disorder  to 
break  in  upon  a  speaker,  if  he  speaks  wrong,  too  long,  inexplicit,  or  with 
barbarous  words? 

/.  Should  I  break  in  upon  a  speaker  before  he  closes  his  sentence,  I 
should  talk  into  his  mouth  and  not  into  his  ears,  (to  use  a  vulgarism,)  and 
should  also  trespass  against  the  good  rule,  "  Ye  may  all  speak  one  by  one." 
— If  anything  be  revealed  unto  another,  let  the  first  hold  his  peace,  before 
the  other  speaks.  If  a  speaker  has  anything  to  say  worth  hearing,  give 
attenton  until  he  has  done  :  if  he  has  nothing  worth  hearing,  let  him  hold 
his  tongue  voluntarily.  If  a  speaker  speaks  wrong,  it  may  be  a  compara- 
tively harmless  error;  if,  however,  it  is  a  malignant  error,  I  am  not 
obliged  to  receive  it.  When  a  man  speaks  too  long,  it  is  painfuf  to  a 
nimbler  mind  ;  but  not  so  painful,  to  a  man  of  delicacy,  as  it  would  be  to 
check  him.  If,  moreover,  his  discourse  is  destitute  of  explicit  ideas,  or 
clothed  with  barbarous  words,  it  is  quite  enough  to  have  one  fool  in  the 
play  ;  it  would  be  barbarous  to  expose  him  ;  and  if  I  interrupt  him,  while  he 
is  speaking,  my  words  will  certainly  be  inexplicit  to  him.  What  can  be 
more  supercilious  !  what  can  show  more  vanity,  than  for  me  to  help  the 
speaker  to  better  language,  or  stop  him,  to  show  how  well  1  can  explain 
his  ideas  ? 

P.  I  can  assure  you,  my  good  friend,  that  I  came  here  to  converse  to 
you,  with  you,  and  to  hear  you  discourse  :  nor  have  I  any  objection  to  the 
rules  of  conversation,  which  you  have  given  :  but  knowing  a  little  what  I 
am,  I  fear  I  shall  act  like  a  ferryman,  who  looks  one  way  and  rows 
another;  or  like  a  professor,  who  believes  like  a  Christian  and  lives  like  a 
pagan  ;  or  like  a  Christian  who  has  given  all  up  to  God,  and  would  give 


344  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

the  world  if  he  had  it,  for  Christ's  sake ;  yet  never  gave  a  dollar  to  the 
poor,  nor  a  cent  of  what  he  really  has,  to  forward  the  gospel  among  men* 

J.  Well,  my  dear  Pliilo,  I  am  anxious  to  hear;  please  to  proceed. 

P.  My  tutor,  willi  whom  1  studied  divinity,  adopted  the  maxim,  to 
"explain  every  passage  of  scripture  literally,  if  the  phraseology  would  any- 
wise admit  of  it ;  and  riveted  in  my  mind,  that  the  preacher  who  would 
allegorize  narratives,  and  spiritualize  moral  precepts,  would  thereby  prove 
anything  and  everything,  and  at  the  same  time  prove  nothing  to  the  pur- 
pose. With  the  maxim  of  my  master  before  me,  and  his  just  observations 
sounding  in  my  ears,  I  have  read  the  Bible  ever  since  I  ielt  him  ;  but  un- 
til the  present  time,  I  am  unable  to  give  a  literal  exposition  on  many  pas- 
sages in  the  Bible.  In  the  ninth  chapter  of  the  Revelations,  the  four 
angels  were  loosed  to  destroy  the  third  part  of  man,  and  raised  an  army 
of  two  hundred  thousand  tliousand.  The  earth  never  contains,  at  one 
time,  more  than  a  thousand  millions  of  living  souls :  not  more  than  one- 
fifth  of  them  are  soldiers.  The  army  here  spoken  of,  contained  two 
hundred  millions,  which  includes  every  soldier  on  earth.  Now,  if  all  the 
soldiers  on  earth  were  in  this  one  army  j  who  formed  the  other  army, 
which  was  destroyed,  called  the  third  part  of  men  ?  Also,  in  the  14th 
chapter,  when  the  earth  was  reaped,  and  the  vine  of  the  earth  was  cast 
into  the  great  wine-press;  blooti  came  out,  it  seems,  in  every  direction, 
the  distance  of  two  hundred  miles,  as  high  as  the  horse-bridles.  The 
lowest  part  of  the  bridle  is  four  feet  from  the  ground.  Now  here  is  a 
blood-pond,  spoken  of,  four  hundred  miles  in  diameter,  and  four  feet  deep  ; 
which  would  contain  235,015,018,905,600;  more  than  two  hundred  and 
thirty-five  billions  of  cubical  inches.  Men  in  general  are  said  to  possess 
twenty-five  pints  of  blood  ;  which  is  about  seven  hundred  cubical  inches: 
making  no  deduction  for  children,  who  have  less  blood  than  men  ;  all  the 
blood  of  all  the  living  would  amount  to  700, 001), 000,000  of  cubical  inches. 
Of  course,  it  would  take  all  the  humm  blood  of  more  than  three  hundred 
and  thirty-six  such  worlds  as  this,  to  form  the  blood-pond  spoken  of. 

I  now  wish,  secondly,  to  converse  with  you,  my  dear  Jubal  :  and  to  lead 
on  thereto,  1  ask,  what  allowances  are  we  to  make  for  the  phraseology  of 
the  Bible,  and  yet  hold  it  divinely  authentic  ? 

J.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  original  copies,  written  by  the  prophets  and 
apostles  are  now  in  existence :  the  most,  therefore,  that  any  can  boast,  is 
transcription  :  and  we,  from  transcription,  have  a  translation.  Our  Bible 
was  translated  in  the  days  of  Prince  JanKis  ;  when  the  English  language, 
was  differently  spoken  from  what  it  is  now.  Of  course,  many  passages 
will  not  admit  of  a  grammatical  construction.  Pre[)ositions,  moods,  tenses 
and  numbers  are  used  in  a  barbarous  manner  (according  to  modern  taste) 
and  yet  a  clue  will  be  found,  which  unveils  the  meaning  to  the  sincere 
seeker,  in  all  essential  cases.     It  was  not  written  at  first,  nor  has  it  been 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  345 

SO  wondei'fully  preserved  since,  in  transcriptions  and  translaiions  to  teach 
men  the  arts  and  sciences  ;  but  to  instruct  them  in  the  will  of  God,  re- 
specting their  duty  and  the  ground  of  their  hope. 

P.  Will  you  give  an  instance,  wherein  you  take  the  liberty  of  changing 
mood  and  tense. 

/.  I  will.  Take  your  Bible  and  look  over  Acts  iii.  19,  20,  21,  and  I 
will  repeat  it,  as  I  think  it  is  to  be  understood. 

"  Repent  ye,  therefore,  and  be  converted,  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted 
out;  for  the  times  of  refreshing  are  come  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord; 
and  he  has  sent  Jesus  Christ,  who  before  was  preached  unto  you,  by  the 
prophets :  whom  the  heavens  did  receive  until  these  times  of  restitution  of 
all  things,  which  God  has  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets  since 
the  world  begun." 

jP.  You  have  taken  great  liberty,  indeed,  in  this  passage  ;  much  greater 
than. I  should  dare  to  do,  lest  I  should  be  guilty  of  adding  to  and  taking 
from  the  sacred  book. 

J.  I  grant  it.  The  context,  however,  seems  to  invite  it ;  and  if  the 
text  itself  will  not  admit  of  the  transposition  which  I  have  given;  still,  this 
new  versification  conveys  no  corrupt  idea. 

P.  Well,  my  brother,  in  the  third  place,  I  wish  to  hear  you  converse. 

J.  I  have  been  frequently  called  upon  to  give  an  exposition  of  Matt.  v. 
25,  and  will  now  avail  myself  of  the  auspicious  moment,  and  do  it.  The 
text  referred  to,  reads ;  "  Agree  with  thine  adversary  quickly,  while  thou 
art  in  the  way  with  him  ;  lest  at  any  time  the  adversary  deliver  thee  to  the 
judge,  and  the  judge  deliver  thee  to  the  officer,  and  thou  be  cast  into 
prison :  verily  I  say  unto  thee,  thou  shall  by  no  means  come  out  thence, 
till  thou  hast  paid  the  uttermost  farthing."  Some,  by  the  adversary,  un- 
derstand God — others  the  justice  of  God,  or  the  law  of  God  ;  which  they 
suppose  the  sinner  is  to  agree  with.  Others,  again,  are  of  opinion  that 
the  Devil  is  the  adversary  intended  :  But  all  these  opinions  seem  to  be 
utterly  groundless.  Those  who  apply  it  to  the  church  discipline,  bid  much 
fairer  to  be  in  the  right ;  were  it  not  applied  to  magistracy,  by  St.  Luke. 
"  When  thou  art  in  the  way  to  the  magistrate,"  &c.  Now,  as  church 
discipline  has  no  affinity  with  magistracy,  the  sense  given  cannot  be  ad- 
mitted. The  text  is  introduced  thus:  When  thou  hringesi  thy  gift  to  the 
altar.  The  Jews  brought  their  lambs  and  other  offerings  to  the  altar;  and 
Christians  bring  their  prayers,  praises  and  gifts  of  improvement  into  the 
church  and  offer  them  before  God.  And  there  rememberest  that  thy  brother 
hath  aught  against  thee.  Either  a  natural  brother,  national  brother, 
spiritual  brother,  or  human  brother.  When  thou  comest  before  the  Lord 
with  thy  gift,  and  rememberest,  that  thou  hast  given  any  man  just  cause  of 
offence,  which  is  actionable  by  law,  leave  there  thy  gift  before  the  altar  and 
go  thy  way  ;  first  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother y  and  then  come  and  offer  thy 

44 


346  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

gift.  This  offended  brother  is  the  adversary ;  and  I  tell  you  my  disciples, 
if  you  have  given  offence,  make  it  your  Jirst  business  to  effect  a  reconcili. 
ation.  If  your  offence  calls  for  confession,  restitution  or  other  costs,  pay 
all  immediately  before  a  prosecution  begins.  If  you  do  not,  the  adversary 
may,  at  any  time  bring  you  before  the  Judge ;  and  being  found  guilty  be- 
fore him,  he  vi'ill  deliver  you  to  an  executive  officer,  who  will  inflict  on 
you  such  punishment  as  the  law  directs  ;  and  if  your  crime  is  debt  or  ti'es- 
pass,  you  will  be  cast  into  prison  ;  and  when  once  you  are  imprisoned,  all 
your  repentance,  faith  and  prayer  will  not  deliver  you  ;  for  I  came  not  to 
destroy  civil  law,  or  save  men  from  these  legal  penalties  which  they  have 
incurred :  Of  course,  they  must  remain  in  prison,  until  they  have  paid 
debt  and  costs.  The  doctrine  of  this  text,  in  part,  is  exemplified  in  the 
case  of  the  dying  thief.  Our  Lord  forgave  his  sin  ;  promised  him  admis- 
sion into  Paradise ;  but  did  not  deliver  him  from  the  penalty  of  the  law, 
but  let  him  hang  on  the  cross  until  he  had  paid  the  last  farthing,  with  his 
life. 


SELF-EXCUSE. 

In  the  year  1785,  there  lived  in  the  city  of  Richmond,  (Vir.)  a  free  ne- 
gro  woman,  who  by  her  parsimony  obtained  money  enough  to  purchase 
her  husband,  who  was  a  slave.  The  woman  being  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
list  church,  in  that  city,  was  complained  of  before  the  church,  for  allowing 
of  lewd  conduct  in  her  house.  She  did  not  deny  the  truth  of  the  charge, 
but  excused  herself  thus,  "Pray,  how  can  I  help  it  ?  My  husband  is  the 
head,  and  does  as  he  pleases ;  and  I,  who  am  his  wife,  cannot  help  it.'' 
At  the  same  meeting,  another  charge  was  brought  against  her,  for  whip- 
ping her  husband  ;  to  which  she  replied,  "  I  bought  him  with  my  own 
money — he  is  my  legal  property,  and  he  shall  mind  me;  otherwise  I  will 
whip  him." 

Excuse — the  doctrine  of  the  fall, 

From  Adam  first  we  hear  ; 
The  roots  are  found  within  us  all, 

No  mortal  man  is  clear. 

When  God  commands  him  to  appear, 

And  answer  to  his  case — 
Just  nineteen  words  from  him  we  hear, 

Instead  of  saying  yes. 


LABECULA,  OR    LITTLE    SPOT. 


Now  Naaman,  captain  of  the  King  of  Syria,  was  a  great  man  with  his 
master,  and  honorable  ;  because  by  him  the  Lord  had  given  deliverance 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  34'7 

unto  Syria  :  he  was  also  a  mighty  man  in  valor  ;  but  he  was  a  leper.  Dr. 
Ashly  is  an  accomplished  divine,  but  he  cannot  admit  of  an  equal.  Rev. 
Mr.  Benson  is  an  excellent  preacher ;  but  his  discourses  are  more  declam- 
atory than  sentimental.     If   he  was  as  full  of  ideas  as  he  is  of  words,  he 

would  shine  like  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude.     Elder  C ,  is  a  good 

preacher,  but  he  is  too  often  telling  of  what  great  things  he  has  done.  "  I 
had  three  thousand  hearers — I  baptized  forty  in  a  day — I  was  moderator 

of  the  council,"  &c.     Elder  D ,  is  a  man  of  talents,  but,  like  Caesar, 

he  had  rather  be  the  first  man  in  a  village  than  the  second  man  in  Rome. 
If  he  was  not  so  much  like  Diotrephus  ;  if  he  was  willing  that  other  preach- 
ers should  have  more  praise  and  fame  than  himself,  he  would  much  more 
resemble  the  chief  Shepherd.  If  the  writer  of  this  number  did  not  partake 
of  a  large  share  of  the  vices  of  these  Rev.  gentlemen,  and  but  a  small  part 
of  their  virtues,  he  would  be  a  better  man  than  he  is ;  but  he  is  a  chip  of 
the  old  block — a  degenerate  plant  of  a  strange  vine- -a  bottle  in  the  smoke* 

The  virtues  of  the  low  we  tell, 
With  elevated  strings  ; 
»  But  those  we  fear  will  us  excel — 

We  strive  to  clip  their  wings. 


THE  RETURNING  PENITENT. 

Once  there  was  a  precious  season, 

When  my  Saviour  smiled  on  me ; 
Ev'ry  groan  his  grace  did  sweaten, 

Ev'ry  bond  his  love  set  free. 
Patient,  I  could  bear  affliction, 

Never  murmur  at  the  pain  ; 
Just  conception,  resignation, 

Cheerfully  did  me  sustain. 

Joyfully  I  heard  his  preaching, 

Read  his  word  with  vast  delight, 
While  his  spirit,  gently  teaching, 

Was  my  comfort  day  and  night. 
Sweet  was  Christian  conversation, 

Christ  and  grace  was  all  my  theme  ; 
Oh  !  these  days  of  consolation  I 

How  delighted  I  have  been  ! 

Had  I  guarded  every  passion, 

Watching  daily  unto  prayer, 
Of  each  sin  made  just  confession, 

I  had  never  felt  this  snare  ; 
Now  my  Saviour's  smiles  are  wanting, 

Now  my  groans  perpetual  rise  ; 


348 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Ev'ry  hope  of  joy  is  falling, 
Now  I  vent  my  fruitless  cries. 

Just  conception,  resignation, 

From  my  breast  are  far  removed; 
Now  I  murmur  at  affliction, 

Doubting  whether  e'er  I  loved. 
Oft  I  hear  the  gospel  sounded, 

Oft  I  read  my  Saviour's  name; 
Yet  my  heart,  most  deeply  wounded, 

Still  remains  unmov'd,  the  same. 

Now  I've  fearful  apprehension, 

Whether  Christ  I  ever  knew ; 
Tho'  I  made  a  great  profession, 

Yet  'twas  rather  false  than  true. 
Oh !  that  Jesus  was  my  saviour ! 

This  is  all  my  soul's  desire ! 
A  portion,  Lord,  within  thy  favor, 

Tho'  I  enter  here  thro'  fire  I 


PRAYER    BETTER    THAN    LAW-SUITS. 

Colonel  Samuel  Harriss,  of  Pittsylvania,  Virginia,  was  converted, 
and  called  to  preach,  about  the  year  1758  ;  on  which  he  quitted  all  his 
honorary  and  lucrative  offices,  and  applied  himself  to  the  work  of  an 
evangelist.  A  train  of  seriousness  followed  him  ;  and,  for  a  number  of 
years,  he  was  more  blessed  of  God  than  any  man  in  the  southern  states. 
His  preaching  was  not  much  fraught  with  the  wisdom  of  man,  but  so 
full  of  simplicity,  zeal  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  judgment  and  eternity 
would  seem  to  be  present  before  himself  and  hearers.  His  heart  was 
so  full  of  burning  love  to  the  souls  of  men,  that  his  domestic  concerns 
fell  into  derangement,  while  he  was  seeking  to  pluck  them  as  brands 
out  of  the  fire.  Finding,  at  length,  the  absolute  need  of  providing  more 
grain  for  his  family  than  his  plantation  had  produced,  he  went  to  a  man 
(whose  name  I  do  not  retain)  who  owed  him  a  sum  of  money,  and  ad- 
dressed him  thus  : 

Harriss.  Sir,  I  should  be  very  glad  if  you  would  let  me  have  a  little 
money. 

Man.  Mr.  Harriss,  I  have  no  money  by  me,  and,  therefore,  cannot 
oblige  you. 

H.  I  want  the  money  to  purchase  wheat  for  my  family  ;  and,  as  you 
have  raised  a  good  crop  of  wheat,  I  will  take  that  article  of  you,  instead  of 
money,  at  a  current  price. 

M.  I  have  another  use  for  my  wheat,  and  cannot  let  you  have  it. 

H.  What  will  you  do  ? 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  349 

M.  I  never  intend  to  pay  you  until  you  sue  me,  and,  therefore,  you  may 
begin  your  suit  as  soon  as  you  please. 

H.  To  himself,  "  good  God,  what  shall  I  do?  shall  I  leave  preaching 
for  a  vexatious  law-suit  ?  Perhaps  a  thousand  souls  will  perish  in  the  time. 
I  will  not.  Well,  what  will  you  do,  Harriss  ?  This  I  will  do  :  I  will  sue  the 
man  at  the  court  of  heaven." 

Having  resolved  what  to  do,  the  colonel  retired  into  the  woods,  and, 
falling  on  his  knees  before  the  Lord,  opened  his  mouth  to  this  effect : 
"  Lord  Jesus,  thou  hast  redeemed  my  soul  from  hell  and  sin,  and  thou 
hast  called  mo  to  preach  faith  and  repentance  to  my  fellow  men  ;  but, 
while  I  am  doing  it,  my  family  is  like  to  suffer.  Blessed  Jesus,  a  man 
owes  me,  and  will  not  pay  me  unless  I  sue  him.  I  am  in  a  great  strait — 
O,  Lord,  teach  me  what  to  do." 

In  this  address,  the  colonel  had  such  nearness  to  God,  that  (to  use  his 
own  words)  Jesus  said  unto  him  :  "  Sam,  I  will  enter  bondsman  for  the 
man — you  keep  on  preaching,  and  omit  the  law-suit — I  will  take  care  of 
you,  and  see  that  you  have  your  pay."  Mr.  Harriss  felt  well  satisfied 
with  his  security  ;  but  thought  it  would  be  unjust  to  hold  the  man  a  debtoi', 
when  Jesus  had  assumed  payment.  He,  therefore,  wrote  a  receipt  in  full 
of  all  accounts  which  he  had  against  the  man  ;  and,  dating  it  in  the  woods, 
where  Jesus  entered  bail,  he  signed  it  with  his  own  name.  Going  the 
next  day  by  the  man's  house  to  attend  a  meeting,  he  called  a  little  negro 
to  the  gate,  gave  him  the  receipt,  and  bid  him  deliver  it  to  his  master.  On 
returning  from  meeting,  the  man  hailed  him,  and  said — 

M.  Mr.  Harriss,  what  did  you  mean  by  the  receipt  which  you  sent  me 
by  the  boy  ? 

H,  I  mean  just  as  I  wrote. 

M.  You  know,  sir,  I  have  never  paid  you. 

H.  Yes,  sir,  I  know  it.  I  know,  moreover,  that  you  said  you  never 
would,  except  I  sued  you.  But,  sir,  I  sued  you  at  the  court  of  heaven, 
and  Jesus  entered  bail  for  you  ;  and  1  thought  it  would  be  unjust  to  hold 
you  in  debt,  when  I  had  got  so  good  security,  and,  therefore,  I  sent  you 
that  receipt. 

M.  I  insist  upon  it,  it  shall  not  close  in  this  manner. 

H.  I  am  well  satisfied — Jesus  will  not  fail  me.     Farewell. 

A  few  days  after  this,  the  man  loaded  his  wagon  with  wheat,  and  car- 
ried it  to  Mr.  Harriss. 


HE    THAT    DWELLS   IN  A  GLASS  HOUSE  SHOULD  NOT  CAST  STONES  AT  OTHERS. 

Having   heard  more  than  three  hundred  preachers  exhibit  in  my  life, 
and  some  of  them  a  great  number  of  times — without  ill  will  or  vanity,  (for 


350 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


pray,  who  will  own  himself  wrong  ?)  I  have  noticed  that  the  most  brilliant, 
as  well  as  the  most  obscure,  have  their  hobby-horses — I  mean  words  or 
sentences,  which  they  use,  in  preaching,  to  great  disadvantage.  If  these 
by-words  or  sentences,  were  used  only  in  rare  instances,  they  would  not 
only  be  appropriate,  but  harmonious ;  but  when  they  are  repeated  again 
and  again,  without  thought,  and,  indeed,  in  many  instances,  to  supply  the 
lack  of  ideas,  no  apology  can  be  admitted,  on  the  principle  of  ingenuity. 

Mr.  Y.  was  a  good  man,  and  felt  the  importance  of  the  doctrine  which 
he  preached  ;  on  account  of  which,  he  contracted  the  habit  of  saying  de- 
pend upon  it;  which  sentence  would  not  only  be  heard  in  a  great  part  of 
the  observations  through  his  sermon,  but  would  sometimes  mingle  in  his 
prayer.  The  writer  once  saw  him  on  his  knees  at  prayer,  at  the  close  of 
a  meeting,  and  heard  the  following  words  flow  from  his  lips  :  "  O,  Lord ! 
look  down  in  mercy  on  these  poor  sinners,  and  convince  them  that  if  they 
are  not  converted,  they  must  be  damned,  depend  upon  it." 

Mr.  B.  is  a  good  divine,  and  an  excellent  preacher,  but  he]  has  so  much 
apostolical  benevolence,  that  he  not  only  introduces  every  section  with, 
My  dearly  beloved  brethren,  but  often  uses  the  address  in  the  middle  of  a 
sentence.  He  was  once  observed  to  use  his  favoritism  more  than  two 
hundred  times  in  one  sermon. 

In  one  section  of  the  United  Slates,  a  great  part  of  the  preachers  were 
exceedingly  fond  of  the  note  of  similitude,  as  it  were.  The  note  frequently 
occurs  in  the  New  Testament.  But  among  these  preachers,  the  note  was 
used  so  much  in  course,  that  it  lost  all  comparison,  and  was  made  to  sub- 
stantiate facts.     Without  holiness,  no  flesh  shall  see  the  Lord,  as  it  were. 

But,  among  all  the  vulgarisms  that  find  the  way  into  the  desks  of  learned 
and  polite  preachers,  none  appears  more  clownish  than  the  old  adage,  Fve 
often  thought.  When  we  meet  a  farmer  in  the  road,  we  expect  his  first 
remarks  will  be  on  the  weather  ;  or,  if  we  see  a  merchant,  we  calculate 
to  hear  the  din,  hard  times  and  little  money.  But  when  we  hear  preach- 
ers, who  are  in  the  habit  of  composition,  telling  us  so  often  what  they  have 
thought,  it  naturally  makes  us  wish  that  they  would  think  a  little  better. 

But  surely,  a  man  guilty  of  all  of  these  errors,  and  seven  times  as  many 
more,  ought  to  be  careful  of  casting  stones,  and  withhold  his  criticisms, 
till  he  first  casts  the  beam  out  of  his  own  eye. 


A  LITTLE    GOOD   THING. 

The  little  epistle  to  Philemon  is  fraught  with  good  things.  In  composi- 
tion, it  exceeds  all  the  efforts  of  the  learned.  Simplicity  and  benevolence 
are  its  characteristics.  The  tragic  scene,  therein  contained,  is  drawn  with 
more  than  human  pencil. 

The  cause  of  the  epistle  follows : 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  351 

Philemon  was  the  disciple  of  Paul,  and  owed  himself  to  him  as  the  in 
strument  of  his  salvation.  Philemon  had  a  servant,  Onesimus.  This  Onesi. 
mus,  not  liking  his  religious  master,  instead  of  paying  him  a  debt  which 
he  owed,  wronged  him  still  more,  by  pilfering  his  property,  and  then  run- 
ning  away .  Making  his  way  to  Rome,  where  Paul  was  prisoner,  he  fell 
in  with  the  apostle,  at  his  own  hired  house,  which  stood  within  the  limits 
of  the  prison,  where  Paul  was  preaching  the  gospel  with  all  readiness,  and 
receiving  all  that  came  unto  him.  Here  the  preaching  of  Paul  arrested 
the  conscience  of  Onesimus  ;  and  the  prisoner  Paul  begat  the  fugitive  ser- 
vant, by  the  word  of  truth  to  a  lively  hope. 

Onesimus,  on  this  change  of  character,  gave  Paul  a  true  account  of  his 
conduct  towards  his  master  ;  on  which  information,  Paul  wrote  the  epistle 
to  Philemon,  and  sent  it  by  Onesimus  to  his  master,  to  effect  a  reconcilia- 
tion between  them.  So  intent  was  Paul  to  gain  his  point,  that  he  wrote  a 
bond  and  signed  it  with  his  own  hand,  to  make  good  to  Philemon,  what- 
ever injury  he  had  sustained  by  Onesimus.     His  words  are — 

"  For  perhaps  he  therefore  departed  for  a  season,  that  thou  shouldest 
receive  him  forever.  Not  now  as  a  servant,  but  above  a  servant,  a  brother 
beloved,  specially  to  me,  but  how  much  more  to  thee,  both  in  the  flesh  and 
in  the  Lord.  If  thou  count  me  therefore  a  partner,  receive  him  as  myself. 
If  he  hath  wronged  thee  or  oweth  thee  ought,  put  that  on  mine  account.  I, 
Paul,  have  written  it  with  mine  (fivn  hand — I  will  repay  it :  albeit,  I  do  not 
say  unto  thee,  how  thou  owest  unto  me  even  thine  own  self  besides.  Yea, 
brother,  let  me  have  joy  of  thee  in  the  Lord  :  refresh  my  bowels  in  the 
Lord." 

When  Onesimus  returned  to  his  master,  by  his  own  confession  of  his 
error  and  the  letter  of  Paul,  a  reconciliation  was  soon  effected  between 
the  returning  servant  and  his  pious  master.  Philemon  frankly  forgave  him 
all  that  he  owed ;  and  in  addition  thereto  sent  him  back  to  Paul  with  a  lib- 
eral offering  to  supply  the  necessities  of  the  prison.  After  which  Onesi- 
mus tendered  his  services  to  Paul,  to  bear  the  epistle  from  Rome  to  the 
Colossians  ;  and  some  say  that  he  became  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  there- 
after. 

Query.  If  the  great  apostle  Paul  wrote  and  signed  a  bond,  that  he 
would  pay  an  unknown  sum  to  Philemon,  can  any  man  be  scrupulous  of 
signing  a  subscription  to  pay  money  for  religious  uses  ? 


OLD    THEY EXPOSED. 


Of  all  the  villains  that  haunt  the  world,  not  one  of  them  is  more  mis- 
chievous than  Old  They.  He  is  generally  treated  as  a  noun  of  multitude, 
followed  by  a  single  verb,  ( They  say,)  which  makes  it  exceedingly  difficult  to 


352  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

identify  the  vagrant.  Whether  he  is  an  individual,  bearing  as  many  titles  as 
a  Spanish  Don,  or  a  monster,  having  as  many  heads  as  a  Hydra,  is  hard 
to  ascertain. 

If  a  man  wishes  to  spread  a  false  report,  to  injure  his  ruler,  priest  or 
neighbor,  he  has  nothing  to  do,  but  to  add,  They  say  so,  and  all  passes  cur- 
rently. 

If  any,  however,  are  incredulous,  and  back  the  evil  report,  after  passing 
many  hands,  which  gave  the  report  publicity,  and  drawing  the  ideal  resi- 
dence of  They,  he  then  plays  the  game  of  a  talisman  before  them,  or  dis- 
solves himself  in  air. 

Others,  who  have  been  often  foiled  in  their  pursuits  after  the  fugitive, 
and  yet  are  in  the  habit  of  believing  that  They  has  said  so,  instead  of  fix- 
ing the  blame  on  the  infamous  tatler,  who  is  retailing  the  slander,  conjec- 
ture a  substitute  for  They,  and  ever  afterwards  consider  the  substitute 
as  an  enemy,  when,  at  the  same  time,  the  poor  suspected  man,  knows  not 
for  what.  If  it  will  not  be  considered  too  dictatorial,  I  will  here  suggest 
a  salutary  expedient. 

When  a  man  begins  to  retail  the  libellous  reports  of  others,  or  vend  his 
own  choleric  manufacture,  on  the  credit  of.  They  say  so,  if  he  will  not 
identify  his  author,  hold  the  man  responsible  for  all  he  says,  and  let  Old 
They  shift  for  himself. 

THE    GENEALOGY    OF    CHRIST POSSIBLE — PRORABLE NOT    CERTAIN. 

Levi,  the  son  of  Melchi,  married  a  woman  and  begat  Matthat.  He  then 
died,  and  Eleazar  married  the  same  woman  and  begat  Matthan. 

Matthat  married  a  woman,  who  bare  him  Heli ;  then  dying,  Matthan 
married  the  widow  and  begat  Jacob. 

Heli  married  a  wife,  but  dying  childless,  Jacob  married  the  same  woman, 
and  begat  Joseph  (the  husband  of  Mary)  who  succeeded  to  Heli;  accord- 
ing to  Deut.  25,  5,  6.  Agreeable,  therefore,  to  St.  Matthew's  account, 
Eleazar  begat  Matthan,  and  Matthan  begat  Jacob,  and  Jacob  begat  Joseph. 
And  according  to  St.  Luke,  Joseph  was  the  (ceded)  son  of  Heli,  Heli  was 
the  son  of  Matthat,  and  Matthat  was  tlio  son  of  Levi. 


ELDER  JOHN  LELANO.  353 


SPEECH 

DELIVERED   IN   THE   HOUSE   OF   REPRESENTATIVES  OF 

MASSACHUSETTS,  ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF  RELIGIOUS 

FREEDOM,  1811. 


,'  Mr.  Speaker  :  The  right  of  private  judgment,  like  sight  and  hearing,  is 
inalienable  in  nature.  Should  an  individual  attempt  to  surrender  it  to  so- 
ciety, it,  nevertheless,  would  remain  with  him  still  in  all  its  vigor.  What- 
ever  individuals,  from  the  source  of  private  judgment,  might  be  led  to  say 
on  the  subject  now  before  the  house,  provided  the  house  was  in  the  capacity 
of  a  convention,  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  framing  a  constitution,  I 
cannot  determine  :  but  at  the  present  time,  the  house  is  on  legislative  ground, 
under  the  solemnity  of  an  oath,  to  legislate  according  to  the  meaning  of 
the  constitution  in  their  best  judgments.  The  part  of  the  constitution,  sir, 
which  the  subject  before  the  house  has  particular  bearing  upon,  is  contained 
in  the  second  and  third  articles  of  the  Declaration  of  Rights.  It  is  well 
known,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  the  inhabitants  of  this  commonwealth,  were, 
when  the  constitution  was  framed,  as  well  as  at  the  present  time,  divided  in 
sentiment  about  religion,  and  the  mode  of  its  support.  From  the  face  of 
the  constitution,  as  well  as  from  a  knowledge  of  those  times,  there  exists 
no  doubt,  that  a  decided  majority  believed  that  religious  duties  ought  to  be 
interwoven  in  the  civil  compact — that  Protestant  Christianity  was  the  best 
religion  in  the  world — and  that  all  the  inhabitants  ought  to  be  forced,  by 
law,  to  support  it  with  their  money,  as  a  necessary  institute  for  the  good 
of  the  body  politic,  unless  they  did  it  voluntarily.  While  a  respectable 
minority,  equally  firm  in  the  belief  of  the  divinity  of  Christianity,  and  still 
more  Protestant  in  their  views,  conceived  it  to  be  a  measure  as  presump- 
tuous in  a  legislature,  as  in  a  Pope,  to  lord  it  over  consciences,  or  interfere 
either  in  the  mode  or  support  of  Christianity.  This  minority,  Mr.  Spea- 
ker, did  theriy  and  do  still  believe  that  religion  is  a  matter  between  individ- 
uals and  their  God — a  right  inalienable — an  article  not  within  the  cogni- 
zance of  civil  government,  nor  any  way  under  its  control.  In  this  dis- 
cordance of  religious  sentiments,  the  second  and  third  articles  of  the  De- 

45 


354  THE  WRITINGS  or 

claration  of  Rights,  are  evidently  a  compromise  of  parties,  in  which  mutaaJ 
concessions  are  made  for  a  general  union.  The  language  of  the  conven- 
tion, in  the  constitution,  appears  to  be  as  follows :  "  Let  those  towns,  par- 
ishes, precints  and  other  religious  societies  possessed  of  corporate  powers, 
support  their  religion  by  force  of  law,  but  if  there  be  any  one  residing 
within  the  limits  of  those  corporate  bodies,  who  attends  other  worship,  and 
yet  has  no  scruples  of  conscience  in  being  legally  taxed,  his  money  when 
paid,  if  he  requests  it,  shall  be  paid  over,  by  the  collector,  to  the  minister 
of  his  choice.  And,  whereas,  there  are  many  religious  societies,  who  have 
scruples  of  conscience  about  availing  themselves  of  corporate  powers;  if 
such  societies,  voluntarily,  in  their  own  mode,  make  suitable  provision  for 
the  maintenance  of  their  ministers,  all  such  societies  of  Protestant  Chris- 
tians, properly  demeaning  themselves  as  peaceable  citizens,  shall  not  be 
forced  by  law  to  support  the  teachers  or  worship  of  any  other  society. 
But  as  we  cannot  well  know  how  these  principles  will  operate  on  experi- 
ment, we  lay  down  one  fundamental  maxim,  as  a  polar  star,  for  the  legis- 
lature— no  subordination  of  one  religious  sect  to  another  should  ie  established 
by  law  f"  Taking  this,  sir,  to  be  a  good  translation  of  those  two  articles, 
which  seem  to  be  somewhat  obscure,  the  question  is,  whether  the  laws, 
made  since  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  or  more  particularly,  whether 
the  interpretation  of  that  part  of  the  constitution  and  laws,  have  not  effec- 
ted a  subordination  of  one  religious  sect  to  another  ?  The  Congregation- 
alists,  sir,  have  no  scruples  about  supporting  their  worship,  in  its  various 
parts,  by  law,  but  some  other  societies  have — some,  indeed,  have  availed 
themselves  of  corporate  powers  for  no  other  purpose  but  to  defend  them- 
selves from  being  taxed  to  support  a  worship  in  which  they  had  no  faith. 
In  such  instances  they  have  been  subordinate  in  time  and  expense  to  extri- 
cate themselves  from  the  clutches  of  the  Congregationalists.  Others  are 
80  well  convinced  of  the  all-sufficiency  of  Protestant  Christianity,  and  the 
completeness  of  its  code  to  govern  in  all  things,  that  they  will  not — they 
cannot  in  good  conscience  submit  to  a  power,  which  they  believe,  in  their 
best  judgments,  was  never  given  to  government  to  be  exercised.  These 
are  peaceable  subjects  of  state — ready  to  arm  in  defence  of  their  country — 
freely  contribute  to  support  Protestant  Christianity,  but  cannot  pay  a  legal 
tax  for  religious  services ;  this,  sir,  is  one  of  the  essentials  which  consti- 
tutes them  a  distinct  sect :  and  what  have  these  endured  since  the  adoption 
of  the  constitution  ?  Have  they  not  been  reduced  to  subordination  ?  How 
many  law-suits — how  much  cost — and  how  much  property  has  been  taken 
from  them  to  support  other  societies  ?  Mr.  Speaker,  is  not  this  subordi- 
nation ? 

According  to  a  late  decision  of  the  bench,  in  the  county  of  Cumberland, 
which,  it  is  presumed,  is  to  be  a  precedent  for  future  decisions,  these  non- 
incorporated  societies  are  nobody — can  do  nothing,  and  are  never  to  be 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  355 

known  except  in  shearing  time,  when  their  money  is  wanted  to  support 
teachers  that  they  never  hear.  And  all  this  must  be  done  for  the  good  of 
the  state.  One  hundred  and  seventeen  years  ago,  wearing  long  hair  was 
considered  the  crying  sin  of  the  land  :  a  convention  was  called,  March  18, 
1694,  in  Boston,  to  prevent  it ;  after  a  long  expostulation,  the  convention 
close  thus :  "  If  any  man  will  now  presume  to  wear  long  hair,  let  him 
know  that  God  and  man  witnesses  against  him."  Our  pious  ancestors  were 
for  bobbing  the  hair  for  the  good  of  the  colony,  but  now,  sir,  not  the  hair, 
but  the  purses  must  he  bobbed  for  the  good  of  the  state.  The  petitioners 
pray  for  the  right  of  going  to  heaven  in  that  way  which  they  believe  is  the 
most  direct,  and  shall  this  be  denied  them  ?  Must  they  be  obliged  to  pay 
legal  toll  for  walking  the  king's  high-way,  which  he  has  made  free  for  all  ? 
Is  not  this  a  greater  subordination  than  to  sail  under  British  licenses,  or  to 
pay  three  pence  on  every  pound  of  tea  ?  In  Rhode  Island,  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware,  of  the  old  colonies,  and  in  Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee  and  Ohio,  the  new  states,  there  has  never  been  any  legal 
establishment  of  religion,  nor  any  assessment  to  support  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity, for  the  good  of  the  states,  and  yet,  sir,  these  states  have  stood  and 
flourished  as  well  as  Massachusetts. 

Since  the  Revolution,  all  the  old  states,  except  two  or  three  in  New  Eng- 
land, have  established  religious  liberty  upon  its  true  bottom,  and  yet  they 
are  not  sunk  with  earthquakes,  or  destroyed  with  fire  and  brimstone.  Should 
this  commonwealth,  Mr.  Speaker,  proceed  so  far  as  to  distribute  all  settle- 
ments and  meeting-houses,  which  were  procured  by  public  taxes,  among 
all  the  inhabitants,  without  regard  to  denomination  ;  it  is  probable  that  the 
outcry  of  sacrilege,  profanity  and  infidelity  would  be  echoed  ai'ound ;  and 
yet,  sir,  all  this  has  been  done,  in  a  state,  which  has  given  birth  and  edu- 
cation to  a  Henry,  a  Washington,  a  Jefferson  and  a  Madison,  each  of  which 
contributed  their  aid,  to  effect  the  grand  event ;  for  which  event  the  Pres- 
byterians and  others  prayed  and  gained.  It  is  there  believed,  sir,  that  God 
hates  robbery  for  burnt  offerings,  and  ought  not  Massachusetts  to  pay  a 
decent  respect  to  the  voice  of  fifteen  of  her  sister  states  ?  We  should 
imagine  that  laudable  pride  would  prevent  any  one  religious  society  from 
forcing  another  to  pay  her  laborers,  and  that  the  same  principle  would  not 
admit  a  public  teacher  to  take  money,  collected  by  distraint,  from  those 
who  did  not  hear  him  ;  but  in  this  particular,  we  find  that  religion  is  made 
a  covert  to  do  that  which  common  honesty  blushes  at  f 

Sir,  it  is  not  to  disrobe  towns  of  their  corporate  powers ;  no,  let  them 
go  to  heaven  in  such  turnpike  roads,  and  pay  legal  toll  at  every  ministerial 
gate  which  they  choose,  and  what  can  they  wish  for  more  ?  According  to 
our  best  judgments,  we  cannot  pay  legal  taxes  for  religious  services,  de- 
scending even  to  the  grade  of  a  chaplain  for  the  legislature.  It  is  disro- 
bing Christianity  of  her  virgin  beauty — turning  the  churches  of  Christ  into 


356  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

creatures  of  state — and  metamorphosing  gospel  ambassadors  to  state  pen- 
sioners. If  my  information  be  correct,  the  town  of  Boston  has  enjoyed 
the  liberty  which  we  plead  for,  more  than  one  hundred  years,  yet  the  in- 
habitants increase  and  are  virtuous.  Fifteen  states,  now  in  the  Union, 
have  all  that  we  ask  for,  and  is  religion  demolished  in  those  states  ?  Mr. 
Speaker,  let  gentlemen  turn  their  eyes  to  the  religious  magazines,  published 
in  this  state,  by  those  who  plead  for  law-regulated  religion,  and  they  will 
find,  that  while  the  editors  in  one  page  plead  for  the  old  firm  of  Moses  and 
Aaron — ruler  and  priest ;  where  the  language  is,  "  you  comb  my  head  and 
I'll  scratch  your  elbows — you  make  laws  to  support  me,  and  I'll  persuade 
the  people  to  obey  you  ;"  in  the  next  page,  they  will  narrate  the  wonder- 
ful works  of  God  in  those  states  wherein  there  are  no  religious  laws,  and 
indeed,  wherein  the  inhabitants  know  that  religious  establishments  and  as- 
sessments, serve  only  to  make  one  part  of  the  community  fools,  and  the 
other  hypocrites — to  support  fraud,  superstition  and  violence  in  the  earth. 

Let  Christianity  stand  upon  its  own  basis,  it  is  the  greatest  blessing  that 
ever  was  among  men  ;  but  incorporate  it  into  the  civil  code  and  it  becomes 
the  mother  of  cruelties. 

It  is  questioned,  Mr.  Speaker,  by  good  judges,  whether  it  is  possible  for 
the  legislature  to  execute  the  power  vested  in  them,  in  the  third  article  of 
the  Declaration  of  Rights,  without  defeating  the  provision  in  the  same  ar- 
ticle "  that  no  subordination  of  any  one  sect  or  denomination  to  another, 
shall  ever  be  established  by  law."  I  know  not,  sir,  what  can  be  done,  but 
one  thing  is  certain,  it  never  has  been  done  since  the  adoption  of  the  con- 
stitution.  Supposing,  sir,  it  cannot  be  done,  to  which  part  of  it  ought  the 
legislature  to  adhere  ? — to  that  which  supports  partiality  and  injustice,  or 
to  that  which  secures  right  and  equality ;  can  any  gentleman  be  at  a  loss  ? 

Tyranny,  Mr.  Speaker,  always  speaks  the  same  language.  The  tyrant 
of  Ammon  would  be  friendly  to  Israel,  if  he  might  put  out  their  right  eyes. 
The  tyrant  on  the  Nile  would  let  his  subjects  go  free,  provided  they  would 
leave  their  flocks  and  herds  behind. 

Go  serve  the  Lord,  proud  Pharaoh  said, 
But  let  your  flocks  and  herds  be  staid — 
Go  serve  the  Lord,  says  Massachusetts, 
But  bow  to  Baal  with  your  certificates. 
You  all  may  worship  as  you  please. 
But  parish  priest  shall  have  your  fees ; 
His  preaching  is  like  milk  and  honey — 
And  you  shall  pay  our  priest  your  money ! 

Mr.  Chairman,  if  Christianity  is  false,  it  cannot  be  the  duty  of  govern- 
ment to  support  imposture ;  but  if  it  be  true,  the  following  extracts  are 
true :  "  The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  God,  neither  can 
he  know  them ;  the  world  by  wisdom  know  not  God  ;  none  of  the  princes 


ELDER    JUHN    LELAND.  SS"/ 

of  this  world,  know  the  genius  of  Christ's  kingdom."  If,  sir,  Christianity- 
is  true,  these  sayings  are  true  ;  and  if  these  sayings  are  true,  natural  men, 
as  such,  with  all  the  proficiency  of  science,  cannot  understand  the  religion 
of  Christ;  and  if  they  cannot  understand  the  subject,  they  must  be  very 
unfit  to  legislate  about  it.  If,  to  escape  this  dilemma,  we  adopt  the  Papal 
maxim,  that  government  is  founded  in  grace,  and,  therefore,  none  but  gra- 
cious men  have  a  right  to  rule  ;  and  that  these  gracious  rulers  have  both 
right  and  knowledge  to  legislate  about  religion,  we  shall  find,  what  other 
nations  have  found,  that  these  divine  rulers,  wil^be  the  most  cruel  tyrants  : 
under  this  notion,  Mr.  Chairman,  the  crusades  were  formed  in  the  eleventh 
century,  which  lasted  about  two  hundred  years,  and  destroyed  nearly  two 
millions  of  lives.  In  view  of  all  this,  and  ten  thousand  times  as  much,  is 
it  to  be  wondered  at,  that  the  present  petitioners,  should  be  fearful  of  at- 
taching corporate  power  to  religious  societies  ?  These  petitioners,  sir,  pay 
the  civil  list,  and  arm  to  defend  their  country  as  readily  as  others,  and  only 
ask  for  the  liberty  of  forming  their  societies,  and  paying  their  preachers, 
in  the  only  way  that  the  Christians  did  for  the  first  three  centuries  after 
Christ :  any  gentleman  upon  this  floor,  is  invited  to  produce  an  instance, 
that  Christian  societies  were  ever  formed,  Christian  sabbaths  ever  enjoined, 
Christian  salaries  ever  levied,  or  Christian  worship  ever  enforced  by  law, 
before  the  reign  of  Constantine ;  yet  Christianity  did  stand  and  flourish, 
not  only  without  the  aid  of  the  law  and  the  schools,  but  in  opposition  to 
both.  We  therefore  hope,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  the  prayer  of  thirty  thousand, 
on  this  occasion,  will  be  heard,  and  that  they  will  obtain  the  exemption 
for  which  they  pray. 

The  second  section  of  the  bill  before  the  house,  I  object  to.  It  recog- 
nizes principles  which  are  inadmissable — invests  all  non-corporate  societies 
with  corporate  powers — puts  the  mischievous  dagger  into  their  hands, 
which  has  done  so  much  mischief  in  the  world,  and  presents  no  balm  for 
the  wounds  of  those  who  cry  for  help.* 

The  petitioners  do  not  ask  to  be  known  in  law,  as  corporate  bodies,  but, 
to  be  so  covered,  that  religious  corporate  bodies  shall  not  know,  and  fleece 
them ;  but,  this  section  puts  the  knife  into  their  hands  against  their  wills ; 
a  knife,  sir,  which  is  more  pestiferous  than  Pandora's  box.  The  inter- 
ference of  legislatures  and  magistrates,  in-the  faith,  worship,  or  support  of 
religious  worship,  is  the  first  step  in  the  case,  which  leads  in  regular  pro- 
gression to  inquisition  ;  the  principle  is  the  same,  the  only  difference  is 
in  the  degree  of  usurpation. 

The  bill  has  its  beauties,  and  its  deformities.  One  prominent  defect  of 
the  bill,  is,  a  crooked  back ;  it  makes  a  low  stoop  to  his  high  mightiness, 
town-clerk,  to  pray  for  the  indulgence  of  worshipping  God  ;  vvhich  is,  and 

*  After  the  delivery  of  this  sn|ech,  the  bill  passed  some  radical  amendments. 


358  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

ought  to  be  guaranteed  a  natural  and  inalienable  right ;  not  a  favor  to  be 
asked  by  the  citizen,  or  bestowed  by  the  ruler.  It  has  also  a  disagreeable 
squinting ;  it  squints  to  a  purse  of  money  with  as  much  intenseness,  as  ever 
a  drunkard  does  at  the  bottle,  or  as  ever  Eve  did  at  the  apple.  Yes,  Mr. 
Speaker,  if  there  was  no  money  to  be  got,  we  should  never  hear  of  these 
corporations.  How  strange  it  is,  sir,  that  men,  who  make  such  noise 
about  Christianity,  should  be  afraid  to  trust  the  promise  of  God,  unless 
they  can  have  legal  bondmen,  bound  by  incorporation. 

Government  should  be^o  fixed,  that  Pagans,  Turks,  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians, should  be  equally  protected  in  their  rights.  The  government  of 
Massachusetts,  is,  however,  differently  formed  ;  under  the  existing  con- 
stitution, it  is  not  possible  for  the  general  court,  to  place  religion  upon 
its  proper  footing ;  it  can  be  done,  however,  much  better  than  it  is  done, 
either  by  the  late  decision  of  the  bench,  or  by  the  adoption  of  the  present 
bill,  in  its  present  shape ;  and  the  best  which  the  constitution  will  admit 
of,  is  all  that  I  seek  for  at  present.  I  shall  therefore  take  the  liberty,  at 
a  proper  time,  to  offer  an  amendment  to  the  bill. 

I  shall  no  longer  trespass  on  the  patience  of  the  house.  ^^ 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 


359 


SHOET    NAREATIVE 

OF   A 

FIVE  HOURS'  CONFLICT, 

ON  THE   NIGHT   FOLLOWING  THE   17th    OF  OCTOBER,  1811. 

I  am  tne  man  that  have  seen  affliction  by  the  rod  of  his  wrath. Jkrehiah. 


In  the  summer  of  1811,  there  appeared  to  be  a  gracious  work  among 
ihe  people  in  Cheshire.  I  had  my  trials  to  bear ;  yet  the  circle  which  I 
trod,  on  the  whole,  was  pleasant.  My  outward  man  was  affected  with  a 
jaundiced  debility,  but  my  inward  man  was  renewed  day  by  day.  By  the 
last  of  September,  I  had  baptized  twenty-eight,  and  the  work  seemed  to  be 
prevailing ;  when  suddenly  I  was  slopped  from  my  ministerial  labors,  and 
called  to  pass  through  a  scene  very  afflictive.  Whatever  the  disease  might 
be  called,  it  shocked  my  whole  nervous  system,  and  assailed  my  head  with 
such  pain  that  it  deprived  me  of  a  great  part  of  my  hearing  and  power  of 
speech.  Whether  my  sickness  was  brought  on  by  latent  causes — by  im- 
prudent conduct — or  by  unavoidable  events,  is  immaterial  to  my  narrative. 
I  was  sorely  attacked.  When  first  seized,  I  had  an  impression  riveted  in 
my  mind  that  I  should  be  given  up  of  the  Lord,  to  pass  through  a  doleful 
conflict ;  how  long  i  could  not  tell.  But  whether  this  affliction  was  to 
come  upon  me  for  specific  crimes  committed,  for  a  trial  of  my  faith,  or  to 
prevent  me  from  being  exalted  with  pride,  or  falling  into  some  other  sin, 
I  could  not  suggest.  On  entering  this  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I 
seemed  to  be  stripped  of  all  my  armor,  which  so  lately  I  had  gloried  in. 
The  God  whom  I  had  addressed  and  confided  in  ,•  the  Mediator,  through 
whose  blood  and  righteousness  alone  I  hoped  for  pardon  ;  the  gospel  of 
salvation,  which  revealed  the  only  foundation  of  trust ;  and  the  spirit  of 
prayer,  which  I  preferred  to  all  riches,  were  removed  from  my  grasp ; 
nor  could  I  conceive  that  there  was  any  happiness  in  the  universe.  In 
this  state,  however,  I  had  a  small  hope,  that  God,  in  his  own  good  time, 
would  bring  me  back  again  to  that  circle  which  I  had  lately  walked  in ; 


360  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

and  notwithstanding  my  distress  of  body  and  mind  were  great,  yet  I  had 
some  acquiescence  in  the  affliction.  The  language  of  the  prophet  became 
mine  ;  "  I  will  bear  the  indignation  of  the  Lord,  because  I  have  sinned 
against  him,  until  he  plead  my  cause  and  execute  judgment  for  me." 
But  when  I  had  waited  more  than  a  fortnight,  my  sickness  still  prevailing, 
and  no  deliverance  granted,  it  struck  my  mind  that  the  Lord  would  never 
bring  me  back  again  to  thut  state  where  I  enjoyed  my  armor  and  happi. 
ness,  and  that  1  must  begin  in  heWs  belly,  where  I  was,  to  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  Memorable  time  !  dark  and  doleful  night !  let  it  never 
be  forgotten  by  me  !  My  mind  was  arrested,  by  some  invisible  power,  and 
my  soul  seemed  suspended  on  a  point,  that  unless  I  could  solve  a  number 
of  questions,  all  would  be  lost.  How  did  my  poor  heart  tremble  !  It  was 
ten  o'clock  at  night;  all  was  dark,  without  and  within  !  On  entering  the 
contest  I  felt  like  a  feeble  child  cast  into  a  pit  to  combat  with  dragons. 
The  first  question  propounded  to  me,  was,  "  Is  there  a  harmony  in  the 
universe  becoming  a  God  ?"  The  immensity  of  the  universe  I  could  form 
no  idea  of.  How  many  worlds  and  systems  of  worlds  there  were  I  knew 
not ;  and  what  an  infinity  of  space  surrounded  those  worlds,  was  beyond 
my  stretch  of  thought.  The  visible  heavens  and  earth  were  all  that  I  could 
contemplate  to  any  advantage ;  and  indeed  the  condilion  of  rational  and 
animal  creatures  was  the  subject  that  summoned  my  attention.  Among 
rationals,  war,  famine,  pestilence,  earthquakes,  plagues,  personal  slavery, 
despotic  oppression,  sickness,  pain  and  death,  &c.  Among  beasts,  fear, 
hunger,  cruelly,  killing  and  living  upon  each  other,  bearing  the  abuses  of 
men,  and  slain  by  them  to  feast  upon,  &c.  Here  the  reasoning  of  my 
mind  was  this — "  Why  did  the  Almighty  make  creatures  subject  to  all  this  ? 
If  he  is  the  parent  of  all,  why  does  he  suffer  one  of  his  children  to  inflict 
so  much  injustice  and  cruelty  upon  another  ?  Could  he  not  have  made 
thinofs  otherwise  1  If  not,  why  create  at  all  ?  After  he  had  created,  could 
he  not  have  prevented  sin  and  misery  ?  If  he  could,  who  can  justify  his 
goodness  in  withholding  aid?  Can  it  possibly  be  pleasing  to  God  to  see 
darkness,  wrath,  sin,  misery  and  death  rage  in  his  dominions  ?  If  his  will 
is  otherwise,  why  did  he  not,  why  does  he  not  prevent  it  ?  But  this  he 
does  not  do.  These  destructive  evils  have  always  existed  since  I  can  re- 
member ;  at  least,  do  still  exist,  and  I  can  see  no  end  to  them.  How  did 
my  aspiring  and  arrogant  soul  struggle  against  believing  self-evident  facts, 
when  I  could  not  comprehend  the  great  constitution,  (or  the  events  that 
took  place  under  the  constitution,)  whence  all  those  evils  arose  !  At  length 
it  was  suggested  to  me,  that  1  was  utterly  incompetent  to  understand  the 
mystery  thut  was  enfolded  in  the  smallest  insect  or  grain  of  sand  ;  that 
there  was  a  principle,  known  to  exist,  by  which  to  pour  cold  water  upon  a 
cold  stone*  would  raise  fire  to  burn  up  the  house.     That  I  could  not  tell 


(M  o.;>ii.'iv.- 


*  *  The  burnt  limestone  is  here  intended. 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  361 

why  the  water  ran  down  hill ;  why  the  wind  did  blow  ;  or  what  that  angry 
spirit,  called  fire,  was,  that  ate  up  the  wood  and  warmed  the  flesh.  That 
I  could  not  account  for  the  voluntary  or  involuntary  motions  of  my  own 
body ;  nor  did  I  know  why  or  what  the  pain  was  which  I  felt.  And  if  I 
could  not  understand  the  least  of  God's  works,  I  must  be  more  insufficient 
to  understand  the  whole  system  than  the  smallest  fly  was  to  understand 
the  greatest  piece  of  machinery.  This  kind  of  reasoning  had  a  little 
weight  in  my  mind,  but  effected  no  real  subordination  in  my  spirit.  Crea- 
tion was  all  in  disorder.  Darkness,  wrath  and  confusion  reigned  through 
the  whole ;  and  happiness  did  not  exist.  And  here  this  subject  was  left. 
The  next  question  which  arrested  my  mind  was  this,  "  there  is  no  God. 
If  so,  who  is  he  ?"  pn  the  first  part  of  this  suggestion,  my  reflections 
were  as  follows.  There  either  is  a  God,  or  there  is  not.  If  there  is  a 
Supreme  Deity,  he  must  be  increate,  himself  uncaused  ;  and  this  I  can 
form  no  idea  of;  it  seems  impossible.  But  if  there  is  no  God,  whence 
arose  all  creatures  and  things,  which  I  know  exist  ?  To  suppose  that  the 
visible  heavens  and  earth  are  eternal  ;  or  that  the  first  man  on  earth  had 
never  a  beginning,  is  equally  impossible  to  sense,  and  less  likely  to  be  true. 
Of  coui'se  then,  to  escape  a  greater  dilemma  I  must  believe  that  there  is  a 
God,  and  that  his  eternal  power  and  Godhead  are  seen  by  the  visible  things 
which  he  has  made.  If,  then,  there  is  a  God,  whd  is  he  ?  Here  my 
thoughts  were  exercised  thus.  Whoever  God  is,  he  must  be  eternal,  with- 
out beginning — sovereign,  under  no  law — and  omnipotent,  to  create  all 
things.  The  gods  many  and  lords  many  of  the  heathen  world,  were, 
some  of  them,  ideal  and  others  of  them  material  beings  ;  but  none  of  them 
that  I  have  ever  read  or  heard  of,  claimed  the  character,  nor  have  any  of 
their  worshippers  ever  given  them  the  character  of  creating  all  things  and 
raising  the  dead.  The  heathen  accounts  of  creation  are  chimerical  enough  : 
but  they  never  ascribe  it  to  any  of  their  gods.  And  the  resurrection  from 
the  dead  is  looked  upon  as  a  thing  incredible  by  them  ;  in  it  they  have  no 
hope.  But  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  who  is  the  Christian's  God,  claims  the 
works  of  creation  and  the  resurrection  as  his  own.  Here  many  texts  oc- 
curred to  my  mind ;  such  as,  "  Thus  saith  the  high  and  lofty  one  that 
inhabiteth  eternity — I  am  God  and  there  is  none  else — I  am  the  Lord,  that 
is  my  name,  and  my  glory  I  will  not  give  to  another,  nor  my  praise  unto 
graven  images — Give  ear,  O  ye  heavens,  and  I  will  speak ;  and  hear,  O 
earth,  the  words  of  my  mouth  ;  I  have  made  the  earth  and  man  upon  it ; 
my  hands  have  stretched  out  the  heavens,  and  all  their  hosts  have  I  com- 
manded— Mine  hand  also  hath  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth,  and  my 
right  hand  hath  spanned  the  heavens  ;  when  I  call  unto  them,  they  stand 
up  together ;  I  clothe  the  heavens  with  blackness,  and  I  make  sackcloth 
their  covering  ;  I  kill  and  I  make  alive ;  Thy  dead  men  shall  live  ;  All 
that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice  and  come  forth ;  they  that  have 

46 


362  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

done  good  to  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  those  that  have  done  evil  to  the 
resurrection  of  damnation,  and  many  more  beside  ;  for  never  did  the 
scripture  flow  into  my  mind  as  it  did  that  night.  Now,  if  creation  certain- 
ly has  taken  place,  (which  none  can  deny,)  and  the  resurrection  also  in  a 
few  instances,  and  will  be  universal  according  to  history  and  prophecy  ; 
and  none  of  the  heathen  gods  claim  the  work  ;  to  whom  can  it  be  ascribed 
better  than  unto  him  who  claims  it  ?  Surely  Jehovah  he  is  God !  the  Lord 
he  is  God  !  It  is  not  to  be  understood  that  my  convictions  of  the  God- 
head of  Jehovah  were  so  clear  and  absolute  as  to  prevent  all  scruples ; 
they  seemed  but  to  hold  me  up  with  a  little  help,  while  the  horrors  of 
atheism  and  black  despair,  like  billows,  were  dashing  round  my  trembling 
soul. 

The  .following  thought  next  bolted  into  my  mind  :  "Jesus  Christ  was 
not  truly  God,  nor  the  Saviour  of  men."  This  was  no  new  suggestion  to 
me  ;  it  has  often  assailed  me  in  my  life  ;  but  it  came  now  with  great 
force,  when  I  had  but  little  strength  to  withstand  it.  In  health,  I  had  given 
up  the  point,  that  the  mystery  of  the  trinity,  and  of  the  union  of  two  na- 
tures in  Christ  were  incomprehensible  ;  and  here  it  struck  my  mind  that 
the  Creator  and  Saviour  of  men  must  be  too  exalted  in  nature  for  men  or 
angels  to  scrutinize  ;  that  a  being  must  be  just  as  incompetent  to  create 
and  redeem,  as  the  creatures  were  competent  to  understand.  But  the 
question  arose  in  my  mind,  "  Is  there  not  rational  evidence  within  the 
comprehension  of  men  to  prove  facts,  which  are,  in  their  nature,  incon- 
ceivable ?"  The  answer  was,  yes.  For  proof,  I  have  evidence  to  believe 
that  my  eye  can  see,  my  ear  hear,  and  my  tongue  speak  ;  but  why  these 
organs  have  that  power,  and  others  have  not,  I  cannot  tell.  The  question 
then  followed,  "  Is  there  rational  evidence  to  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
truly  God,  and  the  only  Saviour  of  lost  sinners?"  This  evidence  I  then 
sought  after.  It  here  occurred  to  me,  that  Jesus  bore  all  the  names  and 
titles  of  Israel's  Holy  One,  and  did  godlike  works  by  inherent  power,  and, 
therefore,  must  be  the  true  God  and  eternal  life  ;  and  that  salvation  was  in 
none  other ;  for  there  was  no  other  name  under  heaven,  given  among 
men,  whereby  we  must  or  could  be  saved.  But  here  I  got  headed.  It 
burst  into  my  mind  like  a  torrent,  "  That  I  was  bringing  my  evidence  from 
the  Bible,  which  was  a  fictitious  book — that  the  history  of  Jesus  was  not 
true,  and  the  gospel  was  only  an  imposture."  How  this  sunk  my  spirits! 
The  only  prop  which  my  feeble  soul  had  to  rely  on,  must  now  be  taken 
away.  "  If  the  foundations  be  destroyed,  what  can  the  righteous  do  ?"  In 
the  course  of  my  life,  I  have  read  all  the  deistical  books  that  came  to  hand, 
and  have  had  many  difiiculties  in  my  mind  about  the  divinity  of  the  Bible, 
which  no  Deist  that  I  have  read  after  has  availed  himself  of.  I  have  also 
read  the  replies  to  the  Deists,  and  have  had  some  arguments  of  my  own  in 
defence  of  revelation.     But  now,  when  I  was  weak,  and  my  life  hanging 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  363 

in  suspense,  to  go  over  all  the  ground  of  debate,  was  so  elaborate,  that  it 
was  not  practicable.  Some  shorter  way  of  relief  I  must  find,  or  plunge. 
The  divinity  of  the  New  Testament — the  truth  of  the  gospel,  was  now  the 
point  at  issue.  On  which  I  reasoned  thus :  the  New  Testament  is  in  ex- 
istence  :  it  was  written  either  by  bad  men  or  by  good  men  :  to  believe  that 
bad  men  wrote  it,  requires  a  faith  more  marvellous  than  it  does  to  believe 
the  truth  of  any  article  contained  in  it.  For  bad  men  to  form  a  book  that 
condemns  every  species  of  sin — that  lays  the  honors,  pleasures,  and  wealth 
of  the  world  in  the  dust — that  enjoins  patience  under  injury,  and  good  for 
evil — in  short,  to  sacrifice  everything  that  is  pleasing  to  bad  men  :  who 
can  believe  it  ?  The  New  Testament  is  written  in  a  style  peculiar  to  it- 
self. In  it,  there  is  such  majesty  and  simplicity,  united  with  such  force  to 
arrest  the  conscience,  that  all  the  wise  men  aud  wits  on  earth  cannot  imi- 
tate it.  The  belief  of  the  gospel  never  makes  good  men  worse,  but  often 
makes  bad  men  better.  If  the  gospel  is  not  from  heaven,  who  can  account 
for  the  impression  that  it  has  had  on  the  hearts  and  lives  of  thousands  in 
our  day,  and  we  cannot  deny  it.  ?  The  presumption  is,  then,  that  the  gos- 
pel was  written  by  good  men  ;  if  so,  they  spake  the  truth,  for  a  liar  is  not 
a  good  man.  And,  if  they  spake  the  truth,  their  writings  are  divine  ;  for 
they  assure  us  that  "  holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

So  I  reasoned  with  myself.  But,  notwithstanding  the  arguments  in  fa- 
vor of  the  divinity  of  the  gospel  overweighed  those  against  it,  yet,  I  found 
logical  reasoning  to  be  but  feeble  support  for  a  desponding  soul,  verging 
on  eternity.  1  wished  to  know,  wilhout  a  douht,  that  Jesus  was  a  Saviour, 
and  that  the  gospel  was  from  heaven.  The  prayer  of  Moses  came  to 
mind,  "  I  beseech  thee,  show  me  thy  glory."  How  did  I  long  to  see  Jesus, 
either  in  a  trance,  like  Paul,  or  to  have  the  heavens  open  that  I  might  see 
him,  like  Stephen  ;  but  this  I  was  not  favored  with.  At  length,  I  corrected 
myself  thus  :  But  few  of  Adam's  children,  for  four  thousand  years,  ever 
saw  him,  and  those  few  only  saw  him  in  vision.  When  he  was  on  earth, 
but  a  small  part  of  men,  then  living,  saw  him  ;  and,  since  his  ascension, 
he  is  not  to  be  seen  without  a  miracle ;  and,  therefore,  is  not  my  prayer 
ternpting  the  Lord  ?  But  is  it  necessary,  or  any  ways  advantageous,  for 
me  to  see  him  ?  Many  saw  him,  and  believed  not.  Should  I  now  see 
him,  perhaps  I  should  not  reverence  him ;  and,  if  I  did,  perhaps  I  should 
as  soon  doubt  the  truth  of  that  appearance  as  I  should  the  gospel.  Here 
the  following  words  occurred  :  "  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets, 
neither  will  they  be. persuaded  although  one  rose  from  the  dead."  But 
neither  Scripture  nor  reason  would  still  the  tempest  in  my  soul.  The  sug- 
gestions, "  hearsay  will  not  do  ;  history  may  be  false ;  you  must  have 
ocular  evidence  to  convince  you,"  would  break  over  my  head  like  mighty 
billows.     Words  cannot  express  the  distress  of  my  heart  at  that  time.  An 


364  THE    WRITINGS    OT 

instance  recorded  of  Abraham  was  appropriate  to  my  case.  "  Lo  !  a  hor- 
ror of  great  darkness  fell  upon  him."  While  musing  on  my  state  of  mis- 
ery, of  which  I  could  see  no  end,  the  plaintive  language  of  Jesus  came  to 
mind.  "  My  God  !  my  God  !  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  Now  is  my  soul 
exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto  death.  If  it  be  possible,  take  away  this 
cup  from  me.  Being  in  an  agony  he  prayed  more  earnestly,  and  his  sweat 
Avas,  as  it  were,  great  drops  of  blood." 

Never  did  I  before  have  so  great  a  sense  of  the  agony  of  Christ — never 
such  fellowship  of  his  sufferings.  But  he  agonized  and  resisted  unto  blood  ; 
I  did  not.  He  bore  his  afflictions  for  others  ;  I  for  my  own  sins.  Indeed, 
his  sufferings  appeared  so  much  greater  than  mine,  that  my  own  hardly 
deserved  a  name,  and  yet  they  were  severe. 

While  thus  tossed  to  and  fro  in  my  spirit,  the  words  of  Paul  and  Silas  ta 
the  jailer  fell  into  mind.  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved."  This  text  caused  a  pause  in  my  thoughts.  I  remembered  that 
the  words  were  spoken  to  a  man,  who,  but  a  few  minutes  before,  to  prevent 
impeachment  and  disgrace,  would  have  killed  himself.  Surely,  thought  I, 
this  is  short  work,  indeed.  This  too  was  after  Christ  left  the  earth  ;  and 
is  he  the  same  now  ?  If  so,  O,  that  I  might  believe  !  What  is  it  to  be- 
lieve ?  How  must  I  come  and  bow  before  him  ?  The  answer  was,  "  he 
that  Cometh  to  him  must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  a  rewarder  of 
them  who  diligently  seek  him."  While  I  was  querying  with  myself  whe- 
ther I  believed  or  not,  the  words  of  a  man  (who  was  desiring  and  doubt- 
ing) flowed  into  my  thoughts  with  great  force.  "  Lord,  I  believe,  help 
thou  my  unbelief."  Never  did  words  suit  a  man's  condition  better.  I  felt 
as  if  I  believed  a  little,  but  was  surrounded  with  surges  of  unbelief.  If 
■words  had  been  made  on  pui'pose  for  me,  they  would  not  have  been  more 
applicable  than  was  the  text,  "  Lord,  I  believe,  help  thou  my  unbelief." 
But  the  thought  followed,  "  you  have  not  seen  him,  and,  therefore,  your 
faith  in  him  is  no  more  than  fancy/'  On  which  the  words  of  Peter  seemed 
to  strengthen  me  :  "  Whom  having  not  seen  ye  love  ;  in  whom,  though 
now  ye  see  him  not,  yet  believing,  ye  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory."  And  also  the  words  of  Paul  :  "  We  walk  by  faith  and  not 
by  sight."  Together  with  the  saying  of  Jesus:  "A  little  while  and  ye 
shall  not  see  me,  and  again  a  little  while  and  ye  shall  see  me."  But  the 
text  which  was  most  impressive,  was,  "  Blessed  are  they  which  have  not 
seen  and  yet  have  believed."  By  this  time  my  soul  was  full ;  like  Jacob, 
I  could  say,  "  It  is  enough."  Or,  like  the  apostles,  "  We  believe  and  are 
sure  that  thou  art  Christ  the  Son  of  the  living  God."  It  really  appeared 
to  me  that,  when  I  breathed,  my  soul  drew  in  the  water  of  life,  or  "  breathed 
her  native  air."  But  rest  was  not  for  me  yet.  It  was  next  presented  to 
me,  "  that  if  ever  the  texts  were  spoken  in  which  I  had  rejoiced,  they  were 
spoken  to  others,  and  bore  no  relation  to  me." 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 


365 


Here  I  plunged  again,  and  sunk  in  the  mire,  where  there  was  no  stand- 
ing. And  is  the  Bible  false  ?  Is  it  compatible  with  the  goodness  of  God, 
to  leave  all  his  creatures  without  any  directory  to  guide  their  feet — any 
foundation  to  encourage  their  hope?  Have  all  the  martyrs  and  saints 
suffered  so  much  in  vain  ?  If,  however,  the  history  of  their  sufferings  is 
false,  or  if  they  suffered  from  sinister  views,  what  shall  we  think  of  what 
we  know  has  taken  place  in  our  days  ?  Thousands,  in  our  days^  have 
been  so  impressed  by  the  gospel,  as  to  have  their  principles  changed,  and 
their  lives  reformed,  which  I  cannot  impute  to  any  cause  but  its  divinity. 
It  must  be  true.  My  soul  then  rose  up  again  in  faith,  and  I  fled,  as  be- 
fore, to  my  refuge.  "  Blessed  are  those  who  have  not  seen  and  yet  have 
believed — Lord,  I  believe,  help  thou  my  unbelief."  I  cannot  say  how 
many  times,  but  I  believe  more  than  twenty,  in  the  course  of  my  conflict, 
I  had  these  triumphs  in  believing  and  plunges  in  unbelief.  I  compared 
myself  sometimes  to  a  child  riding  on  the  end  of  a  beam  fixed  on  a  pivot ; 
sometimes  his  end  would  be  up,  anon  it  would  fall,  and  bruise  and  break 
him.  At  other  times,  to  a  man  cast  into  the  ocean  in  the  night,  feeling 
with  hands  and  feet  for  some  support ;  at  length,  he  finds  a  solid  rock  to 
stand  upon,  but  the  rolling  billows,  beating  around,  and  breaking  over  his 
head,  almost  sweep  him  from  the  rock. 

The  next  attack  which  I  had  was  this.  "  Man  is  all  mortal  and  has  no 
soul  that  will  survive  his  dissolution,  but  his  death  is  the  close  of  his  exist- 
ence." This  suggestion  has  greatly  assaulted  me  for  twenty  years.  Not- 
withstanding the  scripture  proves  the  contrary  so  abundantly,  yet  a  spirit 
has  been  fluttering  around  me,  and  whispering  that  the  complexity  of  man 
was  chimerical.  (Those  who  know  how  hard  it  is  to  realize,  as  Christians, 
what  they  believe  as  rationalists,  will  understand  me.)  Here  my  spirits 
played  again.  My  nerves  were  grievously  attacked  ;  and  this  close  think- 
ing on  abstruse  questions  I  knew  was  injurious  to  me.  Fain  I  would  have 
stopped  thinking  to  save  my  life,  but  I  could  not  do  it.  Some  invisible 
power  impelled  me  to  it.  Well,  thought  I,  if  myself  and  all  others  die  like 
brutes,  there  will  be  an  end  of  us  all ;  I  shall  fare  as  well  as  any,  and  all 
of  us  shall  certainly  escape  future  pain,  and  lie  in  dust  unconscious  of  our 
existence.  But  this  state  of  passivity  looked  horrid  to  me.  And  besides, 
I  did  not  see  as  the  decay  of  my  health,  flesh  and  strength  impaired  my 
thinking  faculties,  nor  could  I  believe  that  death  would  extinguish  them. 
But  I  did  not  long  continue  here  ;  my  thoughts  were  arrested  by  another 
subject,  viz  :  "  Will  the  dead  ever  be  raised  ?"  It  is  remarkable  that  all 
the  most  potent  objections  that  are  ever  advanced  against  the  divinity  of 
Christianity,  should  appear  in  all  their  front,  in  battle  array  against  me,  in 
one  night,  when  I  was  so  poorly  prepared  for  the  attack,  both  in  body  and 
mind.  Whether  it  can  be  accounted  for  or  not,  so  it  was.  The  Deist  ad- 
mits that  if  the  resurrection  in  general,  or  that  of  Christ  in  particular,  can 


366  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

be  proved,  Deism  must  fall.  The  Christian  agrees,  that  if  there  is  no  re- 
surrection from  the  dead,  the  gospel  is  a  lie — men  believe  in  vain  and  are 
yet  in  their  sins;  It  then  struck  my  mind,  that  the  way  in  which  great 
events  were  perpetuated,  was  by  history,  periodical  days  and  emblems. 
The  resurrection  of  Christ  was  handed  down  to  us  by  history ;  and  if 
the  history  was  no  more  authentic  than  other  histories,  yet,  at  least,  it  de- 
served equal  credit.  And  no  man  disputed  but  what  Augustus  Cesar  and 
Tiberius  Cesar  had  lived  and  reigned  in  Rome.  Now,  as  it  is  said  Christ 
was  born  in  the  days  of  one  of  them,  and  died  and  rose  again  in  the  days 
of  the  other,  why  not  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  as  well  as  in 
the  reign  of  those  emperors  ?  To  me  it  appeared  unaccountable,  if  the 
history  of  Christ's  I'esurrection  was  a  forgery,  that,  at  a  time  when  it  was 
so  easy  to  detect  the  cheat,  it  should  nevertheless  gain  such  credit  among 
every  class  of  people,  that  in  less  than  three  hundred  years  it  should  over- 
turn  an  empire  which  claimed  universal  sway.  A  periodical  day  has  also 
been  observed  to  perpetuate  the  event ;  and  every  first  day  of  the  week 
gave  us  as  good  proof  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  as  every  4th  day  of 
July  gives  our  children,  under  thirty-five  years  old,  when  the  American 
revolution  took  place.  Baptism  has  also  handed  down  the  same  fact;  this 
commemorates  the  burial  and  resurrection  of  Jesus  ;  but  if  the  dead  rise 
not,  why  are  they  baptized  for  the  dead.  But  I  could  not  reason  much. 
To  me,  however,  it  appeared,  that  if  Jesus  arose  from  the  dead,  there  was 
no  difficulty  in  proving  or  believing  that  all  men  would  be  raised.  But  my 
thoughts  ran  fast.  When  I  had  got  one  difficulty  removed,  before  I  had 
any  time  to  receive  consolation,  another  would  present  itself.  I  was  like 
the  troubled  sea  which  has  no  rest.  The  next  blow  I  had  was  this  :  "  Well, 
if  Christ  was  the  Son  of  God,  and  rose  from  the  dead,  yet  no  man  of  talents, 
who  is  candid  in  his  researches,  will  ever  believe  in  the  divinity  of  Chris- 
tianity. Let  him  only  survey  the  errors,  contentions,  fraud,  cruelties, 
banishments  and  bloodshed  that  have  been  among  Christians,  and  this  too 
under  a  pretence  that  they  were  doing  the  will  of  their  master,  and  he  will 
not  hesitate  to  reprobate  it.  I  noticed  through  the  whole  conflict,  that  it 
was  never  suggested  to  me,  that  any  annals,  history  or  traditions  handed 
down  to  us  were  questioned,  except  what  was  in  the  Bible  ;  all  other  ac- 
counts were  genuine.  I  had  read  so  much,  and  believed  so  much  of  what 
I  had  read,  and  seen  so  much,  that  I  felt  the  force  of  the  last  blow  to  pur- 
pose ;  it  struck  me  to  the  ground,  and  I  lay  bleeding  in  the  dust.  I  knew, 
from  scripture,  that  the  first  Christians  were  not  perfect,  and  I  knew,  from 
history,  later  Christians  had  been  worse.  And  from  experience  among 
men,  I  knew  that  modern  Christians  were  far  out  of  the  way.  The  ama- 
zing divisions  and  splits  that  had  taken  place  attiong  them,  and  that  still 
existed  ;  the  various  and  uncertain  solutions  on  scripture  points  among 
them,  &c.  appeared  very  formidable  before  me.     At  length  the  following 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  367 

text  came  to  mind:  "  What  if  some  did  not  believe,  shall  their  unbelief 
make  the  faith  of  God  without  effect  ?"  And  another,  "  Let  God  be  true, 
but  every  man  a  liar."  And  a  third,  "  When  they  shall  say  lo!  here,  or 
lo !  there,  go  ye  not  after  them."  Here  I  saw  that  Christ  did  not  trust 
his  cause  to  the  goodness  of  his  followers,  but  rested  it  on  his  own  shoulders. 
That  he  had  foretold  of  all  these  errors  among  them  who  called  themselves 
by  his  name  ;  and  that  all  those  divisions,  wars,  &c.  served  to  prove  the 
authenticity  of  the  scripture  and  the  divinity  of  its  author.  By  this  time 
the  gospel  of  salvation  appeared  true  and  lovely  ;  and  Jesus  was  without 
doubt  the  Saviour  of  men.  But  the  question  was  suggested,  "  will  he  save 
you?"  At  this  time  my  soul  was  plunged  into  the  utmost  agony.  Never 
did  I  feel  such  concern  about  my  own  soul  in  my  life.  "  Will  Jesus  save 
me  ?  How  shall  I  know  it,  unless  I  see  him  and  hear  the  gracious  word 
from  his  mouth  ?"  The  world  was  then  presented  lo  view  ;  I  concluded 
that  seven-tenths  of  Adam's  children  had  lived  and  died  without  ever  hear- 
ing of  a  Mediator :  and  what  had  become  of  all  these  ?  The  words  of 
Jesus  then  occurred.  "  Him  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast 
out."  At  this  time  there  seemed  to  be  a  concurrence  of  several  things. 
The  end  of  the  beam  loaded  with  doubts  was  down  ;  my  belief  in  the  truth 
of  the  gospel  and  mediation  of  Christ  was  up.  There  was  a  strong  cry  in 
•  my  soul  after  relief,  and  a  Saviour  bidding  me,  "come."  I  left  the  heathen 
world  to  settle  the  affair  with  God,  without  me.  With  the  Jews,  Turks, 
Christians,  and  indeed  every  human  creature,  1  did  the  same,  and  felt  my- 
self as  one  alone  in  the  world  summoned  before  the  mighty  God.  My 
heart  was  drawn  out  to  my  Saviour,  and  I  felt  him  my  friend.  With  what 
voice  I  had  I  proclaimed,  "  here  is  one  Saviour,  Jesus,  for  one  sinner,  Le- 
land."  Nor  had  I,  at  that  instant,  any  thought  of  another  creature  in  the 
universe.  Christianity  then  appeared  to  me  to  be  the  religion  of  sinners. 
I  thought  the  law,  under  some  restrictions,  was  the  religion  of  holy  crea- 
tures. Do  this  and  thou  shalt  live — transgress  and  there  is  no  forgiveness. 
How  sweetly  the  following  text  flowed  into  my  mind.  "  This  is  a  faithful 
saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners,  of  whom  I  am  chief.  I  am  come  to  save  that  which  was 
lost.  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised  for  our 
iniquities ;  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him,  and  by  his  stripes 
we  are  healed.  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the  scriptures.  He 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood  ;"  and  many  more  beside,  which 
made  it  appear  that  Christianity  was  not  adapted  to  holy  beings,  but  to  sin- 
ners.    "  I  came  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance." 

Here  a  query  arose  in  my  mind,  whether  Christ  had  re-Adamed  men 
by  the  atonement  which  he  had  made,  and  did  no  more  for  them ;  that  is 
whether  Christ  had  only  redeemed  men  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  and, 
given  them  a  self-determining  power  over  their  own  wills ;  and  now  their 


368  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

salvation  depended  upon  their  choosing  or  refusing ;  or  whether  he,  in  ad- 
dition to  dying  for  them,  wrought  effectually  in  their  hearts,  and  drew 
them  to  himself.  As  a  branch  of  this  query,  I  was  led  to  contemplate  the 
internal  state  of  a  world  of  sinners.  That  all  have  sinned — there  is  none 
that  seeketh  after  God,  no,  not  one — he  hath  concluded  all  in  unbelief; 
the  heart  is  deceitful  above  every  thing,  and  desperately  wicked — none 
calleth  upon  God — the  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God,  it  is  not  subject 
to  his  law,  neither  indeed  can  be,  &c.  From  these,  and  similar  passages,  it 
appeared  to  me,  that  all  men,  in  their  natural  state,  were  so  blinded,  hard- 
ened,  deceived  by  satan,  and  opposed  to  God,  that  if  the  scheme  of  sal- 
vation left  any  thing  depending  on  the  will  of  man,  as  a  condition  of  his 
acceptance  with  God,  at  best,  every  thing  was  precarious;  and  as  it  re- 
spected myself,  I  should  certainly  fail.  The  plan,  therefore,  of  softening 
salvation  by  grace,  to  make  it  acceptable  to  sinners,  neither  met  my  case, 
nor  relieved  my  soul.  I  felt  the  need  of  an  almighty  agent  to  work  in  me,  to 
rectify  my  soul,  as  well  as  to  work  without  me,  to  suffer  for  sin.  Here 
the  following  passages  came  into  my  mind,  with  life  and  force.  "  It  is  not  of 
him  that  willeth,  nor  of  him  that  runneth,  but  of  God  that  sheweth  mercy." 
Every  good  and  perfect  gift  cometh  down  from  the  father  of  spirits  and 
light.  A  man  can  receive  nothing,  except  it  be  given  him  from  heaven. 
Which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will* 
of  man,  but  of  God.  And  you  hath  he  quickened,  who  were  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins ;  even  when  we  were  dead  in  sins  hath  he  quickened  us, 
together  with  Christ ;  by  grace  ye  are  saved.  For  by  grace  are  ye  saved, 
through  faith ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of  God.  Not  of 
works,  lest  any  man  should  boast ;  for  ye  are  his  workmanship,  created 
in  Christ  Jesus,  unto  good  works.  It  is  God  that  worketh  in  you,  both  to 
will,  and  to  do,  of  his  own  good  pleasure.  Lord,  thou  wilt  ordain  peace 
for  us,  for  thou  also  hast  wrought  all  our  works  in  us.  To  give  repent- 
ance, and  remission  of  sins  unto  Israel.  Then  hath  God  also  unto  the 
Gentiles  granted  repentance  unto  life.  I  will  put  my  fear  in  their  hearts, 
and  they  shall  never  leave  me."  These  passages  came  with  such  evidence 
to  my  heart,  that  I  was  reminded  of  the  words  of  Jesus.  "  The  words 
which  I  spake  unto  you,  they  are  spirit,  and  they  are  life."  The  Saviour 
now  appeared  all  complete,  not  only  in  paying  the  price  of  man's  redemp- 
tion, but  in  new  forming  the  apostate  soul,  and  preparing  men  for  the  king- 
dom of  God.  My  soul  felt  so  enlivened,  and  the  Saviour  appeared  so 
competent  to  save,  that  I  spake  as  before,  "  Here  is  one  Saviour,  for  one 
sinner  ;"  and  this  I  repeated  a  great  number  of  times,  and  at  every  breath, 
(as  I  said  before,)  my  soul  drew  in  the  water  of  life.  But  soon  this  query 
arose,  "  Are  you  right  ?  is  he  competent  for  you  only  ?  is  he  not  the  Saviour 
of  the  world  ?"  Here  I  paused,  and  reasoned  thus.  Some  say  that  he  is 
the  Saviour  of  all  men,  not  only  in  redeeming  all  with  his  blood,  but,  also, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  369 

in  that,  he  will  bring  all  to  heaven.  Others  say,  that  he  is  the  Saviour  of 
all  men,  in  making  an  atonement  sufficient  for  all,  so  that  all  may  come 
if  they  will ;  yet,  he  limits  the  displays  of  his  grace,  and  draws  none  to 
himself  but  the  elect.  A  third  class  say,  that  he  died  for  all — has  taken 
away  original  sin — given  all  a  talent — calls  and  strives  with  all — and  has 
elected  those  who  turn  to  the  Lord,  repent  of  their  sins,  and  believe  in  the 
Saviour.  While  a  fourth  party  say,  that  election  was  personal,  and 
eternal ;  not  characteristical  and  conditional — that  for  the  elect  alone  he 
died — that  these  he  will  restore  by  grace,  and  bring  to  glory.  These 
points,  I  knew,  had  been  the  strife  of  ages;  and,  thought  I,  they  cannot  all 
be  right ;  but  they  may  all  be  wrong.  I  dare  not  trust  any  of  them.  But 
the  blessed  Jesus,  and  not  systems  or  creeds,  is  the  foundation  which  the 
prophet  and  the  apostles  laid  and  built  upon,  and  I  will  do  likewise.  Here 
is  one  Saviour,  for  one  sinner.  It  followed  in  my  mind,  every  man  shall 
give  an  account  of  himself  to  God.  The  words  of  Jesus  were  also  im- 
pressive. When  Peter  was  inquisitive  to  know  what  John  should  do, 
and  what  should  be  done  to  him  ;  said  Jesus,  "  what  is  that  to  thee  ?  follow 
me."  However,  at  this  time,  I  remember,  I  desired  to  live  and  revive, 
that  I  might  tell  to  all  around,  that  I  had  found  one  Saviour  for  one  sinner, 
and  that  every  one  that  came  to  him  by  faith,  I  believed  would  find  him  a 
Saviour,  as  well  as  myself.     Here  the  words  of  the  poet  occurred  : 

The  faith  that  unites  to  the  Lamb, 

That  brings  such  salvation  as  this, 
Is  more  than  mere  notion  or  whim, — 

The  work  of  God's  spirit  it  is. 

My  mind  was  next  arrested,  to  survey  the  Scripture  proof  of  the  exist- 
ence of  disembodied  spirits,  as  follows.  Moses  died,  and  was  buried  ;  but 
fefteen  hundred  years  afterwards,  Moses,  with  Elias,  was  seen  and  heard 
by  James,  Peter,  and  John.  If  the  body  of  Moses  was  raised  immediately 
after  Christ's  resurrection,  (of  which  there  is  no  certain  proof,)  yet  it  had 
not  been  raised  when  the  apostles  saw  him.  Hence  the  argument,  that 
the  soul  of  Moses  lived  when  his  body  was  dead.  Jesus  Christ  spake  of 
himself,  as  having  a  spirit  distinct  from  his  flesh.  "  The  spirit  is  willing, 
but  the  flesh  is  weak;"  and  when  he  was  dying,  he  commended  that  spirit 
to  the  hands  of  his  father.  He  also  told  the  dying  thief,  "  to-day  shalt 
thou  be  with  me  in  paradise."  None  can  imagine  that  the  body  of  chat 
thief  went  to  paradise  that  day.  Hence,  more  proof  of  the  existence  of 
disembodied  spirits.  Paul  said,  while  he  was  at  home  in  the  body,  he  was 
absent  from  the  Lord — he  had  rather  be  absent  from  the  body,  and  present 
with  the  Lord.  What  can  be  plainer  ?  The  author  to  the  Hebrews, 
speaks  of  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect.  John  saw  under  the  altar, 
the  souls  of  them  that  were  beheaded,  and  they  cried,  "  how  long,  O  Lord, 
holy  and  true,"  &c.     The  narrative  given  of  the  rich  man,  and  Lazarus 

47 


370  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

the  beggar,  proves,  that  the  soul  of  the  bad  man,  and  the  soul  of  the  good 
man,  existed  after  death.  But,  notwithstanding  this,  I  was  not  contented  ; 
I  wanted  ocular  evidence.  Never  did  Moses  long  more  to  see  "  that 
goodly  mountain,  and  Lebanon,"  than  I  longed  to  have  heaven  opened  to 
me,  that  I  might  see  if  there  were  spirits,  and  if  they  were  happy ;  for 
the  universe  still  looked  in  disorder ;  creation  in  dark  confusion,  and  hap- 
piness out  of  existence.  At  this  time,  it  appeared  to  me,  that  three  or 
four  angels  or  spirits,  in  a  cluster,  came  and  took  their  stand  a  few  feel 
from  my  bed-post ;  light  was  dazzling  around  them,  and  they  appeared 
pleasant  and  happy.  I  saw  no  real  shape,  and  heard  no  voice,  but  the 
Saviour  seemed  to  be  near  them,  and  the  heavenly  world  was  full  of  light. 
To  me,  it  was  then  plain,  that  there  was  a  boundary  between  heaven  and 
this  world,  where  so  much  wrath,  horror,  and  misery  reigned.  If  it  could 
be  supposed,  that  all  this  was  nothing  but  heated  imagination,  arising  from 
enfeebled  nerves,  yet  the  effect  was  amazing.  For  seventeen  days  I  had 
been  without  any  idea,  that  any  part  of  the  universe  was  free  from  dark- 
ness, distress  and  confusion,  or  that  any  creatures  possessed  pleasure. 
But  now  the  boundless  regions  of  heaven  opened  to  view,  where  light  and 
serenity  displayed  their  beams,  and  where  the  inhabitants  seemed  pleased 
and  happy.  Tliis  so  diverted  my  mind,  that  all  the  horrors  of  being 
dead,  and  part  of  the  horrors  of  dying,  were  removed.  When  I  reflect 
on  the  weak  state  of  my  nerves — the  distress  and  close  thinking  of  my 
mind  for  four  hours,  without  a  moment's  respite,  this  appearance  did  then, 
and  does  still,  look  to  me,  as  if  it  saved  me  from  total  distraction.  For, 
after  I  have  found  a  heaven  of  light,  with  happy  beings  in  it,  the  lower 
world  appeared  much  better;  I  could  then  see  a  mixture  of  goodness  in 
creation,  and  the  glory  of  God  shining  through  the  whole.  This,  how- 
ever,  gradually  prevailed  on  my  mind,  for  it  was  several  days,  before  I 
got  entirely  reconciled  with  creation.  I  will  here  add,  that  the  little  band 
of  angels,  or  supposed  angels,  continued  in  their  charge  three  days  and 
nights  and  then  withdrew. 

Notwithstanding  the  deliverance  which  I  obtained  from  this  real  or  sup- 
posed appearance,  yet  dreadful  clouds  and  darkness  were  round  about  me  ; 
but  the  little  strength  which  I  had  received  assisted  me  in  what  followed. 
The  next  attack  was  this  :  "  You  are  firm  in  the  faith  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  only  Saviour  of  sinners,  and  that  the  Chris- 
tian  economy  is  true  ;  but  according  to  that  belief,  what  evidence  have  you 
in  your  own  mind,  that  you  are  one  to  be  saved  by  Christ  ?"  This  called 
my  attention  to  several  things.  I  admitted  that  all  men  (myself  among  the 
rest)  by  nature  were  unprepared  for  heaven,  and  that  no  exercises  of  ours, 
while  in  that  state  of  enmity  could  be  pleasing  to  God  ;  that  unless  men 
were  born  again  they  could  not  be  saved ;  that  Christ  saved  men  by  the 
washing  of  regeneration  and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     Granting 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  371 

this,  have  I  ever  experienced  this  change  ?  I  knew  that  almost  nineteen 
years  of  my  Ufe,  from  infancy  on,  was  exceeding  vain  ;  that  for  several  of 
the  last  years  of  that  time  dancing  and  merriment  was  superlative  pleasure  ; 
that  some  change  then  took  place  in  my  mind,  which  not  only  stopped  my 
career,  but  made  those  exercises  abhorrent,  so  that  I  could  not  remember 
that  I  ever  had  had  a  single  desire  to  return  to  them  again.  That  change 
turned  me  to  religious  exercises,  in  which  I  had  taken  delight,  and  that  I 
had  continued,  more  or  less,  in  them  until  the  then  present  moment.  This 
seemed  encouraging.  But  then  considering  the  weakness  of  my  views  at 
the  time  of  that  change,  the  unsanctified  nature  that  was  left,  and  the  evils 
that  had  mixed  with  my  religious  exercises  all  along  through  the  whole,  I 
was  at  some  loss  what  conclusion  to  draw.  I  next  took  a  survey  of  my  min- 
isterial life.  On  which  my  reflections  were  as  follows.  When  I  began 
the  work,  I  was  so  well  covinced  that  a  gracious  change  of  heart  and  an 
internal  call  were  essential  to  form  a  minister  of  Jesus,  that  nothing  would 
have  tempted  me  to  undertake  the  work,  short  of  a  belief  that  I  had  both ; 
but  though  I  believed  I  had,  and  undertook  for  fear  of  offending  the  Lord, 
yet  I  might  have  been  deceived.  Since  I  undertook,  I  have  travelled 
through  many  fatigues,  over  mountains  and  waters,  through  storms  and 
tempests,  with  little  or  no  prospect  of  getting  a  penny  for  my  pains.  Yea, 
many  hundreds  of  miles,  pinched  with  hunger,  sometimes  for  want  of  the 
means  of  supplying  the  wants  of  nature,  and  at  other  times  to  save  what 
little  I  had,  to  supply  the  wants  of  my  family,  that  I  might  travel  and  preach 
the  more.  It  has  not  been  rare  to  preach  six  months  successively,  without 
receiving  six  dollars  for  it.  But  was  it  not  from  curiosity,  to  see  the  world 
and  those  in  it  ?  Was  it  not  the  effect  of  ambition,  to  be  taken  notice  of  by 
others,  as  a  man  of  talents  ?  Add  to  all  this,  such  languor  of  soul  and  in- 
difference of  mind  have  attended  me,  that  the  evidence  seems  against  me, 
But,  to  do  myself  justice,  I  have  many  times  felt  such  travail  of  soul  for 
the  conversion  of  poor  sinners,  such  a  constraint  to  point  out  to  them  their 
ruin  and  recovery,  that  I  could  boldly  say,  "  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth 
me."  And  often,  when  I  have  been  preaching,  I  have  felt  such  pain,  pity 
and  desire  for  the  people,  that  the  tears  have  run  from  my  eyes.  At 
such  times  I  have  felt  as  if  my  preaching  ivas  with  power,  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  much  assurance,  as  if  I  was  certain  that  the  word  of  life  in  my 
mouth  was  eternal  truth.  Add  to  this,  the  heart  pleasure  which  I  have 
felt  when  sinners  have  turned  to  the  Lord,  and  it  seems  to  form  an  argu- 
ment that  I  am  in  the  work  and  favor  of  God. 

My  life,  as  a  moralist,  I  next  examined,  thus.  I  have  had  but  little  deal- 
ing and  few  contentions  with  men,  since  the  time  I  professed  religion.  I 
have  ever  thought  that  little  sacrifices  were  the  cheapest  settlements  ;  yet 
I  have  found  covetousness  and  ill-will  in  myself  towards  others.  Indeed, 
my  thoughts,  my  words  and  actions  (having  a  little  good  in  them,  as  I  hope) 


372  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

have  had  a  preponderance  of  moral  evil,  so  that  the  scale  turns  against  nne. 
How  then  can  I  be  justified  and  accepted  vi^ith  God  ?  Here  a  number  of 
texts  seemed  to  volunteer  themselves  to  solve  the  query. 

"  To  him  that  vvorketh  not,  but  believeth  on  him  who  justifies  the  un- 
godly, his  faith  is  counted  for  righteousness.  In  whom  we  have  redemp- 
tion through  his  blood,  the  foi'giveness  of  sins,  according  to  the  riches  of 
his  grace.  Blessed  is  the  man  to  whom  the  Lord  will  not  impute  sin. 
David  describeth  the  blessedness  of  the  man  unto  whom  God  imputeth 
righteousness  without  works.  Therefore,  being  justified  by  faith,  we  have 
peace  with  God,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  God  that  justifies. 
The  just  shall  live  by  his  faith,"  &c.  These  texts  seemed  to  breathe  the 
spirit  of  life  into  my  soul,  and  constrained  me  to  say  as  before,  "  here  is  a 
Saviour  for  a  sinner."  And  if  any  man  sin,  wc  have  an  advocate  with  the 
father,  Jesus  the  righteous.  Summing  up  the  whole  and  judging  as  well  as 
I  could,  I  formed  the  conclusion,  that  my  soul  was  interested  in  the  salva- 
tion of  God.  Fleeing,  however,  to  those  texts  which  were  my  city  of  re- 
fuge,  through  all  the  conflict,  "  Lord  I  believe,  help  thou  my  unbelief.  Bles- 
sed are  they  who  have  not  seen  and  yet  have  believed."  From  this,  and 
from  the  view  of  those  happy  spirits,  which  seemed  to  stand  sentinels  over 
me,  just  after  the  clock  struck  three,  I  fell  asleep.  So  that  my  conflict,  such 
as  I  never  had  before,  lasted  five  hours.  When  I  awaked  in  the  morning,  I 
found  my  body  and  mind  very  feeble,  corresponding  with  the  words  of 
David,  "  I  am  feeble  and  sore  broken — thou  hast  sore  broken  us  in  the 
place  of  dragons."  In  the  year  1791,  I  was  tossed  in  a  tremendous  sea 
storm  about  fifteen  hours.  The  wind  assuaged  about  the  appearance  of 
day-light.  I  knew  not  whether  to  rejoice  for  my  safety,  or  tremble  at  the 
boisterous  ocean  which  was  beating  all  around.  So  it  was  with  me  at  this 
time.  Notwithstanding  the  signal  deliverances  which  I  received  the  night 
before,  yet  dark  boding  fears,  clouds  and  malignant  suggestions  were  all 
around  me.  Several  texts  of  scripture  seemed,  however,  to  be  whispered 
in  my  ears  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  "  The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your  strength. 
Father,  I  will  that  they  whom  thou  hast  given  me,  be  with  me  where  I  am, 
that  they  may  behold  my  glory.  I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless.  Because 
I  live  ye  shall  live  also.  Thou  shalt  guide  me  by  thy  counsel,  and  after- 
wards receive  me  to  glory." 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  373 


ADDRESS 


TO  THE  ASSOCIATION  OF  THE  SONS  OF  LIBERTY,  CHESH- 
IRE, MARCH  4,  1813. 


Young  Gentlemen  :  From  the  epoch  of  the  funding  system,  until  the 
present  moment,  there  have  been  strong  exertions  to  turn  our  elective  gov- 
ernment into  a  government  of  confidence  and  perpetuity.  These  exertions 
had  prevailed  so  far,  that  in  1798,  the  friends  to  the  rights  of  man  exhibit- 
ed their  mourning  vi'eeds,  at  the  symptoms  of  death  in  the  pulse  of  the 
genius  of  liberty.  But  that  kind  Providence,  which  produced  a  Washing- 
ton to  deliver  us  from  the  invading  foe,  presented  a  Jefferson,  as  a  mound 
of  our  liberties,  who  snatched  the  constitution  from  the  talons  of  its  ene- 
mies, and  turned  the  government  into  its  natural  channel.  This  day,  young 
gentlemen,  you  assemble  to  commemorate  the  inauguration  of  the  man 
who  saved  his  country  from  the  curse  of  despotism.  Yes,  ye  Sons  of  Lib- 
erty, ye  celebrate  the  virtues  of  Jefferson,  Vvhich  secured  to  you  the  bles- 
sings that  Washington  achieved.  High  and  doubtful  was  the  contest  be- 
tween  the  imitators  of  monarchy,  and  the  advocates  for  a  representative 
democracy,  in  1800.  The  latter  prevailed  by  only  seven  electoral  votes. 
But  now,  after  trying  the  Republican  administration  twelve  years,  notwith- 
standing the  combination  of  Federalists  and  Clintonians — the  discontented 
and  disappointed — and  notwithstanding  the  unfavorable  events  of  the  cam- 
paign, on  the  line  of  Canada,  on  an  appeal  to  the  people,  there  are  thirty- 
nine  electoral  votes  more  for  Madison  and  war,  than  there  are  for  Clinton 
and  submission,  and  the  choice  of  members  for  the  thirteenth  Congress, 
about  the  same  majority.  This  majority  includes  about  one  and  a  half 
million  of  inhabitants,  and  (leaving  out  the  territories,  which  are  not  in- 
corporated into  states)  the  eleven  states,  which  are  republican,  and  approve 
of  the  administration  of  Madison,  contain  three  times  as  large  an  extent  of 
territory  as  the  seven  states  in  opposition.  The  self-named  peace  party, 
who  are  always  at  war  with  their  own  government,  are  so  far  in  the  back 
ground,  that  they  are  one  and  a  half  million  in  the  minority,  and  posses- 
sing but  one  fourth  part  of  the  soil.  The  majority  on  the  republican  side 
is  more  than  five  times  as  large  as  it  was  when  Mr.  Jefferson  was  elected 
in  1800.     And  when  we  consider  the  vast  extent  of  south-western  terri- 


374  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

tory,  rapidly  populating,  lying  entirely  in  the  republican  climates,  the  pros- 
pect brightens  before  us. 

If  there  were  causes  of  resistance  and  war  in  1775 — if  the  three-penny 
act  on  tea,  and  a  claim  to  tax  the  colonies  without  the  voice  of  their  rep- 
resentatives, justified  the  war  of  the  colonies ;  there  is  seven  times  the 
justification  for  the  present  war.  These  causes  I  shall  not  enumerate  at 
this  time  ;  they  ai'e  fresh  in  all  your  minds.  But  hark  !  do  you  not  hear 
the  groans  of  your  brethren !  How  do  the  cries  of  seven  thousand  of 
them,  confined  in  British  floating  prisons,  rise  fo  heaven,  and  cry  to  you ! 
The  voice  sounds,  "  help,  help,  for  God's  sake,  help !"  Spend  not  your 
time  in  unmeaning  parade,  like  the  militia  of  Massachusetts,  in  drinking 
toasts  of  patriotism — in  volunteering  to  stay  at  home — in  striving  for  of- 
fices or  disputing  about  politics ;  but  arise  and  avenge  our  wrongs,  and 
never  sheath  your  swords,  or  stack  your  arms,  until  the  soil  and  shores  of 
North  America  are  freed  from  British  cruelty. 

The  two  first  campaigns  in  the  revolutionary  war,  were  so  disastrous  by 
the  camp  fever  and  defeats,  that  thirty  thousand  soldiers  were  lost,  yet  suc- 
cess smiled  at  last.  The  idependence  of  the  United  States,  cost  eighty 
thousand  lives :  and  after  the  destruction  of  much  property,  in  addition  to 
all  that  was  paid  to  the  army,  the  states  were  involved  in  a  debt  of  about 
seventy  millions  of  dollars.  This  debt,  in  the  first  twelve  years  of  our 
general  government,  was  increased  to  eighty  millions.  During  the  eight 
years  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration,  the  debt  was  reduced  to  about 
forty  millions  of  dollars ;  and  but  for  the  unjust  attack  on  our  commerce, 
by  foreign  powers,  it  is  morally  certain,  that  by  this  time  the  debt  would 
have  been  reduced  to  a  trifle.  But  a  continuation  of  these  attacks  on  our  com- 
merce and  seamen,  with  other  causes,  have  imperiously  called  to  war ;  of 
course  our  debts  must  increase.  But,  young  gentlemen,  it  is  expected,  that, 
while,  like  Spartan  youths,  you  learn  to  know  and  plead  for  your  rights,  so 
also,  like  them,  you  will  patiently  bear  that  burden  which  is  the  price  of 
your  liberty.  Those  of  you  who  are  not  rugged  enough  to  bear  the  bur- 
dens of  the  camp,  will  be  pursuing  some  lawful  course  with  industry  and 
prudence,  for  vain  is  the  pretence  of  patriotism  in  the  man  who  wastes  his 
time  in  useless  parade,  and  neglects  to  act  well  his  part  in  life  to  support 
society. 

Notwithstanding  the  difference  of  the  administration  of  our  general  gov- 
ernment, in  respect  to  laws  and  measures  for  ourselves,  yet  the  Presidents 
have  alike,  and  uniformly,  treated  all  other  powers  with  justice  and  im- 
partiality. I  know  not  of  an  instance  to  the  contrary  ;  the  demands  of 
our  government  have  always  been  reasonable,  and  their  measures  concili- 
atory. War,  and  all  the  causes  of  it,  were  shunned  with  the  utmost  vigi- 
lance, but  all  would  not  prevent  insufferable  outrage  on  moral  right,  and 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  375 

the  laws  of  nations.  Our  cause,  then,  is  just,  for  the  support  of  which, 
we  rely  on  the  Disposer  of  all  events. 

Since  the  declaration  of  war,  our  privateers  have  taken  many  prizes,  and 
many  of  our  vessels  have  been  taken  by  the  enemy.  I  am  not  in  posses- 
sion of  any  documents  that  determine  on  which  side  the  balance  is,  but  all 
the  prizes  taken  may  be  viewed  as  nett  gain,  for  before  the  war,  the  hos- 
tilities of  Great  Britain  were  nearly  as-  great  as  they  have  been  since.  Our 
naval  officers  and  crews  have  immortalized  their  names,  in  gaining  an  ama- 
zing ascendency  over  the  enemy.  Our  land  forces  have  been,  at  Detroit 
and  on  the  Niagara,  unsuccessful.  Time  alone  must  develop  the  cause  : 
yet  the  north-western  army  has  had  success  as  well  as  disaster. 

Should  any  of  you,  young  patriots,  enter  the  army  in  defence  of  your 
country's  rights,  while  your  aged  fathers  would  let  the  paternal  tear  run 
down  their  furrowed  cheeks,  and  give  you  their  prayers  and  blessings,  each 
would  exclaim,  "  my  sons,  let  me  never  hear  that  you  are  shot  through  the 
back." 


376  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


It  is  matter  of  regret,  that  so  few  specimens  of  Elder  Leland's  style  of 
preaching  can  be  offered  to  the  public.  Of  the  thousands  of  sermons  which 
he  preached,  a  very  small  number  only  have  been  preserved,  and  some, 
even  of  these,  it  has  been  impossible  to  obtain.  The  following  syllabus  of 
that  preached  in  Philadelphia,  on  the  evening  of  the  17th  of  April,  1814, 

(referred  to  on  page of  the  Autobiography,)  was  communicated,  by 

one  of  the  hearers,  for  the  Memorial,  from  which  it  is  here  extracted.  The 
author  of  the  communication  remarks  : — 

"  After  singing,  he  engaged  in  prayer,  which  was  devout,  interspersed 
with  some  phrases  that  I  had  not  been  accustomed  to  hear.  One  was — 
while  adoring  Jehovah  for  his  divine  perfections,  and  admiring  his  conde- 
scension  to  sinful,  mortal  worms,  in  bowing  his  ear  to  their  supplications, 
he  spoke  of  the  privilege,  importance,  and  efficacy  of  fervent,  humble 
prayer ;  and  added  :  '  It  is  a  long  prayer  that  reaches  heaven,  and  a  long 
sermon  that  reaches  the  heart  of  the  sinner  :  and  all  prayers  are  too  short 
which  do  not  reach  heaven,  and  all  sermons  are  too  short  which  do  not 
reach  the  heart  of  the  sinner.'  " 

The  text  was  in  Isaiah,  x.,  27,  last  clause  :  "  And  the  yoke  shall  be  de- 
stroyed because  of  the  anointing."     He  pi-oceeded  as  follows  : 

Without  any  introduction,  I  shall  attempt  to  show  what  we  are  to  un- 
derstand by  the  yoke — by  whom  it  was  imposed — upon  whom  laid — and 
lastly,  how  it  was  destroyed.  After  which  I  shall  put  an  evangelical  cul- 
ture upon  it.  By  the  yoke,  several  things  in  Scripture  are  represented — 
the  yoke  of  legal  ceremonies — the  yoke  of  afflictions — the  yoke  of  chas- 
tisement for  sin — the  yoke  of  profession  ;  but  that  which  is  particularly 
intended  in  the  text,  is  the  yoke  of  bondage  or  slavery.  In  every  age, 
the  tragedy  is  upon  record,  that  the  fortune  of  war  has  laid  one  party 
tributary  to  the  other — the  weaker  to  the  stronger.  As  the  world  ad- 
vanced in  age,  it  advanced  in  pride  and  wickedness  ;  and  men  were 
disposed  to  assume  power  and  authority  over  man.  Ever  since  the  days 
of  Nimrod,  the  mighty  hunter,  who  is  supposed  to  be  the  first  to  set 
up  a  separate  kingdom,  there  have  been  kings  on  the  earth,  ruling  with 
a  rod  of  iron,  and  swaying  their  sceptres  over  an  enslaved  people,  and 
putting  the  yoke  on  their  necks.  Kings  multiplied,  and  soon  became 
very  numerous ;  for  we  read  of"'the  five  kings  of  Sodom,  Gomorrah, 
Admah,  Zeboim  and  Bela,  defending  themselves  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  four  kings,  Amraphel,  Arioch,  Chedorlaomer  and  Fidal, 
as  early  as  the  days  of  Abraham.  There  were  the  five  kings  who  con- 
federated against  Gibeon,  whom   Joshua   pursued,  and  they  fled  into  a 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  377 

cave — whom  he  caused  to  be  brought  out,  and  all  the  men  of  Israel 
were  commanded  to  put  their  feet  upon  their  necks,  after  which  he  slew 
them.  And,  also,  of  the  thirty  and  one  kings  which  Joshua  and  the  peo- 
ple of  Israel  smote  on  this  side  Jordan,  on  the  west.  And  the  three  score 
and  ten  kings,  which  Adoni-bezek  had  caused  to  have  their  thumbs  and 
great  toes  cut  off,  and  who  gathered  their  meat  under  his  table.  And, 
while  the  nations  of  the  earth  had  their  kings,  and  nobles,  and  mighty  men 
of  valor,  the  tribes  of  Israel  thought  they  must  be  like  the  nations  around 
them  :  they  wanted  a  king  to  rule  over  them  ;  and,  although  Samuel  ex- 
postulated with  them,  and  described  the  manner  of  king  they  might  ex- 
pect, yet  they  insisted  upon  having  a  king.  Very  like  the  people  now-a- 
days ;  they  form  societies,  and  they  must  have  a  president  and  two  or 
three  vice-presidents,  to  be  like  their  neighbors  around  them.  Samuel  was 
directed  to  anoint  Saul,  the  son  of  Cis,  to  be  their  king,  who  was  head 
and  shoulders  higher  than  any  of  the  people.  After  him,  the  stripling 
David,  who  was  a  man  after  God's  own  heart ;  then  his  son,  Solomon,  re- 
nowned for  wisdom,  who  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Rehoboam,  in  whose 
reign  ten  tribes  revolted,  and  the  kingdom  was  divided,  and  Judah  had 
twenty  kings,  and  Israel  had  eigtheen,  until  they  were  carried  captives  to 
Babylon,  under  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  whole  period,  from  Saul  down, 
being  about  five  hundred  years,  during  which  time,  there  were  two  and 
forty  kings,  besides  an  interregnum  of  ten  or  eleven  years,  and  queen 
Athaliah,  who  reigned  six  years.  The  period  of  their  captivity  was  seventy 
years,  according  to  Jeremiah's  prediction  ;  so  that  the  Jews  were  put 
under  the  yoke  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  other  kings  of  Babylon  and 
Chaldea. 

We  come,  now,  to  show  how  the  yoke  was  destroyed  because  of  the 
anointing.  Cyrus  was  foretold,  by  this  same  prophet,  upwards  of  a  hun- 
dred years  before  he  was  born,  that  he  should  be  the  deliverer  of  the  Jews 
out  of  their  captivity  ;  and,  at  the  time  specified,  he  opened  the  two-leaved 
gates,  and  entered  the  city,  the  same  night  in  which  Belshazzar  was  feast- 
ing with  his  princes,  his  wives,  and  his  concubines,  where  the  hand  appear- 
ed  writing  upon  the  wall,  "  Mene,  Mene,  Tekel,  Upharsin  ;"  and,  in  that 
same  night,  was  Belshazzar  slain,  and  the  deliverance  of  the  Jews  was  ef- 
fected, and  the  yoke  destroyed. 

I  proceed  now  to  put  an  evangelical  culture  upon  it.  Man,  though  made 
upright,  was  deceived  by  the  subtle  serpent,  and  enslaved,  and  brought  un- 
der the  yoke,  and  is  in  bondage  to  sin,  Satan,  and  the  law  ;  and,  conse- 
quently, left  in  a  wretched,  forlorn  condition,  and  without  any  power  to 
deliver  himself  from  that  state  of  thraldom,  but  must  forever  lie  under  the 
curse  of  God's  righteous  law  which  he  had  violated,  had  not  God,  of  his 
mercy  and  grace,  provided  a  deliverer,  which  is  described  in  the  text — 
"  the  anointing" — "  and  the  yoke  shall  be  destroyed  because  of  the 
anointing."  48 


378  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  God's  Anointed  One,  whose  coming  was  fore- 
told  hundreds  of  years  before  his  nativity,  as  that  of  Cyrus  was  told  many 
years  before  he  was  born.  Cyrus's  father  was  Cambyses,  king  of  Persia, 
and  his  mother  was  Mandane,  daughter  of  Astyages,  king  of  the  Medes  ; 
so  that  he  was  Medo-Persian,  parta-king,  part  of  both.  So  Christ  possessed 
a  divine  nature,  and  partook  also  of  the  human  nature.  In  Cyrus,  the 
kingdoms  of  Media  and  Persia  became  united  in  one  ;  so,  by  Christ,  the 
middle  wall  of  partition  was  broken  down  between  Jew  and  Gentiles,  and 
believers  of  all  nations  are  united  in  one  kingdom,  and  under  one  head, 
even  Jesus.  Many  marvellous  things  are  said  to  have  been  foretold  con- 
cerning Cyrus,  whether  true  or  fabulous,  I  leave  ;  but  many  very  wonder- 
ful things  were  foretold  concerning  Jesus  Christ,  which  really  came  to  pass. 
It  is  said  that  Cyrus  was  much  exposed  in  his  infancy  ;  so  Christ  was 
much  exposed  in  his  infancy.  Cyrus  was  foretold  as  God's  anointed  ;  so 
Christ  was  emphatically  the  Lord's  anointed.  Cyrus  was  called  by  his 
name  by  the  prophet ;  so  Christ,  the  true  Messiah,  was  designated  by  many 
glorious  names  and  titles,  which  meet  in  no  other  persons.  Cyrus  was  a 
great  commander;  so  Christ  is  given  to  be  a  leader  and  commander  of 
the  people ;  he  is  wise  in  his  counsels,  and  commands  with  authority. 
Cyrus,  it  is  said,  knew  all  his  soldiers  by  name  ;  so  Christ  knows  all  his 
people,  and  calleth  them  by  name.  Cyrus  is  called  God's  shepherd  ;  Christ 
is  God's  shepherd,  and  is  called  the  "  great  shepherd  and  bishop  of  souls."  It 
is  said  that  Cyrus  rode  on  a  white  horse  ;  so  Christ  rides  on  the  white  horse 
of  the  gospels.  Cyrus  effected  a  miraculous  delivei-ance  for  the  captives  in 
Babvlon  ;  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  eflected  a  much  greater  deliverance  for  his 
people,  and  in  the  most  wonderful  manner.  He,  "  through  death,  conquered 
him  that  had  the  power  of  death."  Cyrus  made  proclamation  to  the  Jews 
that  deliverance  was  wrought,  and  they  were  at  liberty  to  return  to  their 
own  land,  and  rebuild  Jerusalem  and  the  temple ;  Christ  was  announced 
to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives,  and  invited  the  laboring  and  heavy  laden 
to  come  to  him,  and  find  rest  for  their  souls. 

Some  of  the  Jews  were  contented  in  Chaldea,  and  did  not  choose  to  re- 
gard the  proclamation  to  return.  So,  many  poor  sinners  are  contented  in 
their  bondage,  and  disregard  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel,  etc. 

I  come,  now,  to  show  more  particularly  how  the  yoke  is  destroyed  "  be- 
cause of  the  anointi7igJ'  Christ  delivers  by  power,  as  well  as  by  price. 
There  is  no  intrinsic  merit  in  the  gospel,  in  and  of  itself,  to  convert 
sinners,  but  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  accompanying  the  word.  JMen 
sometimes  profess  to  have  great  power  ;  they  will  make  laws  to  fine  and 
imprison  people,  if  they  will  not  have  their  children  christened,  or  if  they 
will  not  pay  towards  building  meeting-houses,  or  the  support  of  the  minis- 
try, or  if  they  refuse  attending  a  place  of  worship.  If  they  possess  so 
much  power,  would  to  God  they  would  employ  it  to  purpose.  That  if 
a  man  would  not  repent,  he  should  pay  five  pound ;  if  he  would  not  be- 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  379 

lieve  the  gospel,  he  should  pay  ten  ;  if  he  would  not  love  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  with  all  his  heart,  might,  soul  and  strength,  he  should  pay  fifteen ; 
and,  if  he  would  not  deny  himself,  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  the  Sav- 
iour, he  should  be  put  in  the  state  prison  for  life. 

The  power  of  the  gospel  consists  in  the  authority  with  which  its  author 
is  invested,  who  said,  "All  power  is  given  unto  me,  in  heaven  and  on 
earth."  Christ  promised  to  be  with  his  faithful  servants  unto  the  end  of 
the  world.  When  he  sent  out  his  disciples  by  two  and  two,  he  sent  them 
into  the  towns,  cities,  and  villages,  whither  he  himself  would  come.  So  he 
sends  his  Holy  Spirit  with  his  word  to  convince  of  sin,  to  discover  the  glo- 
ries and  fulness  of  Christ,  to  apply  the  blood  of  sprinkling  to  the  wounded 
conscience,  to  lead  the  soul  to  Christ,  and  to  his  precious  promises.  He  is, 
also,  a  spirit  of  prayer  and  of  supplication,  as  well  as  a  spirit  of  grace,  to 
sanctify  and  prepare  his  people  for  glory.  God  is  always  as  good  as  his 
word,  and  his  promises  never  fail ;  his  word  that  goeth  forth  out  of  his 
mouth,  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  it  is  sent.  So,  when  the  gospel 
is  preached  in  its  purity,  sinners  are  converted,  and  turn  to  the  Lord.  Great 
things  have  been  achieved  by  the  gospel,  through  the  power  of  Christ. 
Witness  its  effects  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  during  the  apostolic  age, 
and  in  subsequent  periods,  down  to  the  present  time.  There  is  still  the 
same  promise  and  the  same  power,  and  Christ  is  riding  forth  majestically 
in  the  gospel  chariot,  from  conquering  to  conquer.  I  have  been  endeavor- 
ing to  recom.mend  this  gospel  for  nearly  forty  years,  and  have  not  grown 
weary  in  the  service  ;  and  I  have  witnessed  the  truth  of  God's  word,  in  the 
conversion  of  many  precious  souls  to  the  obedience  of  faith — to  God  be  all 
the  glory.     Amen. 

"The  foregoing,"  says  the  writer,  "is  but  a  sketch  of  the  discourse, 
which  occupied  nearly  an  hour  in  the  delivery.  In  a  few  places,  I  have 
employed  words  to  fill  up  the  skeleton,  that  the  thread  may  not  be  broken  ; 
but,  of  far  the  greater  part,  the  language  is  verbatim  as  delivered,  and  the 
sentiments  and  train  are  Leland's,  particularly  in  the  history  of  the  kings.'* 


THE 


JARRING  INTERESTS  OF  HEAVEN  RECONCILED 


BLOOD  OF  THE  CROSS.* 


*  First  published  in  1814. 


JARRING  INTERESTS  OF  HEAVEN  RECONCILED,  &c. 


CoLOssiANS  i.  20. — And  by  him  to  reconcile  all  things  unto  himself;  by  him,  I  say, 
whether  they  be  things  in  earth,  or  things  in  heaven. 

The  reconciliation  of  Things  in  Heaven,  is  the  part  of  the  text  which  I 
shall  attend  to. 

Let  reverence  and  humility  possess  my  heart,  while  I  develop  the  char- 
acter of  the  Deity — and  let  all  who  hear  me,  at  awful  distance  bow. 

All  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  from  the  beginning  until  now,  and 
all  that  will  take  place  hereafter,  give  to  the  Almighty  no  new  ideas — fur- 
nish him  with  no  novel  matter  for  consideration.  Things  which  are  past, 
present,  or  to  come,  with  men,  are  all  in  the  eternal  now  of  the  great  Je- 
hovah, and  yet  he  speaks  of  himself  (in  anthropopathia)  as  if  thoughts  and 
designs  entered  his  mind  in  a  train  of  succession. 

The  Divine  Being  is  not  composed  of  parts,  or  possessed  of  passions 
like  men  ;  he,  nevertheless,  in  condescension  to  our  weakness,  speaks  of 
himself  as  having  head,  eyes,  ears,  face,  mouth,  nostrils,  shoulders,  arms, 
hands,  fingers,  feet,  bosom,  back,  heart,  soul,  etc.,  as  also  being  jealous, 
angry,  contrary,  pacified,  reconciled,  having  his  anger  turned  away,  etc. 

Our  text  implies  a  contention  in  heaven,  and  that  the  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  undertook  to  reconcile  the  contending  parties  to  himself,  by 
Jesus  Christ,  and  that  Jesus  obtained  a  peace  among  all  the  jarring  inter, 
ests  in  heaven,  by  the  blood  of  the  cross.  The  particulars  to  be  attended 
to,  are, 

1st.  To  explain  the  cause  of  this  contention. 

2nd.  To  nominate  the  parties  at  variance,  together  with  their  respec- 
tive pleas. 

3rd.  To  point  out  the  person  by  whom,  and  the  means  by  which  this 
reconciliation  was  eflfected. 

First.  I  am  to  explain  the  cause  of  this  contention. 

The  Creator  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  all  things  therein,  is  a 
free,  sovereign  agent.  He  owes  neither  existence  nor  obedience  to  any 
other  being.  He  is  under  obligation  to  nothing  which  we  can  conceive  of, 
except  the  innate  law  of  his  nature,  and  the  voluntary  words  of  his  mouth, 
neither  of  which  stand  opposed  to  his  infinite  freedom. 


384  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

But  all  rational  creatures  owe  their  existence  and  obedience  to  their 
Maker ;  of  course  they  are  not  free  agents,  any  further  than  that  they  are 
left  free  in  their  wills,  for  they  are  all  of  them  accountable  to  God  for  their 
works  and  words. 

The  law  of  God  is  the  eternal  rule  of  right,  binding  on  all  rational  crea- 
tures, and  is,  in  all  periods,  places  and  conditions,  that  which  is  proper  for 
them  to  do,  and  that  which  tends  to  their  own  happiness.  It  may,  there- 
fore, be  called,  with  propriety,  the  moral  law  of  perfect  order.  It  prohib- 
its  nothing  but  what  is  injurious  to  men — it  enjoins  nothing  but  what  leads 
to  their  felicity. 

Any  transgression  of  this  perfect  rule  is  sin,  for  sin  is  said  to  be  a  trans- 
gression  of  the  law.  No  action  of  man,  which  is  not  contrary  to  the  holy 
law,  can  be  called  sin.  Man,  did,  at  first,  by  some  cause,  as  unaccountable 
as  inexcusable,  abuse  the  freedom  of  his  will — pervert  his  moral  agency — 
break  over  the  law  of  due  order,  and  sin  against  his  God.  By  one  man 
sin  entered  into  the  world. 

Man,  by  sin,  not  only  commenced  rebel  against  his  God,  but,  like  an 
electric  shock,  it  affected  all  his  mental  and  physical  powers,  so  that  his 
transgressions  increased  like  arithmetical  progression. 

Angels  were  placed  upon  a  footing  of  such  independence,  that  neither 
the  guilt  nor  misfortune  of  one  could  be  transferred  to  another.  But  all  the 
human  race  were  to  proceed  from  one  progenitor,  in  a  succession  of  pro- 
creation. If,  therefore,  the  guilt  of  a  crime,  committed  by  a  father,  can- 
not be  transferred  to  his  child,  yet  the  misfortune  can,  and  generally  is. 
In  the  case  now  before  us,  it  is  universally  transferred. 

This  rebellion  of  man,  against  his  God,  is  that  which  gave  rise  to  the 
contention  in  heaven,  implied  in  the  text. 

When  this  contention  began  in  heaven,  (to  speak  after  the  manner  of 
men,)  the  great  I  AM  arraigned  the  criminal  man,  and  summoned  all  the 
contending  parties  to  appear  and  make  their  pleas,  before  the  great  white 
throne  of  divine  glory.     Which  leads  me. 

Secondly.  To  treat  of  the  contending  parties  and  their  pleas. 

The  holy  Law  began.  "  My  rise  is  not  from  revelation,  although  that 
does  me  honor :  throughout  the  sacred  volume  I  hold  conspicuous  rank,  and 
have  been  magnified  and  obeyed  by  the  son  of  God.  But  my  origin  is 
from  the  great  scale  of  being  itself,  so  that,  if  there  had  been  no  revelation 
among  men,  honor  and  regard  would  have  been  my  due.*  Yet  with  all 
the  sacred  majesty  due  to  my  character,  man,  the  dependent  creature,  has 
risen  in  rebellion  and  disregarded  my  voice :  not  only  in  one  instance,  but 

*  Though  I  am  treating  of  events  which  took  place  before  the  world  was  peopled,  and 
the  law  given  to  man,  yet  my  arguments  run  through  time,  and  treat  of  men  and  things. 
So  God  calls  things  that  are  not  as  though  they  were. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  385 

sin,  taking  advantage  by  me,  has  wrought  in  him  all  manner  of  concupis. 
cence,  so  that  the  imagination  of  his  heart  is  only  evil  continually. 

Now  we  know  a  law  is  nothing  without  a  penally  to  enforce  it,  and  a 
penalty  threatened  is  but  a  piece  of  mockery,  unless  it  is  executed.  In 
this  case,  therefore,  should  man  escape  with  impunity,  the  divine  govern, 
ment  would  be  reduced  to  contempt,  and  every  fugitive  vagrant  would  be 
hardened  in  his  wickedness.  My  demand,  therefore,  is,  that  man  should 
die  without  mercy." 

Truth  next  approached  the  throne,  and,  after  attending  to  and  confirming 
all  which  the  holy  law  had  said,  added,  "  The  soul  that  sins  shall  die — cur- 
sed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  which  are  written  in  the 
law — he  that  oiTends  in  one  point  is  guilty  of  the  whole — the  wicked  shall 
be  turned  into  hell — in  the  day  thou  rebellest  thou  shalt  surely  die.  These 
are  true  sayings  of  God  :  sentences  which  came  from  the  mouth  of  that 
Being  who  cannot  lie  :  the  veracity  of  the  Almighty  is  therefore  pledged, 
that  the  sinner,  man,  be  speedily  executed,  without  delay  ;  for,  if  sentence 
against  an  evil  work  be  not  speedily  executed,  the  hearts  of  the  vicious 
will  be  fully  set  on  mischief,  and  nothing  but  anarchy  and  confusion  will 
be  seen  in  the  empire." 

Justice  then  advanced  with  piercing  eyes,  like  flaming  streams  and  burn- 
ing tongue,  like  the  devouring  fire,  and  made  his  plea,  as  follows  :  "  My 
name  may  sound  inharmonious  to  the  guilty,  but  that  which  is  just  must 
be  right,  and  the  least  deviation  therefrom  must  be  wrong.  I  plead  for 
nothing  but  what  is  just.  I  come  not  with  an  erpost  facto  law,  to  inflict  a 
penalty  which  was  not  known  at  the  time  the  sin  was  committed,  but  I 
come  to  demand  the  life  and  blood  of  the  rebel,  man,  who  sinned  with  eyes 
epen  ;  for  guilt  will  always  stain  the  throne  of  glory,  till  vengeance  is  ta- 
ken on  the  traitor." 

Holiness  then  addressed  the  sovereign  arbiter  of  life  and  death  in  the 
words  following  :  "  My  name  and  nature  forbid  the  continuance  of  the 
sinner,  man,  in  the  empire.  He  is  full  of  wounds,  and  bruises,  and  putri- 
fying  sores ;  from  the  crown  of  his  head  to  the  sole  of  his  foot,  there  is  no 
soundness  in  him  :  among  all  his  helpers  there  is  no  healing  medicine,  and 
if  there  was,  yet  he  is  so  stubborn  that  he  would  not  apply  it.  Therefore, 
as  two  can  neither  walk  nor  live  together,  except  they  be  agreed,  either 
the  polluted  sinner  or  consummate  Holiness  must  quit  the  regions." 

By  this  time,  darkness  and  smoke  filled  the  temple,  and  seven  thunders 
uttered  their  voices : 

"  The  flashes  of  vindictive  fire 

Broke  out  impatient  from  the  throne  ; 

And  the  angelic  messenger 

Wav'd  his  dread  weapon,  which,  high  brandished,  shone, 

Thirsting  for  human  blood  ; — while  hell  grew  proud, 

In  hopes  of  prey,  and  laughed  profanely  loud." 
49 


386  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

The  sun  became  black  as  sackcloth,  and  the  heavens  were  all  in  angry 
convulsion — the  earth  shook  to  its  centre,  and  the  everlasting  hills  trem- 
bled.  Angels  stood  astonished  at  the  avi^ful  emblems  of  divine  displeasure, 
expecting  each  moment  to  see  the  rebel  hurled  to  eternal  darkness,  as  they 
had  seen  their  fallen  brethren,  who  left  their  first  estate,  in  a  former  pe- 
riod. 

Omnipotence  appeared  as  the  executioner  of  the  criminal  clothed  in  pane- 
ply  divine — robed  in  awful  majesty — thunders  roared  before  him — the 
shafts  of  lightning  darted  through  the  etherial  vault — the  trumpet  sounded — 
the  mountains  skipped  like  rams,  and  the  little  hills  like  lambs  :  even  Si- 
nai itself  was  moved  at  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  At  the  brightness  that 
was  before  him  His  thick  clouds  passed,  hailstones  and  coals  of  fire.  In  one 
hand  he  had  an  iron  rod,  with  which  he  could  dash  his  enemies  to  pieces 
like  a  potter's  vessel,  and  in  the  other,  a  sharp  sword  with  two  edges.  He 
set  one  foot  on  the  sea,  and  the  other  on  the  earth,  and  lifted  his  hand  to 
heaven.  His  face  was  awfully  majestic,  and  his  voice  as  the  roaring  of  a 
lion,  but  none  could  learn,  from  his  appearance,  whether  he  chose  to  strike 
the  vengeful  blow,  or  interest  himself  in  behalf  of  the  criminal.  At  length 
he  spoke. 

"  I  am  able  to  destroy  as  I  was  mighty  to  create ;  nothing  is  too  hard 
for  me  to  do.  All  worlds  were  spoken  into  existence  by  my  word,  and 
all  material  worlds  hang  upon  nothing,  through  my  power ;  yet  I  have  no 
will,  no  choice  of  my  own.  Let  all  the  contending  parties  agree,  and  I 
am  at  their  command,  all  acquiescent.  The  charges  a,gainst  the  criminal 
as  they  now  stand,  will  call  for  my  vindictive  stroke  ;  but,  if  any  expedi- 
ent shall  be  found  to  overrule  the  pleas  which  have  been  made,  when  the 
final  result  is  made,  then  I  shall  act.  Vicious  beings  feel  power,  and 
forget  right ;  but  omnipotence  is  governed  by  right.  The  works  which  I 
perform,  are  those  which  all  perfections  of  Deity,  in  concert,  point  out." 

Wisdom  then  arose,  and  spake  to  the  following  effect :  "  Why  is  the 
decree  so  hasty  from  the  king  ?  the  matter  is  of  the  first  importance.  One 
soul  is  worth  more  than  all  the  world.  The  pending  decision  not  only 
effects  this  one  criminal,  but  the  millions  and  millions  of  human  kind.  I, 
wisdom,  dwell  with  prudence,  and  find  out  knowledge  of  witty  inventions. 
I,  therefore,  object  to  the  execution  of  the  criminal,  not  to  controvert  the 
pleas  of  the  law,  truth  and  justice,  but  to  wait  until  it  shall  be  known 
whether  man  has  any  friend  at  court,  who  is  wise,  powerful,  and  good 
enough  to  relieve  him  in  a  way  that  law,  truth  and  justice,  will  be  satis- 
fied with." 

Love  then  comes  forward  in  all  its  winning  forms ;  his  bosom  swelled 
with  philanthropy,  and  his  eyes  bespoke  the  benevolence  of  his  heart  In 
mellifluent  accents  he  began,  "  My  name  is  love  ;  no  one  in  heaven  claims 
higher  rank  than  myself,  for  God  is  love  j  of  course,  none  deserves  to  be 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  387 

regarded  more  than  I  do.  My  love  to  man  is  everlasting,  and  neither 
death  nor  life,  angels,  principalities,  nor  powers,  things  present,  things  to 
come,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  ever  extinguish  my  love. 

Mine  is  an  unchanging  love. 
Higher  than  the  heights  above, 
Deeper  than  the  depths  beneath, 
Free  and  faithful,  strong  as  death. 

Should  the  rebel,  therefore,  be  doomed  to  perdition,  with  all  his  vast 
progeny,  the  cross  of  my  love  would  cause  eternal  mourning  in  heaven : 
to  prevent  which,  my  fervent  cry  is,  let  the  rebel  live. 

Grace  also  appeared  on  the  side  of  the  criminal,  and  made  the  following 
plea ;  "  if  a  creature  receives  from  a  fellow  creature,  or  from  his  God,  a 
compensation  for  any  services  rendered  unto  him,  it  is  reward,  and  not 
grace ;  but,  if  he  receives  a  favor,  for  which  he  has  no  claim  on  the  donor, 
it  is  grace.  If,  moreover,  a  donor  confers  a  favor,  not  only  on  a  needy 
creature,  who  has  no  claim  on  the  donor,  nor  any  thing  to  buy  with,  but 
on  one,  who,  in  addition  to  his  need,  has  contracted  guilt,  and  is  an 
enemy  to  the  donor,  this  is  grace  of  a  marvellous  kind.  This  is  my 
name,  and  this  is  my  memorial,  and  shall  be  through  all  ages.  To  do 
good  for  evil,  is  God-like.  My  plea,  therefore,  is,  that  all  the  transgressions 
of  the  criminal  may  be  blotted  out — cast  behind  the  back  of  his  God — sunk 
in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  and  he  himself  raised  to  a  station  far  more  exalted 
than  he  possessed  before  he  sinned.  If  this  should  not  be  the  case,  grace 
would  be  a  word  without  meaning,  and  the  benevolence  of  Jehovah  would 
be  obscured  forever." 

Mercy,  in  concert  with  Love  and  Grace,  was  all  divine  oratory  in  favor 
of  the  rebel,  and  proceeded,  "  I  cannot  claim  the  same  rank  among  the 
attributes  of  Deity,  that  wisdom,  power,  holiness,  goodness,  truth  and  jus- 
tice can,  but,  am  myself  the  child  of  love  ;  or  rather  a  new  name  given  to 
love,  since  sin  and  misery  have  entered  the  moral  system.  All  the  essen- 
tial attributes  of  Jehovah,  can  have  a  free  and  full  circulation  in  the  Divine 
Being,  detached  from  all  creatures ;  otherwise,  divinity  itself  would  not 
be  self-glorious  ;  but  mercy,  (which  always  presupposes  want  and  misery,) 
can  have  no  seat  in  that  divine  circle,  because  there  is  no  need  or  misery 
in  the  Almighty. 

The  attributes  of  God  are  always  spoken  of  in  single  number,  thus : 
love,  power,  truth,  justice,  &c.  and  will  not  admit  of  the  plural,  loves, 
powers,  truths,  justices,  &;c.  Now  as  the  name  mercy,  admits  of  the 
plural,  mercies,  the  conclusion  is,  that  mercy  is  not  an  attribute. 

All  the  attributes  of  God  can,  not  only  have  a  free  circulation  in  Deity, 
but,  also,  a  full  display  to  sinless  creatures  ;  but,  mercy  cannot  show  her 
pitying  face  where  need  and  misery  are  absent. 

If  mercy  is  an  attribute,  then,  sin  and  misery,  were  necessary  among 


388  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

the  creatures  of  God,  otherwise,  mercy  must  have  continued  dormant  for- 
ever ;  useless  in  the  Creator,  and  unknown  to  the  creatures. 

If  mercy  is  an  attribute,  then  the  Creator  was  dependent  on  the  crea- 
ture to  do  that  for  himself,  which  his  maker  could  not  do  for  him,  himself, 
nor  make  the  creature  do,  that  which  he  forbid  him  to  do,  in  order  to  re- 
duce himself  to  a  condition  where  he  could  have  a  discovery  of  mercy. 

If  sin  was  necessary,  then,  creatures  should  love  that  necessary  some- 
thing ;  and,  if  neccessary  sin  should  be  loved,  why  are  men  called  upon 
to  hate  it  and  repent  of  it  ? 

That  sin  adds  anything  to  Jehovah,  is  inadmissible  in  idea.  If  any 
beings,  therefore,  receive  any  advantage  from  sin,  creatures  must ;  but, 
where  is  there  an  individual  in  the  universe,  that  can  coolly  say  for  him- 
self, or  of  whom  it  can  be  said,  in  truth,  that  he  has  received  an  advan- 
tage by  sin  ?  If  it  cannot  be  said  of  an  individual,  it  cannot  be  said  of 
the  universe ;  for  the  universe  is  composed  entirely  of  a  multitude  of  units. 
Had  sin  never  entered  the  world,  love  could,  and  would  have  raised  crea- 
tures to  a  state  exalted  as  mercy  can  expect  or  wish  for;  and  all^the  in- 
termediate evils  would  have  been  avoided.  This  would  not  have  been 
the  case,  supposing  love,  grace  and  mercy,  gain  their  suit,  in  behalf  of  the 
rebel  man ;  but,  should  he,  or  any  of  his  progeny  fail  of  deliverance,  all 
their  misery  must  be  fathered  upon  sin. 

What  idea  can  be  formed  of  a  being,  whose  essential  attributes  are  such, 
that  they  cannot  be  revealed  without  the  sin  and  misery  of  those  to  whom 
they  are  revealed. 

Justice  is  an  essential  attribute  of  Deity,  which  can  shine  as  effulgent 
among  the  innocent  as  among  the  guilty,  but  when  creatures  are  become 
guilty,  the  display  of  justice  is  funishneni.  So  Love  is  an  attribute  which 
pervades  the  bosom  of  Jehovah,  fills  the  angels  with  rapturous  joy,  and  is 
the  delight  and  companion  of  all  that  are  innocent :  but  when  innocent  crea- 
tures fall  into  need  and  misery,  the  display  of  Love  assumes  my  name, 
Mercy.  As  I,  therefore,  have  a  name  in  heaven — as  Mercy  is  magnified 
above  the  heavens — as  Jehovah  is  rich  in  mercy — and  is  the  Lord  God, 
gracious  and  merciful,  I  plead  for  the  life  of  the  criminal  at  the  bar." 

Here  the  pleas  closed  for  a  season,  and  profound  silence  filled  the  tem- 
ple of  God. 

One  thing  appeared  very  remarkable  in  their  pleadings  :  not  the  least  ill 
will  was  to  be  seen  personally  existing  among  the  disputants ;  no  false 
coloring,  or  black  consequences  were  cast  upon  the  arguments  of  each 
other.  Law,  Truth,  and  Justice  never  accused  Love,  Grace,  and  Mercy 
of  disorganization  or  anarchy,  because  they  pleaded  for  the  life  of  man ; 
nor  did  the  latter  reproach  the  former  with  cruelty  because  they  demanded 
his  death,  or  represent  the  character  and  desert  of  the  criminal  less  vile 
and  obnoxious  than  the  former.    Perfect  agreement  had  always  existed 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  389 

among  them,  and  nothing  that  ever  emerged,  except  the  transgression  of 
man,  made  them  take  different  sides  at  court. 

After  a  solemn  pause,  the  great  I  AM,  the  sovereign  judge,  delivered 
the  following  speech  :  *'  The  statements  and  demands  of  Law,  Truth,  and 
Justice,  against  the  criminal  are  well  supported.  Love,  Grace  and  Mercy 
have  discovered  abundance  of  goodness  and  good  will  toward  the  sinner, 
but  they  have  not  shown  any  expedient  how  the  law  can  be  honored,  truth 
supported,  and  justice  satisfied,  in  the  forgiveness  of  the  rebel;  and  unless 
such  an  expedient  can  be  produced,  man  must  die  without  mercy.  If  any 
of  the  celestial  angels,  or  any  being  in  the  universe  can  suggest  the  expe- 
dient, the  sinner  lives — if  not,  he  dies." 

He  spake he  closed but  all  was  still,  and  silence  reigned  in 

Heaven ! 

The  elect  angels  knew  how  Love,  through  a  Mediator,  could  confirm 
innocent  creatures  in  their  innocency,  but  had  no  idea  how  criminals  could 
be  pardoned. 

At  the  instance  of  Justice,  Omnipotence  arose,  like  a  lion  from  the 
swelling  of  Jordan,  made  bare  his  thundering  arm  ;  high  raised  his  brandish- 
ed sword  ;  waved  his  iron  rod  and  advanced  toward  the  rebel  with  hasty 
strides. 

Love  cried  forbear,  I  cannot  endure  the  sight. 

The  Law  replied,  cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things 
written  in  the  law  to  do  them.     The  soul  that  sins  shall  die. 

Grace  exclaimed,  where  sin  hath  abounded,  grace  shall  much  more 
abound. 

Truth  said,  in  the  day  thou  transgressest  thou  shalt  surely  die. 

Mercy  proclaimed,  Mercy  rejoiceth  against  judgment. 

Justice,  with  piercing  eye,  and  flaming  tongue,  said  strike  !  strike !  strike 
the  rebel  dead  !  and  remove  the  reproach  from  the  throne  of  heaven. 

At  this  the  angels  drooped  their  wings,  and  all  the  harps  of  heaven 
played  mournful  odes.  The  flaming  sword,  to  pierce  the  criminal  came  near 
his  breast,  and  the  iron  rod,  to  dash  him  to  pieces,  like  a  potter's  vessel, 
was  falling  on  his  head ;  when  lo !  on  a  sudden,  the  voice  of  Wisdom 
sounded  louder  than  seven  thunders,  and  made  the  high  arches  of  heaven 
ring  and  reverberate.  The  voice  said,  deliver  him  from  going  down  to  the 
pit,  for  I  have  found  a  ransom. 

In  that  all-eventful  crisis  the  eternal  Son  of  God,  in  mediatorial,  form  ap- 
peared, clothed  with  a  garment  down  to  the  foot,  and  girt  about  the  paps 
with  a  golden  girdle.     Angels  paid  him  profound  reverence,  the  great  I 
AM  placed  him  at  his  right  hand.     He  saw  the  ruined,  guilty  man, 
"And  oh!  amazing  grace  1  he  loved  ; 
With  pity  all  his  inmost  bowels  moved." 

He  said,  I  was  set  up  from  everlasting,  my  goings  have  been  of  old,  and 
my  delights  are  with  the  sons  of  men.     The  sinner  shall  live. 


390  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

The  Law,  in  awful  majesty,  replied,  I  am  holy,  just,  and  good,  my  in- 
junctions on  the  rebel  were  perfectly  proper  for  a  human  being,  and  my 
penalty,  which  the  rebel  has  incurred,  is  every  way  proportionate  to  his 
crime. 

Mediator.  All  you  say  is  true.  I  am  not  come  to  destroy  the  law,  but 
to  fulfil.  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  not  a  jot  or  tittle  of  the 
law  shall  fail. 

Truth.  The  lips  that  never  spoke  amiss,  have  said,  that  the  wicked  shall 
be  turned  into  hell.     My  veracity  is  therefore  pledged  to  see  it  executed. 

Mediator.  That  part  of  truth  which  was  proper  to  reveal  unto  man,  as  a 
moral  agent,  has  said  as  you  relate,  with  abundance  more  to  the  same 
effect ;  but  that  part  of  truth  which  the  great  Jehovah,  my  heavenly  father, 
spake  unto  me,  in  the  covenant  of  peace,  which  is  made  between  us  both, 
has  declared,  that,  on  account  of  an  atonement  which  I  shall  make,  sin 
shall  be  pardoned  and  sinners  saved. 

Holiness.  I  am  so  pure  that  I  never  can  admit  a  sinner  into  heaven. 
Nothing  unclean  or  that  worketh  a  lie,  shall  ever  enter  there. 

Mediator.  Provision  is  made  in  the  new  covenant,  whereof  I  am  the 
Mediator  and  Messenger,  to  remove  the  pollution  as  well  as  the  guilt  of  sin. 
I  have  guaranteed  that  sinners  shall  be  washed  in  my  blood  and  made  clean, 
and  come  before  the  throne  of  glory  without  spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such, 
thing. 

Justice  cried  out  again,  strike. 

Mediator.  Not  the  sinner  but  the  surety. 

Justice.  Can  heaven  admit  of  a  vicarious  suffering? 

Mediator.  It  is  that  which  no  government  on  earth  ever  will  admit  of, 
or  ever  ought  to  do,  but  is  the  singular  article  agreed  upon  in  the  scheme 
of  salvation,  which  will  astonish  the  universe  in  its  accomplishment. 

I  now  appear  in  human  form ;  but  in  the  fulness  of  time,  I  shall  assume 
the  nature,  which  I  now  appear  in  form  of,  shall  be  born  of  a  woman,  be 
made  under  the  Law,  and  perfectly  obey  and  magnify  it ;  which  is  all  that 
the  Law  can  require  of  human  nature,  in  reason  ;  shall  suffer  that  penality 
for  sinners  that  justice  will  be  pleased  with,  and  God  accept  of;  shall  die 
and  follow  death  to  its  last  recess  ;  shall  rise  again  with  the  same  flesh  and 
bones,  and  thereby  obtain  the  victory  over  death  ;  shall  continue  a  while 
in  the  lower  world  after  I  rise,  to  give  incontestible  proofs  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, and  then  reascend  the  throne  of  glory. 

I  have  engaged  to  do  everything  in  behalf  of  the  sinner,  that  law,  truth 
and  justice  can  ask  for,  in  a  way  of  holiness,  which  will  reflect  the  great- 
est honor  on  wisdom. 

Unchangeable  love,  grace  and  mercy  will  stimulate  my  heart,  and  Om- 
nipotence  will  execute  my  designs. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  creature  man  is  to  live  and  propagate  his  species 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND,  391 

to  an  immense  host ;  but  in  succession,  one  after  another,  all  of  them  must 
die,  and  rest  in  death  for  a  season  ;  for  I  have  not  undertaken  to  save  them 
from  dying,  but  to  rescue  them  from  death. 

Between  this  and  the  time  fixed  upon,  when  I  am  to  pay  the  dreadful 
debt,  make  the  great  atonement  and  bring  in  everlasting  righteousness, 
those  of  the  human  race,  who  repent  of  their  sins,  believe  in  my  character, 
and  obey  my  voice,  are  to  be  admitted  into  paradise,  upon  the  dissolution 
of  their  bodies,  on  account  of  what  I  am  to  do,  at  the  appointed  time. 

After  that  period,  when  I  shall  do  all  that  is  necessary  to  be  done  to 
make  an  atonement  for  sin,  the  world  will  continue  for  a  season  ;  but  the 
day  of  days  will  commence,  the  "great  day  of  dread,  for  which  all  other 
days  were  made,"  will  arrive  :  on  that  day,  the  dead  shall  all  be  raised, 
and  those  who  are  living  on  earth  shall  be  changed  from  a  mortal  to  an 
immortal  state,  and  all  of  them  shall  come  to  judgment  before  my  bar. 
Those  who  are  like  goats  among  sheep,  like  tares  among  wheat,  who  are 
unclean  and  polluted,  who  are  lovers  of  transgression  and  haters  of  obe- 
dience, who  have  broken  the  law — wantoned  with  atoning  blood,  and  done 
despite  against  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  shall  be  expelled  the  king- 
dom— cast  into  outer  darkness  and  knaw  their  galling  bands  forever. 

But  the  righteous,  both  those  whose  souls  have  been  in  Paradise,  and 
their  bodies  sleeping  in  the  dust,  and  those  also  who  never  shall  have  died, 
shall  be  admitted  into  the  kingdom  prepared  for  them — shall  enter  into 
life  eternal. 

Now,  if  any  one  in  heaven  has  ought  against  this  plan,  let  him  speak ; 
for  I  have  undertaken  to  reconcile  all  things  and  beings  in  heaven,  to  the 
salvation  of  man.  He  closed  !  but  O  what  rapturous  joy  beamed  forth  on 
every  face  in  heaven !  Law,  Truth,  and  Justice  cried  out,  "  It  is  all  we 
want  or  wish  for."  Love,  Grace,  and  Mercy  shouted,  "  It  is  the  joy  of 
our  hearts — the  delight  of  our  eyes,  and  the  pleasure  of  our  souls."  The 
great  I  AM  said,  "  It  is  finished — the  expedient  is  found — the  sinner  shall 
live — deliver  him  from  going  down  to  the  pit,  for  a  ransom  is  found  !" 
The  angels,  filled  with  heavenly  pity  and  divine  concern,  who  had  been 
waiting  in  anxious  suspense,  through  the  important  contest,  now  swept 
their  golden  harps  and  sang,  "  glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  peace  on  earth 
and  good  will  to  man.  Thou  art  worthy,  O,  thou  Son  of  God,  to  receive 
glory,  and  honor,  and  riches,  and  power,  forever  and  ever.  Man,  though 
a  little  lower  in  nature  than  the  angels,  shall  be  raised  a  little  higher, 
being  in  likeness  of  nature,  more  like  the  Son  of  God.  While  angels  will 
be  ever  adoring  conjirmhig  love  through  a  Mediator,  men  will  be  extolling 
the  riches  of  redeeming  blood  and  the  freeness  of  boundless  grace." 

The  great  I  AM  then  said  to  the  Mediator,  "  For  as  much  as  thou  hast 
undertaken  to  reconcile  all  things  in  heaven  and  in  earth  to  me,  and  hast 
proposed  a  plan  of  reconciliation,  in  which  all  contending  parties  are  agreed 


392  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

— in  which  mercy  and  truth  meet  together ;  righteousness  and  peace  kiss 
each  other ;  justice  and  judgment  surround  my  throne  ;  and  mercy  and 
truth  go  before  my  face :  And  whereas  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  that  thou 
wilt,  at  the  time  appointed,  fulfil  all  thy  engagements,  at  the  expense  of  thy 
blood  ;  therefore,  behold  I  give  thee  a  name  which  is  above  every  name — 
that  at  the  name  of  JESUS  every  knee  shall  bow  and  every  tongue  shall 
confess.  Thou  shalt  have  dominion  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  I  will  divide  thee  a  portion  with  the  great,  and 
thou  shalt  divide  the  spoil  with  the  strong.  I  will  give  thee  the  heathen 
for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  posses- 
sion. I  will  glorify  thee  with  myself,  with  the  glory  which  thou  hadst  be- 
fore the  world  was." 

I  now  proceed,  thirdly,  To  point  out  the  person  by  whom,  and  the  means 
improved  to  effect  this  reconciliation. 

This  I  have  already  done,  so  far  as  it  respects  the  new  covenant  agree- 
ment ;  but  the  appearance  of  the  person  among  men,  and  the  means  ac- 
tually administered,  are  yet  to  be  considered. 

In  the  foregoing  observations  I  have  personified  the  perfections  of  God, 
and  used  arguments  rather  in  an  allegorical,  visionary  way,  which  I  shall 
have  no  occasion  to  do  in  the  subsequent  remarks. 

Leaving,  therefore,  the  great  transactions  which  took  place  before  the 
world  was,  (of  which,  however,  many  hints  are  given  in  scripture,)  I  turn 
my  attention  to  those  things  which  have  taken  place  in  time,  on  the  face 
of  the  earth;  being  assisted  by  that  guide  which  God  hath  given  to  men, 
the  sure  word  of  prophecy,  which  is  a  light  shining  in  a  dark  place. 

Of  revelation  there  are  two  kinds,  oral  and  written.  Oral  revelation 
was  first ;  in  this  God  made  known  his  will  to  men,  but  left  them  no  means 
of  preserving  it,  only  their  memories  :  This  register  was  treacherous ;  and 
the  communication  from  father  to  son,  down  through  a  succession  of 
generations,  greatly  obscured  and  perverted  what  was  first  revealed.  It 
is  from  this  source,  however,  that  those  nations  destitute  of  written  revela- 
tion, get  their  ideas  of  the  future  state  of  the  soul,  after  the  body  is  dead. 
After  letters  became  of  use  among  men,  Moses,  and  many  others  were 
inspired,  to  record  what  God,  at  various  times  and  in  various  manners,  re- 
vealed unto  men.  From  this  source  men  obtain  information,  that  God  can 
pardon  sin,  and  that  he  will  raise  the  dead,  &c. 

The  Grecians,  with  all  their  improvement  in  philosophy,  gained  no 
evidence  that  the  dead  could  be  raised.  This  appeared  to  them  a  thing 
incredible.  Hence,  when  their  friends  died,  they  gave  themselves  up  to 
excessive  sorrow,  having  no  hope  in  the  resurrection.  Their  philosophy 
could  no  more  account  for  the  resurrection,  than  it  could  for  creation. 
Upon  the  reduction  of  the  Greeks,  the  Romans  arose  to  the  pinnacle  of 
fame  j  but  with  all  their  military  conquests  and  political  maxims,  they 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  393 

never  found  out  how  crimes  could  be  pardoned.  In  their  government,  they 
did  not  admit  of  an  innocent  man  suffering  stripes  or  death  for  the  crimes 
of  one  who  was  guilty,  and  had  no  idea  that  their  gods  would  admit  of  it. 
The  Jews,  to  whom  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God,  read  and  believed 
that  the  Messiah  would  come  ;  but  they  formed  an  idea  that  he  would 
appear  an  illustrious  potentate,  and  restore  the  civil  kingdom  of  the  house  of 
David,  again  to  Israel.  The  rest  of  the  nations  were  as  barbarous  and 
cruel  in  their  laws  and  customs,  as  they  were  ignorant  and  superstitous  in 
their  religion. 

In  this  condiiion  the  world  was,  when  the  due  time,  appointed  by  the 
Father  of  all  worlds,  arrived  for  the  Mediator  to  appear  on  the  earth,  and 
make  reconciliation  to  God  by  his  own  blood,  for  the  sins  of  the  people, 
according  to  the  great  plan  which  was  formed  before  the  world  was. 

That  there  was  such  a  person  on  earth  as  Jesus  Christ,  we  have  as  good 
reason  to  believe,  as  we  have  to  believe  that  there  was  such  an  emperor  of 
Rome  as  Augustus  Csesar,  in  whose  reign  it  is  said,  the  child  Jesus  was 
born ;  as  sacred  and  profane  history  treat  of  both.  And  that  Jesus  said 
and  did  that  which  is  recorded  of  him,  we  have  no  more  reason  to  doubt, 
than  we  have  to  doubt  whether  Demosthenes,  Cicero,  Alexander,  and 
Julius  CsBsar  said  and  did  the  things  recorded  of  them. 

That  the  four  Evangelists  gave  a  true  history  of  Jesus,  is  a  rational  con- 
elusion  ;  for  when  Constantine  established  Christianity  in  the  empire,  and 
received  Christ  Jesus  as  a  God  to  adore,  greater  than  Jupiter,  he  caused 
no  other  history  of  him  to  be  written,  than  that  which  was  extant. 

That  the  Bible  in  general,  the  New  Testament  in  particular,  is  as  true 
as  other  histories  are,  not  to  say  more  true,  we  have  abundant  reason  to 
believe  ;  it  has  been  as  much  contested  by  its  enemies  as  any  history  has, 
and  has  hitherto  triumphed. 

For  the  sake  of  argument,  and  to  lead  on  to  that  which  I  have  in  view, 
let  it  be  conceded,  that  the  New  Testament  stands  on  a  level  with  other 
histories,  not  written  by  inspiration ;  true  in  its  prominent  features,  but 
subject  to  error  in  some  circumstances.  On  this  footing,  how  far  it  ex- 
ceeds all  other  histories,  because  it  details  facts  infinitely  more  important. 

Should  a  messenger  come  to  any  of  our  houses,  with  intelligence  that  a 
sparrow  had  dropped  a  feather  in  the  field,  and  produce  such  evidence  that 
we  should  believe  him,  without  any  kind  of  doubt,  the  report,  though  true^ 
would  be  of  very  small  consequence.  Let  another  messenger  arrive  and 
inform  us  that  the  earth  had  taken  fire  at  the  seaboard — that  the  mountains 
were  melting,  and  all  was  consumed  one  thousand  feet  deep — that  it  raged 
with  amazing  velocity,  in  a  direction  towards  our  dwellings,  and  that,  with- 
in a  few  hours,  it  was  morally  certain,  that  we  should  share  the  same  fate 
in  the  conflagration,  that  thousands  already  had  done.    If  the  evidence 

50 


394  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

which  the  last  messenger  produced,  was  equally  good  with  that  of  the  first, 
his  report  would  certainly  concern  us  much  more. 

So  in  the  present  case.  The  histories  which  come  before  us,  treat  of 
the  boundaries  of  countries — their  natural  curiosities — their  mountains, 
streams  and  bays — their  produce  and  animals — the  manners,  laws,  gov- 
ernment,  and  religion  of  the  inhabitants — the  talents  and  exploits  of  their 
first  rate  men,  etc. 

But  when  we  turn  our  eyes  to  the  Bible,  we  are  there  informed  how 
the  world  was  made,  and  by  whom — how  apostacy,  disease  and  death  en- 
tered the  world — how  Christ  came  into  the  world  and  died  for  sinners, 
that  they  might  live.  Here  we  learn  the  moral  character  of  God,  and  the 
accountability  of  all  rational  creatures.  In  this  book,  we  are  informed  how 
sin  can  be  pardoned,  and  how  the  dead  can  be  raised.  This  book  assures 
us  that  the  earth  will  be  dissolved,  the  dead  raised,  the  general  judgment 
commence — the  righteous  taken  from  the  wicked  and  placed  in  life  eter- 
nal, and  the  wicked  cast  into  everlasting  fire. 

The  history  of  the  late  French  revolution  may  contain  a  thousand  false 
statements  ;  but  there  are  four  facts  so  well  supported,  that  no  men  ques- 
tion them. 

1.  They  revolutionized  from  their  former  government. 

2.  They  beheaded  Louis,  their  former  king. 

3.  Their  conquests  have  been  extraordinary. 

4.  Bonaparte  is  now  their  emperor. 

Now,  if  we  suppose  the  Bible  is  fraught  with  many  mistakes,  and  as  full 
of  error  as  the  history  just  alluded  to  ;  yet,  allowing  it  equal  credit,  there 
are  four  facts,  at  least,  which  admit  of  no  doubt. 

1.  That  all  men  have  apostatized  from  God,  and  thereby  exposed  them- 
selves to  misery,  death  and  hell. 

2.  That  Jesus  Christ  was  God  incarnate,  and  made  such  an  atonement 
for  sin,  that  all  those  who  repent  and  believe  in  him  shall  obtain  pardon 
and   life  everlasting. 

3.  That  Jesus  Christ  did  rise  from  the  dead,  and  will,  in  the  fulness  of 
time,  raise  the  bodies  of  all  the  dead. 

4.  That  God  has  appointed  a  day,  in  which  he  will  judge  all  rational 
beings  by  Jesus  Christ ;  when  every  one  will  receive  a  reward,  according 
to  the  deeds  dono  in  the  body. 

The  Bible  is  reprobated  by  many  on  account  of  the  many  contradictions 
which  it  is  said  it  contains.  But  are  these  contradictions  certainly  con- 
tained in  the  Bible  ?  How  many  absurdities  and  contradictions  are  found 
by  a  young  student  in  the  mathematics,  which  age  and  experience  dispel  ; 
and,  as  the  scholar  grows  sage,  he  condemns  his  former  ignorance  and 
rashness.  In  this  case,  also,  many  things  which  appear  contradictory,  to 
a  novice  in  divinity,  in  greater  maturity,  appear,  not   barely  reconcilable, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  395 

but  as  harmonious  links  in  the  great  chain.  The  great  age  of  the  Scrip, 
tures — the  different  habits,  customs,  and  dialects  of  the  ancients  from  ours, 
may  account  for  many  seeming  contradictions  which  are  to  be  met  with 
in  them.  But,  if  there  are  are  some  real  contradictions  in  the  Bible,  re- 
specting places,  names  and  numbers,  (occasioned  by  the  many  transcrip- 
lions  and  translations  which  the  writings  have  passed  through,)  must  the 
facts,  therein  detailed,  be  considered  as  false  accounts  ?  As  well  may  the 
four  things  respecting  the  French  nation  be  considered  forgeries,  on  ac- 
count of  the  mistakes  in  the  history  of  the  French  revolution. 

It  is  true,  that  there  are  some  things  recorded  in  the  Bible,  of  which  the 
laws  of  nature  afford  no  parallel.  This  is  the  case  in  the  creation  of  the 
world,  and  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  ;  nevertheless,  the  first  has  taken 
place,  and  the  last  will.  Let  those  who  disapprove  of  the  last,  confute  the 
first.  To  believe  these  facts,  I  confess,  requires  faith  of  the  marvellous 
kind;  but,  not  to  believe  the  divinity  of  the  Scriptures,  requires  a  more 
marvellous  faith.  For  sublimity,  majesty,  picturesqueness  and  politeness, 
no  book  besides  bears  any  comparison  to  it. 

For  sublimity,  read  Solomon's  prayer,  at  the  dedication  of  the  Temple, 
and  the  prayer  of  Jesus,  in  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  John.  For  majesty, 
see  the  eighteenth  Psalm,  and  the  third  chapter  of  Habakkuk.  For  pic- 
turesqueness, observe  the  figures  in  Job,  the  tropes  in  Isaiah,  and  the  rhe- 
toric in  Paul's  Epistles.  For  politeness,  look  over  the  book  of  Ruth,  and 
the  precepts  of  the  New  Testament,  which,  on  the  subject  of  good  man- 
ners, as  far  exceed  any  of  the  writings  of  Greece,  Rome,  France,  England 
or  America,  as  the  brightness  of  the  sun  surpasses  the  rays  of  a  candle; 
and,  therefore,  to  believe  that  they  are  of  human  invention,  requires  a 
faith  more  marvellous,  than  it  does  to  believe  any  article  therein  re- 
corded. 

The  existence  of  the  New  Testament,  proves  that  it  was  written  by  some 
hand.  The  writers  must  have  been  either  bad,  designing  men,  or  good, 
honest  historians. 

If  the  writers  of  it  were  deceivers,  it  is  unaccountable  that  they  should 
form  a  book  to  condemn  themselves.  The  world  affords  no  parallel  to 
this.  Surely  the  writers  of  it  would  have  omitted  their  own  errors,  afld 
covered  their  own  crimes,  if  they  had  been  evil  inclined  ;  but  this  they 
have  not  done. 

To  suppose  that  bad  men  should  ever  have  formed  such  a  book,  which 
condemns  every  species  of  wickedness,  requires  faith  so  marvellous,  that 
it  must  be  uni-easonable. 

The'  conclusion,  therefore,  is,  that  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament 
were  true  men,  and  wrote,  as  they  pretended,  by  the  finger  of  God.  From 
this  history,  therefore,  I  now  proceed  to  state  and  support  the  things  which 
remain  to  be  canvassed. 


396  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

The  appearance  of  the  person  on  earth,  by  whom,  and  the  means  oy 
which  the  reconciliation  of  all  things  in  heaven  is  effected,  are  yet  to  be 
considered. 

That  Christ,  the  Mediator,  is  the  person,  by  whom,  and  what  he  did  and 
suffered,  particularly  the  blood  which  he  shed  on  the  cross,  is  the  means 
of  this  reconciliation,  our  text  declares. 

I  shall  investigate  the  subject,  by  examining  what  the  great  errand  of 
Christ  to  this  world  was ;  and  the  works  which  were  necessary  to 
be  performed  by  him  to  accomplish  his  embassy.  His  errand  into  this 
world,  may  be  briefly  summed  up,  by  extracting  a  few  texts  of  Scripture. 

"  The  father  sent  not  his  son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the  world ;  but 
that  the  world,  through  him,  might  be  saved." 

"  For  this  purpose  was  the  son  of  God  manifested,  that  he  might  de- 
stroy the  works  of  the  devil.  I  am  come  to  seek  and  save  that  which  was 
lost.  The  Son  of  Man  is  not  come  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save 
them.  I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life,  and  that  they  might  have  it 
more  abundantly.  Forasmuch  as  the  children  are  partakers  of  flesh  and 
blood,  he  also  himself  took  part  in  the  same,  that  through  death  he  might 
destroy  death,  and  him  that  hath  the  power  of  death,  that  is  the  Devil ;  and 
deliver  them  who,  through  the  fear  of  death,  are  all  their  life  time  sub- 
ject to  bondage." 

From  these,  and  many  coincident  texts,  it  is  evident  that  the  salvation 
of  men,  was  the  object  of  the  embassy  of  Christ. 

Some,  however,  conclude  that  it  is  beneath  the  dignity  of  God,  ever  to 
act  from  motives  beneath  his  glory  ;  and,  therefore,  the  glory  of  God  was 
the  highest  motive  that  Christ  could  have  in  coming  into  this  world,  and 
dying  on  the  cross. 

I  feel  no  disposition  to  dispute  the  point  with  those  good  souls  who  are 
jealous  for  the  glory  of  their  God  ;  but  would  just  reply,  that  the  essential 
glory  of  God  cannot  be  added  unto,  by  all  that  God  and  man  can  do  ;  nor 
can  his  declarative  glory  appear  more  conspicuous  in  his  own  view,  on 
account  of  anything  done  by  him,  or  by  his  creatures.  What,  therefore, 
displays  the  glory  of  the  divine  character  most  among  his  creatures,  is  most 
for  his  glory.  Now,  as  nothing  ever  done  among  men,  made  equal  dis- 
play of  the  moral  perfections  of  God,  vviih  the  death  of  Christ  for  sinners, 
we  may  safely  say,  that  God  has  his  own  glory  always  uppermost,  and  yet 
the  very  object  of  Christ's  mission,  was  the  salvation  of  men. 

The  works,  which  were  necessary  for  him  to  do  to  accomplish  his  great 
undertakings,  were : — 

1.  To  keep  the  precepts  of  the  law. 

2.  To  give  evidence  of  his  complex  character,  and  show  forth  his 
glory. 

3.  To  suffer  for  sinners,  and  make  an  atonement  for  sin. 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  397 

4.  To  disconcert  the  schemes  of  Satan. 

5.  To  conquer  death. 

Of  these,  I  shall  treat  particularly. 

First.  To  keep  the  precepts  of  the  law. 

I  can  form  no  idea  of  human  nature  being  free  from  the  obligation  of 
the  law ;  consequently,  when  the  Word  was  made  flesh,  manifested  in 
flesh,  Immanuel  was  under  the  same  bonds  to  keep  the  law,  that  Adam, 
Abraham,  Moses,  or  any  of  us  are.  Perfect  obedience  he  owed  to  the 
law  ;  and  this  obedience  was  necessary  for  himself,  as  a  failure  would 
have  been  fatal  to  the  last  degree.  If  this  statement  is  just,  then  his  per- 
feet  obedience  to  the  moral  law  formed  no  part  of  that  merit  by  which  we 
are  justified.  When  a  man  pays  his  debt,  he  does  a  good  deed,  but  nothing 
meritorious.  So  the  obedience  of  Christ  discharged  what  he  owed  to  the 
law,  but  formed  no  part  of  the  atonement. 

Two  advantages,  however,  we  receive  from  this  moral  obedience. 

1.  We  have  him  as  a  perfect  example,  and  see  what  human  nature  is 
capable  of. 

2.  As  he  was  entirely  free  from  sin,  he  was  a  proper  lamb,  without  spot, 
to  be  offered  for  a  sacrifice  to  take  away  sin. 

But,  as  Jesus  Christ  was  made  under  the  law — that  law  which  was  equally 
binding  on  him  and  on  us — so  hewas  under  another  law,  which  none  of  us 
are.  I  call  it  a  law,  because  it  had  the  force  of  law  in  it :  I  mean  the  stipula- 
ted articles  of  agreement,  which  he  voluntarily  engaged  to  fulfil  in  the  great 
covenant  of  peace.  His  obedience  to  this  law  was  meritorious,  and  by  this 
obedience  many  are  justified.  This  law  included  all  his  mediatorial  works 
and  suflTerings,  "for  he  learned  obedience  by  the  things  which  he  suffered." 

It  is  sometimes  said,  "that  Christ  obeyed  all  the  precepts  of  the  moral 
law,  and  bore  the  penalty,  or  curse  of  the  same  law,  for  us."  But  the 
propriety  of  the  saying  is  difficult  to  conceive  of.  If  Christ  obeyed  all  the 
precepts  of  the  law  for  us,  then  for  us  there  was  no  penalty  due  ;  other- 
wise punishment  would  be  inflicted  where  there  was  no  crime.  It  is  best, 
therefore,  to  say,  that  he  obeyed  the  law  for  himself,  and  suffered  the  pen- 
alty for  us.     "  He  bore  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree." 

Second.  It  was  necessary  that  Christ  should  give  evidence  of  his  com- 
plex character,  and  show  forth  his  glory. 

That  Christ  was  the  "true  God  and  eternal  life,"  the  Scriptures  declare, 
and  his  word  and  works  confirm  the  same.  The  winds  and  the  seas  obeyed 
his  word. 

The  works  which  he  did,  in  healing  the  sick  and  raising  the  dead,  are 
works  that  none  but  God  can  do,  or  otherwise  they  must  be  done  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  The  prophets  and  apostles  did  these  works  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  by  faith  and  prayer,  but  Jesus  did  them,  not  in  the  name 
of  another,  by  prayer,  but  authoritatively,  in  his  own  name,  which  proves 
that  he  was  God. 


398  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Both  Jews  and  Christians  beheve  that  "  none  can  forgive  sins  but  God 
only  ;"  and  Pagans  have  the  same  notion  of  their  gods  :  but  Jesus  wrought 
a  miracle,  to  prove  that  "  the  Son  of  Man  had  power  on  earth  to  forgive 
sins."  Now,  as  God  would  not  have  assisted  him  to  work  a  miracle  to 
support  imposture,  it  follows,  of  course,  that  he  could  forgive  sins,  which 
none  but  a  God  can  do.     Hence  the  evidence  that  he  was  God. 

No  being  but  God  is  omniscient ;  He  only  knows  the  hearts  of  all  men  : 
This  knowledge,  however,  Jesus  had  ;  He  knew  his  enemies,  that  they  had 
not  the  love  of  God  in  them  ;  He  perceived  their  thoughts,  and  knew  what 
was  in  man.     Surely  then  he  was  God. 

The  incommunicable  name  of  the  Almighty,  Jod  he  van  he,  translated 
Lord,  is  found  more  than  six  thousand  times  in  the  Old  Testnment.  The 
word  comes  from  a  verb,  which  signifies  to  be,  and  is  expressive  of  the 
external  existence  of  the  great  Supreme.  Many  of  the  texts  in  the  Old 
Testament,  where  this  word  is  found,  are  applied  to  Jesus,  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament.  If,  then,  the  New  Testament  writers  understood  themselves,  Je- 
sus is  Jehovah,  God  eternal. 

The  names,  in  general,  by  which  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  is  called,  in 
the  Old  Testament,  are  also  given  to  Christ,  either  in  the  New  Testament, 
or  in  those  prophecies,  which  manifestly  treat  of  the  Messiah  :  such  as  the 
First  and  the  Last — the  Everlasting  Father — the  Creator — Deliverer — 
Redeemer — only  Saviour — Shepherd — Husband,  etc. 

As  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  beginning,  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth — as 
by  him  all  things  were  created — as  the  creative  word  was  God — as  he  up- 
holds all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power,  he  must  be  God  essential.  "  In 
him  dwells  all  the  fulness  of  the  God-head  bodily." 

We  cannot  form  a  higher  idea  of  Deity,  than  that  he  is  the  Creator  and 
Preserver  of  all  worlds — the  Redeemer  and  Saviour  of  men,  and  these 
works  are  the  works  of  Christ.  Now,  if  we  suppose  he  was  only  an  ex- 
alted creature,  and  that  he,  by  a  delegated  power,  has  done  and  still  does 
all  these  mighty  works,  we  are  entirely  at  a  loss  how  to  conceive  any  dif- 
ference that  can  exist  between  the  Creator  and  the  creature — the  Author 
and  the  agent,  and  must  consequently  form  the  conclusion,  that  the  Al- 
mighty Creator  has  made  a  creature  equal  to  himself. 
But  as  he  was  God  essential,  so  he  was  man  real. 

The  assumption  of  Christ  in  human  nature,  was  a  new  thing  in  the  earth 
which  the  Lord  created.  That  a  woman  should  compass  a  man — a  virgin 
conceive,  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  bring  forth  a  holy  thing, 
which  should  be  none  other  than  the  Son  of  God,  is  a  mystery  of  godli- 
ness so  great,  that  we  can  no  more  account  for  it  than  we  can  account  for 
the  creation  of  the  world,  or  for  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  ;  and  yet, 
with  the  two  last  articles,  is  equally  true.  The  hungering  and  thirsting  of 
Jesus — his  weariness  and  sleeping — his  weeping,  praying,  crying,  sighing, 
bleeding,  groaning,  dying,  flesh  and  bones,  all  declare  that  he  was  7nan. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  399 

As  man  he  was  sorely  tempted  :  as  God  he  could  not  be  tempted.  As 
man,  by  grace,  through  striving  nnd  praying,  he  withstood  every  tempta- 
tion, and  thereby  gave  the  fullest  evidence  of  his  human  virtue. 

Had  the  aUacks  of  the  enemy  been  at  his  God- head,  they  would  have 
had  no  impression,  rnd  therefore  would  not  have  made  the  soul  of  Christ 
''exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto  death."  And  if  the  conquests  which  the 
Saviour  obtained  over  Satan,  had  been  solely  by  the  Deity,  it  would  have 
been  like  the  conq -est  of  a  giant  over  an  infant,  and  not  like  the  conquest 
which  virtue  gaii.s  over  vice,  in  long  and  doubtful  contest,  to  the  last  ex- 
orting  every  effort,  and  triumphing  at  last,  to  the  wonder  and  astonishment 
of  all  that  behold.  That  the  sufferings  and  victory  of  Jesus  are  spoken 
of  in  the  Scripture,  in  this  las*:  sense,  is  very  evident. 

As  Christ  was,  in  truth,  God  and  man,  so  he  gave  the  fullest  evidence  of 
his  complex  character,  and  calls  upon  men  to  believe  in  him  as  such  a  being, 
upon  the  rational  evidence  which  he  has  given — evidence  of  an  hypostati- 
cal  union,  which  creatures  cannot  comprehend,  and  has  said,  "  if  ye  be- 
lieve not  that  I  am  he,"  the  promised  Messiah,  "  ye  shall  die  in  your  sins." 
Third,  He  came  also  to  suffer  for  sinners  and  make  an  attonement  for 
sin. 

It  would  be  extremely  improper  to  admit  of  a  vicarious  punishment  in 
the  governments  on  earth,  for  by  it  the  innocent  would  be  punished,  and 
the  guilty  be  hardened  to  repeat  their  crimes  :  whereas,  the  very  design  of 
civil  government  is,  to  protect  the  innocent  in  their  rights,  and  punish  the 
guilty,  and  the  guilty  only. 

But  in  the  divine  government,  where  the  actions  and  motives  of  all  men 
are  perfectly  known,  without  evidence — where  He  that  suffered  death  for  the 
guilty,  had  power  to  rise  again,  and  thereby  prevent  any  loss  of  subjects 
in  the  state — where  He,  who  suffered  for  the  guilty,  had  the  power  to 
change  the  hearts  of  the  transgressors,  and  make  them  true  men,  and 
thereby  prevent  future  crimes — the  objections  which  forbid  a  vicarious 
suffering  among  men  lose  all  their  weight. 

That  Christ  Jesus  suffered,  groaned,  bled  and  died  for  sinners,  is  abun- 
dantly proved  in  scripture;  and  that  his  sufferings,  in  soul  and  body,  were 
exquisitely  painful,  beyond  what  we  can  conceive  of,  seems  evident  from 
the  expressions  used  by  himself,  and  his  historians,  when  he  was  in  his 
agony. 

The  nature  of  his  sufferings,  in  some  respects,  is  exceeding  difficult  to 
form  an  idea  of. 

I  once  believed  that  the  sufferings  of  Christ  were  exactly  such  as  damned 
souls  endure,  but  have  seen  cause  to  question  my  former  belief.  Wherein 
do  the  torments  of  damned  souls  consist  ?  Are  they  sovereignly  imposed, 
or  are  they  naturally  incurred,  or  both  ?  I  mean,  do  they  all  arise  from 
the  pressures  of  guilt  and  shame,  or  does  the  righteous  Judge  inflict  stripes 


400  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

on  them,  besides  what  torments  they  feel  within  ?  When  a  criminal  is 
exposed  and  condemned,  his  personal  guilt  is  a  severe  scourge  for  his 
crime,  but  still  he  has  the  lash  of  the  law  to  bear  besides.  And  is  this 
the  case  with  the  guilty  sinner  ?  When  a  sinner  is  given  up  to  the  fury 
of  Satan  and  sin,  his  torment  must  be  exquisite,  for  sin  seems  to  form  the 
quintessence  of  hell.  And  yet  the  iungur^ge  of  the  Bible,  which  is  to  be 
preferred  above  all  logical  arguments,  is,  that  sinners  shall  be  beaten  with 
stripes. 

It  appears  as  safest,  therefore,  to  conclude,  that  part  of  the  sufferings  of 
miserable  souls  arise  from  the  dominion  and  guilt  of  sin,  which  is  torment 
of  itself,  and  part  proceeds  from  the  judicial  hand  of  the  righteous  judge, 
and  yet  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  instruments  of  torture  can  be  found 
in  that  being,  who  is  essentially  Love :  but  as  difficult  as  it  is  to  conceive 
of,  if  we  do  not  admit  of  the  idea,  we  are  entirely  at  a  loss  to  conceive  of 
the  nature  of  Christ's  sufferings,  for  iie  did  not  assume  a  guilty  nature  ; 
he  never  transgressed  the  law,  and  therefore  he  could  not  feel  the  personal 
remorse  that  sinners  do,  when  given  up  to  the  dominion  and  guilt  of  sin. 
Yet  his  sufferings  were  extreme,  as  his  words,  his  agony,  and  his  bloody 
sweat  declare. 

Some  have  supposed  that  the  sufferings  of  the  Saviour  consisted  in  the 
fear  of  deal  h  and  in  dying.  But  this  supposition,  if  true,  would  render  the 
mighty  conqueror  void  of  courage,  and  more  timorous  than  thousands  of 
thousands  who  have  braved  death  without  a  groan. 

On  the  whole,  it  may  be  concluded,  that  the  part  of  a  sinner's  torment, 
which  is  judicially  imposed,  the  Saviour  could  and  did  endure  ;  but  that 
part  which  arises  from  guilty  remorse,  from  the  dominion  and  fury  of 
sin,  he  could  not  and  did  not  endure.  I  say  he  could  not ;  for  it  is  beyond  my 
comprehension,  to  conceive  how  guilt  can  be  transferred  from  07ie  to  another. 

The  weakness  of  Christ  must  ever  be  in  view,  as  well  as  his  strength. 
The  prophecies  and  history  which  treat  of  the  sufferings  of  Jesus,  rcpre- 
sent  his  sorrows  as  rising  and  falling  like  the  tide.  As  a  God  he  knew, 
and  as  a  prophet  he  foretold  of  his  conquest  over  death  ;  but  if  he  did  not 
(through  the  weakness  of  human  nature)  sometimes  doubt  about  the  resuT' 
reciion  of  the  dead,  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive  how  he  could  b?  tempted  in  all 
points  like  unto  his  brethren.  None  had  ever  been  raised  from  the  dead,  with 
immortal  bodies,  when  Jesus  was  on  earth.  The  regions  of  death  had  nev- 
er been  explored  by  himself;  and  the  certainty  of  his  rising  from  the  dead, 
at  times  hung  exceedingly  gloomy  on  his  mind.  All  was  here  at  stake  ! 
On  this  pivot  the  beam  turned  for  eternity  !  By  man  came  death  ;  and  if 
by  man  death  could  not  be  destroyed,  then  an  enemy  would  triumph,  Christ 
fail  of  his  crown,  be  crossed  in  his  love,  and  all  the  human  race  be  eter- 
nally lost.  When  all  this  was  at  a  risk,  wc  may  easily  conclude,  that  eve- 
ry doubt  in  the  mind  of  the  Saviour  of  his  obtaining  a  complete  conquest 
over  death,  filled  his  soul  with  exceeding  sorrow. 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  401 

With  the  light  which  I  now  have,  I  consider  this  struggle  in  the  mind  of 
the  suffering  Mediator,  to  have  formed  a  very  essential  part  of  his  suffer- 
ings. Nor  do  I  know  any  light  in  which  Heb.  v.  7,  can  be  so  naturally 
understood  :  "  Who,  in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  when  he  had  offered  prayers 
and  supplications,  with  strong  crying  and  tears,  unto  him  that  was  able  to 
save  him  from  death,  and  was  heard  in  that  he  feared." 

But  whether  this  mode  of  reasoning  does  honor  to  the  subject  or  not,  one 
thing  is  certain,  viz.,  Christ  has  suffered  for  sin,  for  sinners,  for  the  un- 
godly ;  and  made  such  atonement  for  sin  as  the  great  JEHOVAH  is  pleased 
with,  and  on  account  of  what  Jesus  has  done,  he  can  be  just,  and  justify 
the  ungodly  who  believe.  Though,  as  a  lawgiver  and  judge,  he  was  angry 
with  men,  yet,  through  the  mediation  of  Christ,  his  anger  is  turned  away, 
and  he  comforts  them  ;  and  he  will  give  eternal  life  to  all  who    obey  him. 

Peace  is  obtained  by  the  blood  of  the  cross — the  blood  of  Christ  speak- 
eth  better  things  than  the  blood  of  Abel.  We  have  redemption  through  his 
blood,  even  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  Ye  that  were  sometimes  far  off,  are  made 
nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ.  He  hath  washed  us  and  made  us  clean  in  his  own 
blood.  His  blood  he  sprinkled  o'er  the  burning  throne,  and  turned  the  wrath 
to  grace.  The  Father  lays  his  thunder  by  and  looks  and  smiles,  and  loves. 

Fourth.  Another  object  of  Christ's  mission  was,  to  disconcert  the  schemes 
of  Satan. 

The  early  attacks  of  Satan  on  the  parents  of  the  human  race,  were  suc- 
cessful in  their  seduction.  As  it  is  criminal  to  sin,  either  with  or  without 
temptation,  so  likewise  it  is  criminal  to  tempt  the  innocent  to  commit  sin. 
The  Devil  first  sinned  himself,  and  then  tempted  and  deceived  Eve  to 
transgress,  which  finally  brought  on  the  rebellion  of  Adam. 

When  the  Lord  God  came  into  the  garden,  and  summoned  the  tempter 
and  the  tempted  to  appear  at  his  bar,  he  said  unto  Satan,  "  because  thou  hast 
done  this,  I  will  put  enmity  between  thy  seed  and  the  woman's  seed;  it 
shall  bruise  thy  head  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel,"  Christ  Jesus  was 
the  seed  of  the  woman,  whose  heel,  the  inferior  part,  the  human  nature, 
was  bruised  to  death  by  Satan  and  his  auxiliaries.  But  the  head,  the  wis- 
dom and  deep  concerted  schemes  of  Satan,  were  all  to  be  disconcerted  by 
Christ.  And  for  this  purpose  was  the  Son  of  God  manifested,  that  he  might 
destroy  the  works  of  the  Devil.  The  Devil  sinned  from  the  beginning  ;  was 
the  first  sinner,  and  therefore  siii  is  called  his  work.  The  Devil  is  a  liar,  a 
deceiver,  and  a  sinner.  But  Jesus  destroyed  his  lying,  by  speaking  the  truth  ; 
his  deceit,  by  sincerity  ;  the  sin  which  he  introduced,  by  holiness  of  life,  and 
by  suffering  for  sin  ;  bearing  sin  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree,  and  thereby 
making  an  end  of  sin  in  one  day. 

As  the  Devil  introduced  sin  among  men,  which  brings  on  death ;  and, 
as  Satan  lives  and  reigns  in  the  department  of  death,  it  is  said  that  he  has 
the  power  of  it;  but  Christ  has  assumed  the   nature  of  man  (flesh  and 

51 


402  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

blood)  that  he  might  destroy  death,  and  him  that  had  power  of  it,  that  is 
the  Devil. 

By  the  conquest  that  Christ  obtains  over  the  Devil,  we  are  not  to  under- 
stand that  the  Devil  will  be  annihilated,  nor  yet  that  his  enmity  will  be 
destroyed  ;  but,  the  usurper  will  be  bound  in  chains,  and  confined  in  the 
bottomless  pit;  and,  all  who  are  ultimately  deceived  and  ruined  by  him, 
instead  of  honoring  their  leader,  will  reproach  him  for  his  folly,  usurpa- 
tion, and  temptations. 

It  should  be  noticed,  that  Satan  has  his  synagogue,  as  well  as  his  palace  ; 
his  religion,  as  well  as  his  politics.  The  golden  calves  of  Jeroboam,  are 
called  devils ;  and  idolatry  is  a  work  which  Satan  has  instituted  for  re- 
ligion ;  but  Christ  came  to  destroy  this  work  from  among  men,  and  turn 
them  to  the  worship  of  the  true  God. 

I  proceed  to  show, 

Fifth.  That  it  was  necessary  for  Chrkt  to  conquer  death. 

Persecutions,  captivity,  and  anarchy,  are  called  death,  as  well  as  the 
dissolutions  of  the  body,  the  apostacy  of  the  soul,  and  the  punishment  of 
both  soul  and  body  in  hell.  These  deaths  all  entered  among  men  at  the 
door  of  sin.  But,  that  all  these  deaths  were  contained  in  the  first  threat- 
ening of  God  to  man,  viz.  In  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shall 
surely  die,  is  more  doubtful.  It  is  pretty  evident  that  the  depravity  of 
llie  soul  took  place  before  the  test  of  Adam's  obedience  was  broken ; 
for,  if  his  mind  had  not  first  been  corrupted,  he  would  not  have  rebelled.  Lust 
did  first  conceive,  before  it  brought  forth  the  action  of  sin.  If,  therefore, 
the  internal  depravity  preceded  the  transgression  of  eating  of  the  prohib- 
ited tree,  it  could  not  be  the  penal  consequence  thereof. 

And  further,  it  is  difliicult  to  distinguish  between  moral  depravity,  (often 
called  spiritual  death,)  and  sin  itself.  Now,  with  what  propriety  could 
God  have  said  unto  Adam,  "  In  the  day  thou  sinnest,  thou  shalt  surely 
die." 

Nor  is  this  all.  To  be  carnally  minded,  is  death;  the  carnal  mind  is 
enmity  against  God,  &c.  Here  the  inspired  description  of  spiritual  death, 
is,  to  be  under  the  government  of  a  carnal,  envious,  irreconcilable  mind. 
If  spiritual  death,  therefore,  was  included  in  the  threatened  penalty,  God 
must  have  said,  "In  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof,  I  will  make  thee  a 
carnal,  irreconcilable  enemy  to  myself." 

Supposing  a  father  should  lay  his  injunction  on  his  child,  not  to  leave 
the  place  where  he  was,  and  go  to  a  certain  tree  :  to  make  this  injunction 
effectual,  he  should,  moreover,  threaten  him  with  stripes  if  he  disobeyed. 
The  child,  however,  should  break  over  the  prohibition  of  the  father,  and 
run  to  the  interdicted  tree :  on  his  way  a  poisonous  adder  should  leap  at 
him,  and  inject  a  deadly  poison  into  his  flesh  and  blood.  In  this  supposed 
instance,  it  could  not  be  said  that  the  deadly  poison  was  any  part  of  the 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  403 

father's  threatening,  nor  could  the  calamity  of  the  child  exempt  him  from 
the  threatened  stripes. 

From  these  remarks,  it  is  safest  to  conclude,  that,  although  the  world  is 
in  a  deplorable  state  of  depravity,  yet  moral  depravity,  which  is  called  spir- 
itual death,  was  no  part  of  the  threatening  of  God  to  Adam. 

There  is  a  doleful  state  of  existence  frequently  spoken  of  in  the  Scrip- 
tures :  hell,  hell-fire,  everlasting  fire,  eternal  fire,  everlasting  punishment, 
everlasting  destruction,  the  second  death,  etc.  In  common  conversation, 
it  is  most  frequently  called  eternal  death,  and  this  death  is  supposed,  by 
many,  to  be  included  in  the  threatening  of  God  to  man,  which  we  are  treat- 
ing  of. 

But,  if  moral  death  is  excluded,  eternal  death  cannot  be  included,  for 
moral  death  is  such  an  essential  part  of  eternal  death,  that  the  last  cannot 
exist  where  the  first  is  absent. 

Furthermore,  the  death  which  was  threatened,  was  to  take  place  on  the 
day  of  transgression  ;  whereas,  Adam  and  Eve  did  not  experience  eternal 
death  on  the  day  in  which  they  fell ;  if  they  had  experienced  it  their  bodies 
must  have  been  immortalized,  and,  with  their  souls,  have  been  in  a  state 
and  condition  in  which  they  could  not  have  propagated  their  species. 

But  natural  or  corporeal  death  was  included  in  the  threatening.  Whether 
there  was  a  poisonous  quality  in  the  fruit  which  grew  on  the  forbidden  tree, 
which  mortalized  Adam  and  Eve,  from  which  death  immediately  began  to 
prey  on  them,  by  disease,  or  whether  disease  was  a  penalty  inflicted  on  them 
for  transgression,  are  questions  attended  with  some  doubt. 

If  the  fruit  was  poisonous  in  its  nature,  and  tended  to  mortalization  and 
death,  then  the  prohibition  of  God  was  only  cautionary,  to  preserve  the 
new  made  pair  from  poisoning  themselves  to  death:  and,  if  this  was  the 
case,  then,  if  there  had  been  no  prohibition,  and  they  had  eaten  of  it  by 
mere  accident,  il  would  have  had  the  same  effect.  But,  if  all  this  was 
true,  (which,  to  me,  is  highly  probable,)  still  the  prohibition  was  made  the 
test  of  Adam's  obedience.  So  the  rainbow,  though  depending  on  a  natu- 
ral cause,  was  made  a  token  of  the  covenant  made  with  Noah. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  there  was  no  poisonous  quality  in  the  fruit,  but  it 
was  prohibited,  simply,  as  a  test  to  Adam,  then,  by  eating,  he  did  not  mor- 
talize  himself,  but  only  rebelled  against  his  God,  and  for  his  rebellion,  mor- 
tal disease  was  that  day  implanted  in  him,  which  neither  food  nor  physic 
can  remove. 

In  either  of  the  cases,  death  began  his  career  on  the  day  of  the  trans- 
gression :  a  career,  which,  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  personify  death,  he  has 
unweariedly  been  pursuing  ever  since,  and  which  he  will  pursue,  until 
Adam,  in  all  his  offspring,  shall  fall  before  him. 

The  first  great  threatening  of  God  to  man,  has  its  full  accomplishment 
without  abatement.     In  this  instance,  the  Almighty  does  not  recede  from 


404  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

his  word.  The  coming  of  a  Mediator  into  the  world,  has  in  no  degree 
mitigated  it,  for  the  blessed  Saviour  did  not  come  to  save  men  from  dying, 
but  leave  them  all  to  die,  as  universally  as  though  he  had  not  come  ;  but 
he  came  to  destroy  death  and  raise  the  dead — to  swallow  up  death  in  vic- 
tory— to  take  captivity  captive,  and  deliver  those  who  are  appointed  to  die. 
As  death  came  by  man,  so  by  man  shall  death  be  destroyed,  for,  as  in  Adam, 
all  died,  so,  in  Christ,  shall  all  be  made  alive. 

My  proposition  is,  that  Christ  came  to  destroy  death. 

He  first  destroyed  death  in  himself:  he  had  power  to  lay  down  his  life 
and  take  it  again  ;  he  died  through  weakness,  but  rose  again  by  the  power 
of  God. 

The  resurrection  of  Christ,  is  abundantly  proved  in  the  Scriptures,  and 
let  the  man  who  can  comprehend  eternity,  and  mete  out  immensity — who 
can  conceive  of  the  mode  of  external  existence,  and  account  for  the  cre- 
ation of  the  world — who  can  tell  where  the  winds  began  to  blow,  together 
with  their  destination,  and  measure  the  depths  of  the  sea — who  can  fill  the 
high  heavens  with  loud  thunder,  and  dart  the  shafts  of  lightning  through 
the  ethereal  vault — who  can  shake  the  earth  to  its  centre,  and  swell  the 
seas  into  raging  fury ;  let  such,  and  none  but  such,  contend  with  their  Ma- 
ker, exalt  reason  above  revelation,  and  deny  the  resurrection  of  the  dead. 

I  have  now  briefly  attended  to  what  was  first  proposed,  and  considered  : 

1st.  The  cause  of  the  contention  in  heaven. 

2d.  Spoken  of  the  parties  at  variance,  together  with  their  respective 
pleas. 

3rd.  Treated  of  the  person,  by  whom,  and  the  means  by  which  a  recon- 
ciliation was  obtained. 

These  particulars  were  drawn  from  the  text:  That  God  undertook,  by 
Christ,  to  reconcile  all  things  in  heaven,  to  himself;  and  that  Christ  effected 
the  work  by  the  blood  of  the  cross. 

Two  things  more  present  themselves  to  view,  on  repeating  the  text. 
First,  by  all  things  in  heavtm,  we  may  understand  the  spirits  of  the  just 
which  were  in  heaven,  when  Christ  died  on  the  cross.  By  virtue  of  the 
ancient  engagement  of  the  Mediator,  these  souls  were  admitted  to  heaven, 
but  the  price  of  their  reconciliation  was  not  paid  until  Jesus  died  on  the 
cross,  and  thereby  made  remission  for  sins  that  were  past.  The  sins  of 
Abel,  Noah,  Abraham,  &c,  were  as  much  atoned  for  by  the  sufferings  of 
Christ,  as  the  sins  of  any  who  were  then  living  ;  so  that  whether  his  peo- 
ple were  on  earth  or  in  heaven,  Christ  obtained  peace  for  them,  by  the 
blood  of  his  cross. 

Secondly.  By  all  things  in  heaven,  we  may  also  understand  the  angels 
in  heaven.     These  angels,  it  has  been  suggested,  were  confirmed  in  thei 
innocency,  through  a  Mediator  ;  but,  as  they  never  apostatized  into  a  stat 
of  opposition  to  God,  they  could  not  be  reconciled  in  the  same  sense  that 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  4  05 

sinners  can  be  ;  but,  in  another  sense,  they  could  be.  Angels  are  lioly, 
and  could  never  be  reconciled  to  dwell  with  unholy  sinners  in  heaven ; 
and,  especially,  to  see  them  rise  to  heaven  at  the  expense  of  God's  law, 
justice,  and  government.  But,  when  they  saw  how  peace  could  be  ob- 
tained  by  the  blood  of  the  cross,  how  the  law  could  be  honored,  justice 
satisfied,  and  the  divine  government  supported,  in  the  pardon  of  sinners ; 
and,  also,  how  sinners  could  be  delivered  from  the  dominion  of  sin,  and 
cleansed  from  all  pollution,  they  were  entirely  reconciled  to  the  plan  of 
God,  and  to  the  accession  of  sinners  into  heaven  for  their  companions. 
These  things  the  angels  desired  to  look  into,  and  are  so  well  pleased  there- 
with,  that  there  is  joy  in  heaven  among  the  angels  of  God,  when  one  sin- 
ner repenteth. 

Now  unto  the  king  eternal,  immortal,  and  invisible,  the  only  wise  God, 
be  glory  and  honor,  world  without  end,  Amen. 


406  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


MISCELLANEOUS  ESSAYS, 

IN    PROSE    AND    VERSE.* 


NUMBER  ONE. 

"WHICH    IS    BEST,    THE    HYPOCRITE    OR    THE    CLOWN  ? 

The  precepts  of  the  New  Testament  as  far  exceed  the  maxims  of  Lord 
Chesterfield,  on  the  subject  of  good  manners,  as  the  liglit  of  heaven  exceeds 
the  feeble  taper  of  a  glow-worm.  Those  infallible  precepts  paint  hypocri- 
sy, in  all  its  horrid  forms,  with  the  blackest  shades,  and  affirm  that  men- 
pleasers  cannot  be  the  servants  of  Jesus  Christ.  At  the  same  time,  they 
enjoin  on  us,  to  be  courteous — to  study  to  be  quiet — to  do  good  for  evil — 
to  give  offence  to  none — to  be  patient  towards  all  men — to  follow  after  the 
things  that  make  for  peace — to  do  all  in  our  power  to  live  peaceably  with 
all  men,  etc.,  etc.  From  these,  and  such  like  observations,  it  looks  as  if 
virtue  lay  in  the  medium  between  the  parasite  and  the  cynic — ihefatterer 
and  the  clown.  The  customs  of  this  world  are  not  altogether  friendly  to 
moral  virtue  ;  nor  are  individuals  entirely  in  the  habit  of  it.  Individuals  are 
prone  to  call  their  misanthropy  by  the  name  of  honesty,  candor,  or  a  sa- 
cred regard  for  truth;  while  they,  christen  their  hypocrisy,  by  the  name  of 
gospel  courtesy.  They  give  their  vices  the  names  of  virtues,  that  others 
may  esteem  them  such.  On  the  other  hand,  when  individuals  are  as 
nearly  right  as  the  state  of  things  admits  of  in  this  world,  their  best  exer- 
cises are  abused  by  the  censorious  many.  When  the  individual  is  solemn, 
he  is  said  to  be  churlish — if  he  is  sociable,  it  is  vanity — if  he  is  recluse,  he 
is  monkish — if  he  mingles  with  others,  he  is  as  bad  as  any  of  them — if  in- 
dustrious and  frugal,  he  is  a  servant  of  mammon — if  devotional,  he  is  in- 
dolent— if  he  pleads  for  his  just  right,  he  is  a  knave — if  he  gives  up  his 
right,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  he  is  a  fool. 

But,  to  come  closer  to  the  question  at  the  head  of  this  number.  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  was  persuaded  by  his  friends  to  marry.  He  excused  him- 
self, by  saying  he  had  no  lime  to  court  a  wife.  His  friends  said  they 
would  assist  him,  by  sending  to  his  apartment  a  woman  of  worth.     He 

*  Published  some  time  since  1810,  the  precise  year  not  known. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  407 

thanked  them  for  their  offer,  and  promised  to  receive  a  visit  from  her. 
His  friends  applied  to  the  woman,  and  requested  her  to  dispense  with  the 
usual  ceremonies  of  courtship,  and  wait  on  the  philosopher,  which  she 
consented  to  do.  When  she  came  to  his  apartment,  and  produced  her  let- 
ter of  recommendation,  he  received  her  very  politely — filled  and  fired  his 
pipe — sat  down  by  her  side — took  hold  of  her  hand,  and  conversed  on  the 
subject.  Before  they  had  brought  points  to  a  close,  some  question  about 
the  magnitude  and  motion  of  the  heavenly  bodies  struck  his  mind  with  such 
force,  that  he  forgot  what  he  was  about — turned  his  eyes  up  to  heaven — ■ 
took  the  pipe  out  of  his  mouth  with  his  left  hand,  and,  being  lost  in  study, 
without  design,  took  the  lady's  hand,  which  he  held  in  his  own,  and,  with 
one  of  her  fingers,  crowding  down  the  tobacco  in  the  bowl  of  his  pipe,  held 
it  there  so  long,  that  her  heart,  as  well  as  her  finger,  took  fire,  and  she,  in 
a  huff",  sprang  and  went  off*,  leaving  the  philosopher  to  finish  his  study 
alone. 

In  this  case,  had  Sir  Isaac  been  as  great  a  hypocrite  as  many  are — ■ 
stopped  his  studies  for  female  charms,  as  many  collegians  do — flattered 
and  praised  beyond  his  judgment,  as  is  common  in  such  cases,  it  is  likely 
he  might  have  obtained  a  wife  ;  and  he  that  findeth  a  wife,  findeth  a  good 
thing,  and  obtaineth  favor  of  the  Lord.  So  said  a  wiser  man  than  Sir 
Isaac. 

By  this,  we  should  think  that  the  hypocrite  is  better  than  the  clown. 
But  when,  in  the  opposite  scale,  we  calculate  the  immense  advantages 
which  the  world  has  received  from  the  clownish  studies  of  Sir  Isaac,  it  still 
leaves  the  question  unanswered. 

Mrs.  Sandy  is  very  polite.  "  Pray,  come  and  visit  me — I  am  exceed. 
ingly  gratified  in  your  company — I  cannot  part  with  your  good  company 
so  soon — you  must  do  me  the  honor  of  coming  again,"  and  such  like  ex- 
pressions, are  constantly  flowing  from  her  mellifluent  lips  •  but,  among 
her  confidents,  she  is  frequently  telling  how  often  she  grows  weary  of  com- 
pany— animadverting  severely  on  the  conversation  and  behaviour  of  her 
visitants,  and  extolling  the  pleasures  of  retirement.  Notwithstanding  the 
fiine  education  of  Mrs.  Sandy,  which  she  adheres  to,  as  she  says,  to  over- 
come the  rusticity  of  nature,  yet,  among  her  sober  friends,  she  owns  her- 
self a  hypocrite,  and  her  conscience  condemns  her  for  her  hypocrisy. 

Mrs.  Vatel  is  a  different  character.  She  has  the  bad  custom  of  censur- 
ing the  custom  of  the  times — glories  in  her  singularity — so  fearful  of  being 
a  flatterer,  that  she  aff'ronts  all — under  pretence  of  being  plain-hearted,  she 
squeezes  out  the  bile  of  her  heart  on  all  whom  she  converses  with  or  about, 
and  makes  a  righteousness  of  her  unrighteousness.  Her  conscience  never 
reproaches  her  for  hypocrisy,  but  is  constantly  gnawing  her  heart-strings 
for  her  misanthropy. 

Neither  the  hypocrite  nor  the  clown  can  lay  any  just  claim  to  moral  vir- 


408  TRE    WRITINGS    OP 

tue ;  but,  in  human  life,  I  should  give  hypocrisy  the  preference— -for  this 
reason,  it  makes  a  person  more  exceptable  among  the  foolish,  and  the  pro- 
portion  of  the  foolish  to  the  wise  is  aa  nineteen  to  one. 

As  no  precepts  are  equally  philanthropic  with  the  precepts  of  the  gos- 
pel, so,  likewise,  nothing  in  the  universe  is  equal  to  the  spirit  of  grace  to 
ennoble  the  soul  with  benevolence.  So  far  as  the  religion  of  Jesus  tri- 
umphs in  the  human  heart,  so  far  the  man  steers  between  Scylla  and  Cha- 
rybdis — hypocrisy  and  ill  will.  The  most  refined  rules  of  education  never 
describe  more  love  of  country,  love  of  all  the  world,  benevolence,  bowels 
and  mercies,  kindness,  sympathy,  and,  indeed,  every  virtue,  human  and 
divine,  than  naturally  flowed  from  Paul,  Peter,  John,  etc.,  and,  indeed, 
from  the  hearts  of  all  the  saints,  in  proportion  to  the  reign  of  grace  within 
them.  From  other  sources,  we  may  get  information  what  we  ought  to  be ; 
but  from  the  reign  of  grace  alone  are  we  made  such  as  we  should  be.  All 
the  kind  affection  and  benevolence  that  a  mere  man  of  the  world  excels  in, 
flow  in  higher  streams,  a  more  steady  current,  with  impartial  diffusion, 
from  a  better  fountain,  more  durable,  from  the  humble  heart  where  grace 
reigns.  Kindness  and  faithfulness,  are  the  internal  characteristic  of  the 
real  saint,  which  the  hypocrite  and  the  clown  but  poorly  ape. 


EXTRACTS   FROM   NUMBER    TWO. 

A  LITTLE  SERMON,  SIXTEEN  MINUTES  LONG. 

Text. — Schools,  Academies  and   Colleges,  are  the  inexhaustible  fountains 
of  true  piety,  morality  and  literature. 

The  text,  in  substance,  occurs  as  frequently  in  the  constitution,  laws, 
usages,  governors'  speeches,  and  election  sermons  of  Massachusetts,  as 
the  phrase,  '*  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,"  does  in  the  penta- 
teuch.  But  I  am  as  hard  put  to  it,  to  find  anything  like  it  in  the  New 
Testament,  as  I  am  to  find  out  who  Gain's  wife  was,  or  where  Tubal  Cain 
got  his  first  hammer  to  work  with.  If  I  do  not  believe  it,  I  shall  be  called 
a  Deist  ;  and,  if  I  do  believe  it,  as  far  as  I  have  yet  seen,  I  must  believe 
without  evidence.  Instead,  therefore,  of  dividing  my  text  into  propositions, 
I  shall,  in  the  first  place,  examine  its  divinity.  The  authenticity  of  the 
text  is  questioned,  On  the  following  grounds : 

First.  It  is  contrary  to  evident  fact.  The  absolute  precepts  of  Jehovah 
have  varied  with  the  times  and  dispensations  in  which  men  have  lived,  but 
the  essentials  of  piety  have  always  been  the  same.  A  dedication  of  the 
heart  to  God,  and  obedience  to  his  voice,  have  been,  now  are,  and  ever 
will  be,  the  quintessence  of  piety.  That  righteous  Abel  possessed  this 
true  piety,  is  certain ;  and  who  can   imagine  that  schools,  academies  and 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  400 

colleges,  were  in  existence  in  the  days  of  Abel.  Yet,  according  to  the 
text,  they  must  have  been  the  fountain  whence  the  stream  of  piety  flowed 
to  the  first  martyr. 

But  further,  when  Christianity  was  introduced  among  men,  John  was 
the  harbinger — Jesus  the  King,  and  the  apostles  were  heralds  and  am- 
bassadors. John  was  brought  up  in  the  wilderness — Jesus,  (as  the  Jews 
said,)  was  not  learned — the  apostles,  for  the  most  part,  were  ignorant 
Galileans.  And  was  there  no  true  piety  in  them  ?  No  morality  in  the 
system  which  they  taught  ?     The  questions  answer  themselves. 

The  primitive  Christians  were  not  only  without  the  aid  of  law  and  the 
assistance  of  the  schools,  but  had  to  combat  both,  for  about  three  hundred 
years  ;  during  which  period,  more  true  piety  and  morality  was  seen  among 
them,  than  has  ever  been  at  any  period  since,  which  could  not  have  been 
the  case,  if  the  text  is  true. 

Second.  True  piety  proceeds  from  a  fountain,  distinct  from  schools  of 
learning.  That  true  piety  in  the  heart  is  the  gift  of  God,  all  confess,  who 
possess  it ;  and  every  good  and  perfect  gift  is  from  above,  and  cometh 
down  from  the  Father  of  Lights.  "  Ye  have  an  unction  from  the  Holy 
One,  whereby  ye  know  all  things.  I  will  pour  out  my  spirit  upon  all  flesh," 
&c.  Who  can  read  such  passages,  (which  abound  in  the  scripture,)  and 
believe  them,  and  at  the  same  time  believe  that  schools  of  learning  are  the 
fountains  of  true  piety  ? 

Third.  The  text,  with  its  usual  comment,  defeats  itself.  Individuals, 
associations,  and  legislatures,  are  said  to  found  such  schools  from  pious 
views.  Now,  if  the  founders  have  true  piety  in  their  hearts  before  the 
academies  or  colleges  are  founded,  how  can  such  schools  be  the  fountains 
of  all  true  piety  ?  Piety  before  schools,  and  schools  before  piety.  Strange 
logic. 

Fourth.  That  seminaries  of  learning  are  preservatives  and  improve- 
ments of  Uterature,  is  true ;  but  to  call  them  the  fountains  of  it,  is  not  pro- 
per, without  there  was  a  seminary  to  instruct  the  preceptor  who  establish- 
ed the  first  seminary,  which  would  not  have  been  possible.  But  why 
should  true  piety  and  literature  be  classed  in  the  same  grade,  when  they 
are  radically  different  in  their  natures  ?  The  greatest  scholar,  is  often  at 
the  greatest  distance  from  true  piety ;  and  the  most  pious  saint  as  far  from 
the  embellishments  of  literature.  Science  informs  the  mind  in  things  of 
this  life — piety  gives  knowledge  of,  and  prepares  the  soul  for  the  life  to 
come.  And  as  well  may  cold  iron  and  hot  be  welded  together,  as  piety 
and  literature.  It  is  true,  a  man  may  possess  both ;  but  if  he  does,  he 
knows  they  proceed  from  different  fountains — have  a  different  tendency  to 
different  ends. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

First.  By  way  of  enquiry.     What  are  those  people  to  do,  in  this  state, 

52 


410  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

who  have  a  regard  for  the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  men,  and  are  borne 
down  by  a  hierarchal  clergy — a  despotic  judiciary — an  aristocratic  host 
of  lawyers — a  great  majority  of  the  presses — the  influence  of  the  col- 
leges— and  the  superstition  of  the  ignorant  ? 

Second.  A  word  of  advice.  Evils  in  government  had  better  be  borne 
with,  as  long  as  they  are  sufferable,  than  to  make  government  too  change- 
able :  but  the  representation  of  this  state  is  so  large,  that  it  loudly  calls 
for  a  constitutional  reform.  Should  the  legislature  make  and  appeal  to  the 
towns,  either  to  choose  a  convention  for,  or  prescribe,  in  their  municipal 
capacities,  a  revision  of  the  constitution,  it  is  hoped  thai  they  will  not  be 
restricted  to  the  article  of  representation  only.  It  is  believed  that  one 
hundred  and  fifty  representatives,  would  be  better  than  six  hundred  ;  and 
that,  if  the  judges  were  made  a  little  more  responsible  to  men,  they  might 
feel  themselves  a  little  more  accountable  to  God ;  and  that  the  third  ar- 
ticle of  the  declaration  of  rights,  should  be  blotted  out,  taking  the  consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  for  a  pattern  in  this  particular.  If  these 
amendments  could  take  place,  with  the  addition  of  a  new  article,  similar 
to  the  fifth  article  of  the  United  States  constitution,  my  advice  would  be 
answered. 

Third.  Some  observations.  Nothing  is  more  plain,  than  that  the  Al- 
mighty has  set  up  the  government  of  the  United  States  in  answer  to  the 
prayers  of  all  the  saints,  down  from  the  first  proclamation  of  the  gospel. 
The  earth,  at  last,  has  helped  the  woman.  Had  such  a  government  existed, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  what  rivers  of  blood — what  shock- 
ing havoc — how  much  imprisonment,  confiscation,  exile,  torture  and  burn- 
ing, would  have  been  prevented  !  "  Rome  was  not  built  in  a  day."  Great 
events  arise  from  small  beginnings.  The  notion  of  excluding  religion 
from  legislation,  first  arose  in  Rhode  Island,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and 
Pennsylvania,  in  their  colonial  capacities ;  and  has,  since  the  revolution, 
been  interwoven  in  the  government  of  the  United  States.  The  clergy  in 
New  England,  were  champions  in  the  revolution ;  but,  to  justify  the  sepa- 
ration from  Great  Britain,  they  were  obliged  to  establish  maxims,  (respect- 
ing the  rights  of  men,)  which  they  are  now  loth  to  abide  by. 

Fourth.  A  word  of  experience.  When  I  was  about  twelve  years  old,  I 
constantly  attended  the  preaching  of  Mr.  H.,  one  of  the  standing  order,  so 
called.  On  every  Sunday  afternoon,  in  his  prayer,  (which  was  about  fifty- 
nine  minutes  long,)  he  would  repeat  the  following  words  :  "  Pity  Mahome- 
dan  imposture — pagan  idolatry — Jewish  infidelity — papistry  and  supersti- 
tion :  bring  the  downfall  of  anti-Christian  tyranny  to  a  period."  I  knew 
not  the  meaning  of  the  words,  but  I  heard  them  so  often  that  I  committed 
them  to  memory,  and  have  not  yet  forgotten  them.  My  minister  was  in 
the  habit  of  changing  with  other  ministers,  of  the  same  faith  and  order,  to 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  411 

economise  upon  notes,  (as  was  supposed,)  to  save  the  time  of  writing  so 
much.  These  changelings  (not  hirelings)  usad  the  same  expressions  in 
their  prayers,  or  vVhat  amounted  to.  the  same,  with  Mr.  H.  Many  admo- 
nitions were  given  me,  in  those  days,  about  the  tyranny  and  wickedness  of 
the  Pope,  and  the  papal  clergy.  All  was  awful !  all  was  true !  because 
their  high  reverences  said  so. 

But  now,  since  the  French  Revolution  began,  and  the  Pope  is  humbled, 
and  the  papal  clergy  set  at  nought ;  how  the  note  is  changed  among  the 
clergy  in  New  England.  Their  present  language  is  this:  "We  did  not 
mean  so;  the  Lord  has  not  understood  our  prayers:  We  meant,  that  the 
papists  should  all  turn  congregationalists,  as  we  are  ;  having  no  Pope  over 
them,  but  the  collective  clergy  over  the  people  ;  and  that  our  national  and 
state  governments,  might  all  be  Christian  governments  ;  and  not  deistical, 
to  leave  every  man  at  liberty,  as  is  now  the  case,  except  in  three  of  the 
New  England  States ;  and  even  in  them,  the  clergy  are  not  honored  and 
implicitly  believed,  as  they  once  were.     O  tempera  !  O  mores ! ! !  " 

Fifth.  Encouragement.  Nearly  all  the  states  are,  at  this  time,  republi- 
can :  indeed  the  atmosphere  south  and  west  of  the  North  River,  is  mild  and 
friendly  to  the  growth  of  representative  democrats.  Religious  liberty  has  no 
manacles  in  those  extensive  regions.  Population,  and  of  course  representa- 
tion, will  ever  place  the  balance  where  it  now  is  :  and  the  New  England  old 
Grin,  religious  bigotry,  will  gnaw  his  galling  bands,  in  his  small  cavern, 
until  his  teeth  are  broken.  Upon  his  decease,  I  volunteer  myself  to  preach  his 
funeral  sermon,  and  publish  his  biography,  gratis.  He  is  yet  living,  and 
struggling  for  existence. 

Conclusion.  My  text  contains  six  prominent  words,  viz : 

Schools,  Academies,  Colleges, 
True  Piety,  Morality,  Literature. 

On  which  I  have  made  six  strictures,  and  six  articles  of  improvement ; 
which,  added  together  horizontally,  make  the  number  six  hundred  and 
sixty-six.  Here  is  wisdom — here  is  understanding — the  number  of  the 
beast  is  counted,  and  it  is  the  number  of  a  man.  I  will  not  say  that  my 
text  is  the  beast,  of  which  so  much  is  said  in  the  Revelations :  but  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  pronounce  it  one  of  his  claws.  Some  divines,  by  the  beast,  un- 
derstand Louis  XIV.  Others  find  his  name  in  the  Pope ;  a  third  class 
believe  that  Napoleon  is  the  beast ;  while  others  believe  it  to  be  the  trans- 
formation  of  the  Christian  church  into  a  tyrannical  body,  in  the  year  six 
hundred  and  sixty-six.  All  of  them  have  to  divide,  multiply,  substract,  and 
add  perpendicularly  and  horizontally  too,  as  well  as  myself,  to  make  out 
their  beast.  If  these  divines,  who  differ  so  much  in  opinion,  can  obtain 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  exposition,  here 
given,  will  not  prevent  the  author  from  the  same  diploma,  provided  he  can 
get  money  and  friends  enough.     Should  that  ever  be  the  case,  then  with 


412  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

little  thought  and  copious  extracts,  he  could  form  a  body  of  divinity,  to  adorn 
the  shelves  of  libraries  and  eternize  his  own  name.     Amen. 


NUMBER  THREE. 

FACTS   AND    QUESTIONS. 

Jews,  Christians,  and  Deists,  all  believe  in  the  unity  of  God.  Jews  have 
Jehovah — Christians  have  Immanuel,  and  Deists  have  their  Deity.  The 
Jews  believe  in  Jehovah,  and  receive  the  Old  Testament  as  a  revelation 
from  God ;  but  do  not  believe  that  Christ  was  the  promised  Messiah,  nor 
that  the  New  Testament  is  of  divine  inspiration.  The  Christians  believe  in 
Jehovah,  and  in  the  divinity  of  the  Old  Testament ;  they  also  believe  in 
Immanuel,  as  Jehovah  incarnate,  and  receive  the  New  Testament  as  divine- 
ly  authentic.  The  Deists  believe  neither  in  the  God  of  Moses,  nor  in  the 
God  of  Christians  ;  but  (borrowing  language  from  the  Bible,  a  book  which 
they  detest,)  speak  very  sublimely  of  Deity. 

Query.  Is  there  a  man  on  earth,  (where  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  known,) 
who  gives  any  evidence,  by  the  temper  of  his  mind  and  his  external  con- 
duct, that  he  loves  the  Supreme  Deity  and  rejoices  in  his  government ; 
who,  at  the  same  time  will  satirize  the  Christians'  Grod,  and  reprobate  the 
New  Testament  ?  I  believe  not.  And  if  my  faith  is  well  founded,  infi- 
delity takes  its  rise  in  the  baseness  of  the  heart. 

Again.  If  a  company  of  men  had  a  vast  and  valuable  inheritance,  se- 
cured to  them  by  a  writing  as  well  authenticated  as  the  Bible,  would  they 
not  feel  well  satisfied  with  their  charter  ?  The  inheritance  of  pardon  of 
sin  and  a  resurrection  to  eternal  life,  is  chartered  in  the  scriptures,  and  no 
where  else.  The  light  of  nature  and  the  laws  of  nations — philosophy  and 
state  policy  have  no  concern  in  it. 


NUMBER  FOUR. 

POETIC    LINES,   ON    THE   DEATH   OF   REV.   JOHN   WALLER. 

CoMK  heaVnly  muse,  inspire  my  heart, 
Thy  gracious  agency  impart, 

And  teach  my  pen  to  write ; 
Direct  my  pencil  to  proclaim 
The  life  and  death  of  the  dear  man. 

In  whom  I  took  delight. 

'Tis  no  slain  hero  I  bemoan. 
No  patriot  of  high  renown. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND, 

Whose  death  I  now  lament ; 
When  gen'rals  fall — when  statesmen  die, 
I  often  heave  the  solemn  sigh, 

And  mourn  the  black  event. 

But  when  a  bright  and  shining  light, 
A  blazing  star,  a  lamp  of  night 
An  envoy  from  the  skies ; 
Commission'd  from  the  throne  above, 
To  treat  with  men,  in  terms  of  love, 
And  make  the  nations  wise. 

When  such  a  friend  of  God  and  man. 
Is  called  to  quit  his  mortal  stand, 
And  fill  a  higher  post ; 
'Tis  then  I  feel  the  keenest  pain, 
My  loss  exceeds  a  hero  slain — 
'Tis  then  I  sorrow  most. 

Such  is  the  anguish  now  I  feel, 
Waller  is  dead  !  what  pointed  steel 

Could  wound  my  heart  as  deep  ! 
Waller,  the  friend  of  God  and  man. 
Has  left  this  needy,  guilty  land. 

And  I  survive  to  weep. 

Like  Saul,  he  spent  his  youthful  days, 
In  riot,  oaths  and  wicked  ways. 

The  leader  of  a  pack — 
His  birth,  and  education  good. 
But  sin  did  so  effect  his  blood. 

They  called  him  swearing  Jack. 

When  vengence,  near  the  throne  of  God, 
Impetuous  drew  the  flaming  sword. 

All  dreadful  to  employ  ! 
Almighty  goodness  cried  "  forbear. 
Wisdom  shall  better  means  prepare 

To  conquer — not  destroy." 

"  Waller  is  not  ordain'd  to  wrath. 
But  to  employ  his  vital  breath 

In  the  Redeemer's  praise  ; 
His  sins,  thro'  Christ,  shall  be  forgiv'n. 
And  he  shall  ever  reign  in  heav'n. 

Thro'  free  and  sov'reign  grace." 

When  persecution  reign'd, 

And  magistrates  were  unrestrain,d 

To  punish  in  their  borders  ; 
When  Lewis  Craig  was  apprehended, 
And  to  the  county  court  presented, 

For  preaching  without  orders:  j 


413 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Waller  was  one  of  the  grand-jury, 
Yet  not  so  fiU'd  with  rage  and  fury, 

But  what  he'd  reason  hear; 
Craig's  meek  defence  and  calm  repose, 
Disarm'd  the  fury  of  his  foes, 

And  open'd  Waller's  ear. 

The  meetings  then  he  did  attend, 
Not  as  a  foe,  but  as  a  friend. 

And  sought  the  Lord  with  tears  ; 
The  pardoning  love  of  Christ  he  found. 
Which  prov'd  a  balsam  for  his  wound, 
A  cordial  for  his  fears. 

Soon  he  began  to  tell  around, 
What  a  dear  Saviour  he  had  found, 

And  call  on  all  to  fly  ; 
"  Sinners,  repent  and  turn  to  God, 
Trust  in  a  mighty  Saviour's  blood, 

And  you  shall  never  die." 

How  oft  I've  seen  the  envoy  stand, 
Imploring  mercy  for  the  land, 

With  eyes  uplift  to  heav'n ; 
"  Father,  forgive  the  stubborn  race — 
Subdue  their  hearts  to  sov'reign  grace. 

That  they  may  be  forgiv'n." 

Then  turning  from  the  upper  skies. 
With  glowing  heart  and  wat'ry  eyes. 

Would  eager  gaze  around  ; 
The  listening  croud,  like  wandering  sheep. 
He'd  warn  and  woo,  embrace,  intreat, 

In  heart  affecting  sound. 

All  roimd  the  land  the  herald  ran. 
Proclaiming  life  to  dying  man, 

While  heav'n  his  words  apply'd  ; 
Thousands  obeyed  the  voice  of  God, 
And  found  salvation  in  the  blood 

Of  Jesus  crucified.* 

Waller,  intrepid  for  his  God, 

Would  ne'er  confer  with  flesh  and  blood. 

But  put  his  all  at  stake  ; 
Come  life — come  death — praise  or  disgrace, 
Naught  could  impede  him  in  his  race ; 

He  ran  for  Jesus'  sake. 


*  He  baptized  more  than  two  thousand  before  he  removed  from  Virginia,  which  was 
in  or  near  1794.    A  few  years  afterwards,  he  died  in  South  Carolina. 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND. 

But  while  superior  to  all  fear, 

He  pushed  his  conquests  far  and  near, 

To  conquer  or  to  die  ; 
By  mobs  and  courts,  and  laws  unjust, 
The  dragon  made  a  deadly  thrust, 

With  expectation  high. 

Four  times  to  prison  he  was  sent. 
Where  many  days  of  grief  were  spent, 

With  ardent  prayers  and  tears ; 
His  wife  alone  was  left  to  sigh  ; 
His  children  had  no  father  by. 

To  sooth  their  anxious  fears. 

But  here  behold  his  gracious  mind. 
While  in  the  prison  wails  confin'd, 

He'd  pour  his  soul  abroad  ; 
Thro'  iron  grates  he'd  sound  aloud 
The  gospel  to  the  listening  crowd, 

Who  came  to  hear  the  word. 

When  Independence  was  declar'd, 
Waller  was  Whig — a  valiant  bard 

To  blow  the  trump  of  jubilee  ; 
The  change  brought  freedom  to  his  cause 
And  banished  all  religious  laws, 

And  set  the  sons  of  Zion  free. 

Language  would  fail  to  figure  forth. 
In  equal  shades,  his  real  worth, 

And  all  his  virtues  tell ; 
As  husband,  parent,  friend  and  neighbour, 
As  preacher  of  incessant  labor, 

Bvt  few  did  e'er  excel. 

From  house  to  house — from  place  to  place, 
He'd  tell  the  wonders  of  that  grace 

Which  ransomed  dying  men  ; 
With  melting  heart  and  balmy  tongue. 
Kindly  persuade  both  old  and  young. 

To  strive  to  enter  in. 

But  nature's  laws  will  never  fail, 
The  mortal  powers  of  men  are  frail 

And  must  dissolve  and  die  ; 
Prophets  and  kings — heroes  and  saints, 
Are  subject  to  the  same  complaints. 

And  in  one  ruin  lie. 

Sometimes  death  makes  a  sudden  storm, 
Sometimes  the  siege  continues  long, 

But  always  gains  the  fight ; 
The  strongest  constitution  fails — 


415 


416  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Physics  are  vain,  when  death  assails 
The  soul  must  take  her  flight. 

Twelve  months  before  he  quit  his  clay, 
Waller  was  lingering  in  decay 

And  sufferings  did  endure  ; 
Preaching  with  all  the  strength  he  had, 
Exorting  all,  both  good  and  bad 

To  make  salvation  sure. 

Seven  weeks  before  he  did  expire, 
He  preach'd  his  last  from  Zechariah, 

"  Run  speak  to  this  young  man," 
His  soul  glow'd  high  with  heav'nly  zeal, 
His  outward  man  began  to  reel. 

He  fell — he  could  not  stand. 

His  friends  conveyed  him  to  a  bed — 
He  lay  as  dying,  or  as  dead 

For  sev'ral  tedious  hours  ; 
But  when  his  spirits  rose  again, 
Redeeming  love — his  fav'rite  theme, 

He  prais'd  with  all  his  powers. 

Some  days  before  he  lost  his  breath, 
When  stiuggling  in  the  war  with  death, 

He  raised  his  eyes  to  heav'n; 
With  smiling  face  and  joyful  eyes — 
"  O  God  of  grace  the  sufferer  cries. 

My  sins  are  all  forgiv'n. 

"  Ready,  my  Lord,  to  come  to  thee, 
Mine  eyes  do  thy  salvation  see, 

Oh!  send  thy  chariot  down  ; 
If  any  angel  can  be  spar'd, 
O  send  a  Idnd  celestial  guard 

To  bear  my  spirit  home. 

"  But  if  I  longer  must  remain, 
To  prove  my  patience  in  my  pain, 

Thy  will,  O  God  be  done  ; 
If  angels  cannot  now  attend, 
When  I  on  Jordan's  banks  shall  stand, 

I'm  sure  they  will  come  down." 

Some  hours  before  his  clay  was  dead, 
His  children  knelt  around  his  bed 

And  asked  a  benediction  ; 
His  hands  upon  their  heads  he  laid. 
And  for  his  weeping  offspring  pray'd. 
And  gave  his  valediction. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  417 


"  O  God  of  mercy,  God  of  truth, 
The  widow's  help — the  guide  of  youth, 

I  die  at  thy  command  ; 
My  wife  and  children  stay  behind — 
O  God,  be  merciful  and  kind, 

And  keep  them  in  thy  hand. 

"  May  heav'nly  grace  on  them  bo  shed, 
And  earthly  blessings  crown  their  heads 

Long  as  their  lives  remain  ; 
When  ripe  for  heav'n,  may  all  remove. 
And  meet  me  in  the  world  above 

And  never  part  again. 

"  Remember  Zion,  O  my  God, 
The  costly  purchase  of  thy  blood. 

Her  rights  and  cause  defend ; 
May  she  awake,  arise  and  shine 
In  robes  and  ornaments  divine, 

Enduring  to  the  end. 

"  May  all  my  neighbours  hear  thy  word. 
For  this  I  pray,  my  gracious  Lord, 

With  my  last  dying  breath." 
This  said,  his  mortal  life  expir'd,  , 
His  joyful  soul  to  heav'n  retir'd. 

And  left  his  clay  in  death 

So  Jacob's  sons,  at  his  bed-side 
Receiv'd  the  blessing  when  he  died. 

Prophetic  from  the  Lord  ; 
So  Moses,  when  his  life  deceas'd, 
Bless'd  the  twelve  tribes  and  was  releas'd. 

And  charm'd  to  heav'n,  by  God. 

Jesus,  the  Saviour  of  mankind, 
When  on  the  cross  his  head  reclin'd 

Pour'd  out  his  soul  to  God  ; 
He  cried  aloud  for  friends  and  foes, 
"  Lord  visit  these,  and  pardon  those. 

Since  I  have  shed  my  blood." 

So  Stephen,  fill'd  with  faith  and  love. 
Saw  heaven  open'd  from  above, 

And  Jesus  on  his  seat ; 
"  Jesus,  receive  my  soul,"  he  cries, 
"  And  pardon  all  mine  enemies  ;" 
Upon  his  knees,  the  martyr  dies. 

And  joyful  falls  asleep. 
53 


418  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

NUMBER  FIVE. 

KEPTJBLICANISM,  THE    BEST    GOVERNMENT  ;    BUT    NOT    WITHOUT    ITS    EVILS. 

A  republican  government  secures  to  the  people  the  greatest  portion  of 
happiness  that  any  government  can  ;  yet  noise  and  change,  from  the  nature 
of  man,  are  interwoven  in  its  institutions.  Ambition  is  a  shade  of  human 
nature ;  it  is  scarcely  more  natural  for  men  to  breathe,  than  it  is  for  them 
to  wish  to  control ;  at  least  to  be  free  from  the  control  of  others.  When 
in  authority,  men  have  a  little  of  both ;  i.  e.  a  little  power  to  control  oth- 
ers, and  a  little  refuge  from  the  control  of  others ;  hence  the  station  of  of- 
fice is  courted. 

It  is  always  easier  to  see  defects  in  others,  than  to  avoid  them  ourselves  ; 
add  to  this,  government  itself  is  but  a  choice  among  evils ;  and  very  fre- 
quently cases  occur,  in  which  the  best  possible  mode  of  administration 
will  be  attended  with  glaring  inconveniences.  At  such  times,  those  who 
are  out  of  office,  and  perhaps  out  of  the  confidence  of  the  people,  and  at 
the  same  time  wish  to  secure  the  last  that  they  may  gain  the  Jirst,  will 
avail  themselves  of  every  embarrassment,  which  those  in  the  administration 
have  to  encounter,  give  every  measurp  the  most  unfavorable,  if  not  a  false 
coloring,  to  render  the  laws  obnoxious,  and  supplant  those  who  are  in  au- 
thority. 

As  men  are  ambitious,  so  they  are  avaricious  ;  and  as  offices  are  pre-em- 
inent,  and  generally  more  lucrative  than  husbandry  and  mechanism,  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  men  fish  for  them. 

But  the  noise  and  tempests  in  a  republic,  generally  proceed  from  those 
who  have  no  power  to  injure  ;  whereas  the  noise  of  a  monarchy  is  clothed 
with  awful  majesty.  Hence  the  calm  of  despotism,  so  called,  is  like  the 
calm  silence  of  the  people  when  the  thunders  roar.  Which,  then,  is  to  be 
preferred?  The  joys  of  a  public  feast,  attended  with  a  little  noise  and  riot, 
or  the  profound  silence  that  reigns,  when  the  shafts  of  lightning  fly  and 
the  people  are  afraid  to  speak  ? 

The  contentions  that  arise  among  individuals  and  parties,  in  a  republic, 
frequently  remind  me  of  an  instance  that  happened  among  the  domestic 
animals  of  the  good  old  Mr.  Pebody.  His  whole  stock  consisted  of  a  goose, 
a  sow,  and  a  dog.  The  industrious  goose  in  painful  labor,  without  the  aid 
of  the  others,  had  laid  herself  a  nest  of  eggs,  and  was  brooding  over  them 
with  patient  inquietude,  in  hopes  of  a  good  reward  for  her  labor.  The  av- 
aricious sow  attacked  the  goose,  and  devoured  half  of  her  eggs.  The  ctm- 
hitious  dog,  seeing  the  defenceless  goose  suffer  so  unjustly  from  the  sow, 
grew  big  with  patriotism  and  benevolence,  and  was  moved  with  choler 
against  the  sow,  that  had  committed  such  an  assault  and  battery  upon  a 
goose,  and  ran  upon  her  in  the  fury  of  his  might,  and  drove  her  from  the 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  419 

nest.  He  then  reasoned  like  other  ambitious  dogs,  that  an  old  worn  out 
soldier,  in  the  service  of  the  goose,  ought  not  to  go  unrewarded  ;  and  there- 
fore  enacted  a  new  fee-bill  for  himself,  which  consisted  in  the  other  half  of 
the  eggs.  These  two  quadrupeds  were  no  friends  to  each  other,  but  agreed 
that  the  goose  might  live  and  qua,  qua,  qua  forth  her  rights  and  liberties, 
and  lay  eggs  for  them  to  eat. 

Offices  should  be  decently  honorable  ;  otherwise  government  falls  into 
contempt ;  but  if  they  are  too  pompous,  the  liberties  and  morals  of  the  peo- 
ple are  ruined.  Salaries  should  be  competent ;  if  otherwise,  none  but  the 
rich  can  discharge  offices  ;  but  if  they  are  very  lucrative,  the  republic  will 
always  be  haunted  by  office-hunters. 

In  the  United  States,  where  land  is  abundant  and  fertile,  and  where 
long  habit  has  rendered  the  husbandman  honorable,  where  the  greater  por- 
tion of  the  people  are  better  informed  than  in  other  countries,  and  with  the 
experience  of  all  former  ages  before  them,  it  is  hoped  they  will  escape  the 
rocks  on  which  former  republics  have  split.  Under  this  head,  I  would  re- 
mark, that  there  is  a  common  saying,  "  that  a  republican  government  is 
the  best  in  the  world  if  people  only  have  virtue  enough  to  bear  it."  If  peo- 
ple had  virtue  enough,  there  would  be  no  need  of  any  government.  Gov- 
ernment becomes  necessary  on  account  of  the  vices  of  men.  Can  a  royal 
monarch,  or  a  splendid  junto  of  nobles,  make  the  people  happy  without 
virtue  ?  The  great  empires  of  the  earth  have  crumbled  into  atoms  for  the 
want  of  virtue,  as  well  as  the  most  flourishing  republics.  How  subject  we 
are  to  place  our  eyes  on  the  pomp  and  splendor  of  the  court  and  overlook 
the  miseries  of  the  people.  Those  who  so  frequently  are  making  the  above 
observation,  should  do  all  they  can  to  save  and  foster  that  government 
which  they  own  is  best ;  but  for  the  most  part,  the  remark  is  made  by  men 
who  are  wishing  to  sap  the  foundation  of  a  republican  government,  trick 
the  people  out  of  their  liberties,  and  raise  themselves  to  a  state  of  pre-em- 
inence above  the  control  of  others. 


NUMBER  SIX. 

AGE    AND    EGOTISM. 

A  man's  judgment  is  his  standard,  by  which  he  measures  and  weighs 
his  own  talents,  words  and  actions,  and  those  of  other  men.  By  this  stand- 
ard,  he  may  know  when  his  physical  powers  fail,  when  his  hearing,  sight, 
voice  and  memory  decline ;  but  when  his  judgment  falters,  he  has  no 
standard  to  try  it  by,  and  therefore  never  knows  its  depreciation.  His  lan- 
guage therefore  is,  "  I  know  my  physical  and  sensitive  powers  fail,  but  thank 
God,  my  reason  is  as  good  as  ever  it  was."  If  a  friend  suggest  to  him  that 
he  is  on  a  decline,  he  takes  it  unkind,  and  calls  his  friend  an  upstart.     If 


420  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

his  friend  appeals  to  his  age  to  enforce  the  suggestion,  the  man  concludes 
that  he  himself  is  one  of  those  rare  constitution  that  does  not  sink  with  the 
burthen  of  seventy  years.  Let  the  younger  pity  the  older,  but  not  laugh 
at  them,  for  we  are  all  in  one  row. 

Nothing  appears  more  fulsome,  than  the  egotism  of  men  in  their  super- 
annuacy,  dilating  so  proudly  o(  what  they  have  said  or  done,  and  whdit  they 
know,  in  their  now  improved  station.  But  is  it  always  a  proof  of  superan- 
nuacy,  for  men  of  years  to  speak  or  write  in  the  first  person  ?  I  think  not. 
Moses  was  taught  in  all  the  learning  and  wisdom  of  Egypt.  When  he  first 
began  to  write,  he  was  meek,  to  a  proverb  :  most  of  his  writing  was  in  the 
third  person.  But  after  the  experience  of  forty  years,  as  prophet  and  first 
magistrate,  his  addresses  were  somewhat  different.  What  he  had  seen  and 
known,  he  declared  with  great  assurance  :  but  this  was  not  the  effect  of 
dotage,  for  his  eye  was  not  diin,  nor  his  natural  force  abated. 

That  Paul  v/as  a  polite  scholar,  equal  to  any  of  his  day,  is  not  denied  by 
any  ;  yet  with  all  his  logical  reasoning,  there  is  mixed  abundance  of  detaiV 
about  himself,  what  he  had  said,  done  and  suffered.  If  it  should  be  objected, 
that  Paul  had  become  the  aged  before  he  wrote  his  epistles,  the  reply 
would  be,  that  his  pen  was  governed  by  an  unerring  agent,  whose  dictates 
are  to  be  preferred  above  all  our  notions  of  diction. 

We  come  into  the  world  ignorant.  To  a  child,  every  thing  is  new  and 
impressive,  and  more  so  to  a  young  man,  than  to  one  of  a  greater  age.  The 
young  man  of  genius,  is  charmed  with  the  logic  of  his  author,  and 
feels  impressed  with  his  own  arguments.  He  lays  down  his  thesis,  sup- 
ports it  with  metaphysical  arguments,  forms  his  sylogism,  and  draws  his 
conclusion,  with  little  or  no  doubt  of  the  reality  of  the  whole.  Not  having 
lived  long  enough  to  see  any  broken  links  in  his  chain,  he  has  no  occasion 
to  advert  to  what  he  has  seen  or  knotcn  to  support  or  qualify  his  thesis.  But 
with  the  man  of  years,  thought  and  observation,  the  case  is  different.  He 
has  found  that  many  opinions  exist  in  idea,  that  will  not  bear  experiment. 
He  knows  that  he  has  often  been  drawn  aside  from  simple  truth,  by  meta- 
physical arguments.  Things  which  he  once  felt  confident  of,  he  is  now 
obliged  to  qualify,  if  not  entirely  to  abandon.  The  safe  road  to  intellectual 
light  he  finds  to  be  difficult.  When  he  considers  questions  in  all  their  bear- 
ings, he  finds  that  much  can  be  said  for  and  against.  He  has  considered 
opinions,  and  their  tendencies,  causes  and  their  effects  ;  and  forms  his  con- 
clusions (with  a  trembling  heart,)  from  experience.  In  the  speeches  and  wri- 
tings of  such  men,  there  will  be  much  in  the  first  person  :  they  will  advert  to 
what  they  have  seen  and  known  ioiUustrale  and  enforce  their  opmions.  Nor 
do  I  think  this  a  criminal  or  indelicate  piece  of  diction  ;  but  contrarywise,  the 
most  instructive,  and  the  most  impressive  of  any. 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  421 

NUMBER  SEVEN. 

HAWK    AND    BUZZARD. 

If  I  rightly  understand  the  meaning  of  the  phrase,  between  hawk  and 
buzzard,  it  is  used  to  express  a  certain  suspense  of  mind,  when  the  person 
is  in  bivio,  which  may  be  illustrated  by  the  following  instances.  Young 
Fabius  was  brought  up  to  learning,  and  graduated  at  the  university.  It 
then  became  a  question  with  him  what  branch  of  business  to  pursue.  The 
calling  which  promised  the  least  fatigue,  and  the  most  profit,  he  sought 
for.  Law,  physick  and  divinity,  all  presented  themselves  before  him. 
Troubles,  as  well  as  profits,  seemed  to  be  attached  to  each  of  them,  and 
for  a  considerable  time  his  mind  hung  in  suspense,  between  hawk  and  buz- 
zard. He  finally  made  choice  of  the  sacred  gown,  and,  after  the  usual 
studies  and  examinations,  was  licensed  to  preach  as  a  candidate.  Many 
places  he  visited,  and  many  calls  he  received,  but  the  rewards  promised 
did  not  meet  his  wishes.  Five  hundred  dollars  per  annum  was  the  highest 
bid  that  any  parish  made  for  him,  on  which  he  reasoned  thus  :  "  If  I  accept 
of  this  call,  I  shall  never  expect  to  get  more,  and  I  think  eight  hundred  dol- 
lars is  not  more  than  I  ought  to  have,  each  year,  considering  my  talents, 
and  what  expense  it  has  cost  to  improve  them  by  education  ;  but  still,  if  I 
do  not  acccept  of  this  call,  I  am  not  sure  of  getting  so  much  in  any  other 
parish.  On  the  whole,  I  am  at  a  loss  about  my  sacred  duty:  whether  the 
Lord  calls  me  to  accept  of  this  call,  or  has  a  greater  call  for  me  in  another 
parish."  While  Fabius  was  thus  reasoning,  he  stood  between  hawk  and 
buzzard. 

All  things  considered,  he  accepted  the  call,  and  took  the  charge  of  the 
people,  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  made  him  overseer,  not  for  filthy  lucre, 
but  of  a  ready  mind,  and  served  them  several  years  to  good  satisfaction  : 
like  people,  like  priest.  But  lately,  an  unhappy  circumstance  has  turned 
up.  A  very  wealthy  parish,  having  a  fund  of  one  thousand  dollars  a  year, 
with  other  valuable  perquisites,  has  become  vacant.  Fabius  is  greatly  af- 
fected towards  the  people  of  that  parish,  that  they  should  be  as  sheep  with- 
out a  shepherd,  and  is  constantly  praying,  hoping  and  longing  that  the  Lord 
will  make  it  clear  to  him,  that  he  must  remove  among  them.  The  people 
to  whom  he  now  administers,  are  confident,  that  if  Fabius  leaves  them,  it 
will  be  all  hawk  on  their  side,  but  the  thousand  dollars  keep  such  a  buzzing 
in  his  ears,  that  the  good  soul'  of  Fabius  is  constantly  between  hawk  and 
buzzard ;  or  like  the  creature,  less  than  a  mule,  spoken  of  in  the  Gospel, 
tied  where  two  ways  meet. 

That  these  instances  illustrate  the  common  use  of  being  between  haio'k 
and  buzzard,  it  is  presumed  none  will  deny.     I  own  myself  at  a  loss  about 
the  origin  of  the  proverb,  and  am  rather  inclined  to  believe  that  it  is  pu 
to  a  use  somewhat  different  from  its  original  design.     In  the  middle  and 


422  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

southern  states,  there  is  a  bird,  which,  from  its  colour  and  size,  is  called 
the  Turkey-Buzzard.  This  bird  is  carniverous,  but  radically  differs  from 
the  hawk,  in  one  particular  :  while  the  hawk  assails  and  devours  the  living, 
the  buzzard  feeds  alone  on  what  it  finds  dead.  To  stand  between  hawk 
and  buzzard,  according  to  the  natures  of  these  flesh  eaters,  is  to  stand  be- 
tween a  foe  that  would  destroy  your  life,  and  another  that  would  devour 
your  body.  Viewing  the  subject  in  this  point  of  light,  it  needs  no  particu- 
lar instances  of  illustration.  Let  the  hawk  represent  death,  and  the  buz- 
zard the  grave,  and  all  the  living  men  on  earth  are  between  them.  Death 
seeks  to  destroy  their  lives,  and  the  grave  is  waiting  to  consume  their 
bodies.  That  men  must  die,  is  an  article  of  the  universal  creed,  to  which 
Pagans,  Turks,  Jews,  and  Christians,  all  subscribe.  Death  is  spoken  of, 
in  the  Scripture,  as  having  a  name,  but  it  has  neither  shape  nor  substance. 

The  pains,  which,  do  reduce  to  death,  are  great, 
But  death  is  nothing  but  a  change  of  state. 

All  nations  are  in  the  habit,  however,  of  personifying  death  under  some 
horrid  figure,  like  the  grim-faced  king  of  terror,  who  always  stands  ready, 
in  an  infinitude  of  forms,  to  destroy  the  lives  of  men — from  whose  assault 
neither  the  king  nor  the  beggar — the  wise  nor  the  ignorant — the  virtuous 
nor  the  vicious,  is  secure.  Upon  the  dissolution  of  life,  the  grave,  which 
is  never  satisfied — which  never  says,  "  it  is  enough" — arrests  the  body, 
and  cries  over  its  prey,  "  dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shall  thou  return." 
The  thought  of  this,  inspires  the  following  soliloquy.  O,  my  soul !  leave 
the  busy  scenes — the  vain  amusements  of  life,  and,  like  the  dove,  fly  to  the 
rock  of  safety,  and  build  thy  nest  by  the  side  of  the  hole's  mouth.  There, 
and  there  only,  canst  thou  sing  the  triumphant  song,  "  O,  death  where  is 
thy  sting  !  O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  !  Thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth 
me  the  victory,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 


NUMBER  EIGHT. 

A    THOUGHT    ON    SYSTEMS. 

Senegal,  was  a  man  of  talents  and  profound  education,  but  living  a  sed- 
entary life,  was  attacked  with  the  hypocondria.  In  his  study,  he  embraced 
the  idea  that  his  body  was  crystalline  glass  :  of  course,  in  all  his  garden 
walks,  he  took  great  care  to  preserve  his  body  from  being  broken  to  shiv- 
ers. He  was  first  a  fool  to  believe  what  was  false,  then  wise,  as  Daniel, 
to  preserve  the  result  of  folly. 

I  am  frequently  reminded  of  Senegal,  when  I  observe  the  measures  of 
religious  theorists  in  these  days.  Infallibus  is  one  of  those  theorists.  A 
system  of  consistency  is  his  boast.  He  has  fixed  a  number  of  monuments, 
in  a  straight  line,  from  earth  to  heaven,  but,  in  steering  from  one  monu- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  423 

ment  to  another,  the  road  is  not  so  smooth  as  he  wishes  for.  The  plain 
phraseology,  and  apparent  meaning  of  texts  of  Scripture,  do  not  volunteer 
themselves  to  his  service  as  he  desires  :  he,  therefore,  forms  an  imaginary 
monument,  which,  he  says,  lies  in  a  direct  line,  between  two  unquestiona- 
ble monuments.  This  ideal  monument  he  believes  in,  as  much  as  he  be- 
lieves in  his  own  existence.  And  the  reason  why  he  believes  it  with  a  faith 
so  firm,  is  because  he  musL  believe  it,  or  abandon  his  boast  of  consistency. 
Having  laid  down  his  thesis,  (which,  to  others,  appears  very  problematical,) 
he  then  exerts  all  his  powers  and  learning  to  support  it.  The  more  doubt- 
ful his  thesis  is,  the  more  he  labors  to  maintain,  and  the  greater  his  talents 
are,  the  greater  is  the  prospect  of  making  many  disciples.  Hence,  the 
greatest  errors  often  arise  from  th&  weakness  of  great  men,  for  little  men 
have  neither  character,  to  give  their  opinions  a  hearing,  nor  arguments  to 
defend  them,  but  great  men  have  both.  It  is  a  saying  among  barristers, 
that  "plain  cases  need  no  elaborate  defence."  So  the  essentials  of  reli- 
gion are  made  as  plain  in  the  Bible,  (not  to  say  more  so,)  as  they  can  be 
made  in  any  book. 

Rusticus  is  a  marksman  :  he  levelled  his  rifle  at  a  buck  :  the  sight,  on 
the  muzzle,  varied  but  the  forty-eighth  part  of  an  inch,  from  the  true  line 
to  the  neck  artery ;  but  in  the  distance  of  one  hundred  yards,  the  ball  de- 
clined so  far  from  the  line,  that  it  never  touched  the  game.  So  it  is  with 
metaphysical  reasoning:  the  smallest  error,  in  the  outset,  though  undiscov- 
ered by  the  writer  or  reader,  if  pursued,  under  the  pretext  of  consistency, 
will  lead  to  an  amazing  distance  from  the  truth. 

The  Bible  is  not  written  in  systematical  form  ;  but  heavenly  truths  are 
interspersed  in  it,  in  a  manner  somewhat  promiscuous,  and  he  that  simply 
reads  will  generally  gain  more  to  instruct  his  mind,  and  warm  his  heart, 
than  he  who  reads  to  find  supports  for  his  system. 

After  all,  I  am  convinced  that  a  fondness  for  systematical  consistency 
is  interwoven  in  our  nature,  and  has  its  advantages  in  a  religious  life. 
Without  it,  the  student  in  divinity  will  never  be  a  close  thinker — he  will 
be  too  licentious  in  his  conclusions — he  will,  too  much,  feel  the  impression 
of  every  moment,  and,  of  course,  pull  up  stakes  too  soon,  and  be  driven 
about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine.  We  may,  with  certainty,  argue,  that 
God  is  a  God  of  order,  equal  in  all  his  ways,  and  that  a  consistency  runs 
through  all  his  works.  With  equal  certainty  we  may  reason,  that  our  own 
capacities  are  limited — that  divine  materials  will  not  submit  to  human 
standards — that  we  may  be  most  in  the  wrong  when  we  think  ourselves  to 
be  nearest  right.  With  such  reflections  in  our  minds,  we  ought  to  follow 
the  clearest  light — hold  fast  that  which  we  believe  to  be  true,  but  always 
stand  open  to  conviction — willing  to  part  with  error  when  we  can  gain 
truth  for  it,  and  remember  that  the  great  characteristic  of  a  disciple  of 
Jesus,  is  to  be  a  little  child,  possessing  an  honest  heart. 


424  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

These  reflections  involuntarily  bring  my  own  exercises  into  view.  It 
has  ever  been  a  hard  lesson  for  me  to  know  how  to  address  an  assembly 
of  sinners,  as  such,  in  gospel  style.  That  the  salvation  of  the  soul  is  from 
the  Lord,  and  the  destruction  of  the  soul  is  from  ourselves,  is  evident. 
Nothing  is  better  supported  than  that  men  are  saved  by  grace,  and  damned 
for  sin,  but  to  reconcile  these  two  evident  axioms  together,  and  clear  the 
Almjo-hty  from  being  a  respecter  of  persons,  involves  such  difficulties  in 
my  mind,  that  neither  Gill  nor  Wesley — Hopkins  nor  Fuller — Winchester 
nor  Paine,  can  relieve  me  from  them,  and  the  reasoning  of  my  own,  are 
as  inefficient.  But,  when  the  Lord  pleases  to  quicken  me  by  his  holy 
spirit,  and  fill  my  soul  with  the  fulness  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus,  I  can,  at 
such  periods,  address  the  ungodly  without  any  hesitancy  of  a  deception. 
Then  the  words  flow  from  my  heart — feel  important  in  my  mouth,  and  fall 
on  the  audience.  No  whispering  then  in  my  heart,  "  perhaps  you  are 
wronc ;"  no  fiery  dart  to  make  me  blush  in  the  pulpit ;  what  before  seemed 
irreconcileable,  now  becomes  plain.  My  own  soul  finds  pleasure  in  the 
truth,  and  I  feel  a  confidence  that  God  approves  the  words  of  my  mouth. 
But  when  the  heavenly  gale  ceases  to  blow,  the  vision  closes,  nor  can  I, 
with  all  my  reasoning  powers,  retain  that  view  of  the  harmonious  scheme 
of  salvation. 

This  circumstance  is  additional  proof  to  me,  that  the  plan  of  God  is  bet- 
ter understood  by  the  influence  of  grace,  than  it  can  be  by  all  moral  rea- 
soning on  the  fitness  of  things.  I  here  subjoin,  I  have  often  sat  with  plea- 
sing wonder  and  solemn  awe,  to  hear  men  of  small  capacities,  (when 
preaching  in  a  full  tide  of  heavenly  love,)  address  the  ears,  judgments  and 
consciences  of  the  assembly,  while  men  of  much  greater  accomplishments, 
destitute  of  the  divine  influence,  do  but  mangle  heavenly  things. 

"  Without  me,  ye  can  do  nothing,"  says  Jesus. 


NUMBER   NINE. 

NO    HOLY    OEDERS,    BUT    GOOD    MINISTERS. 

It  has  been  the  misfortune  of  most  governments,  to  have  holy  orders  of 
men  among  them.  The  more  holy  and  just  men  there  are  in  a  state,  the 
stronger  and  better  the  state  is  ;  but  where  there  is  an  order  established 
by  law,  by  a  charter  of  exemptions  and  pensions,  such  orders  will,  in  a 
good  measure,  be  filled  with  the  most  unholy  men.  Whether  such  privi- 
leged orders  are  called  Davids,  Priests,  or  Clergy,  the  amount  is  the  same. 
To  traverse  the  subject,  would  be  a  boundless  task  ;  a  few  instances  must 

suffice. 

Accordino^  to  Nizbet's  history,  an  opinion  prevailed  through  Christen- 
dom in  the  tenth  century,  that  the  world  would  close  its  existence  with  that 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  425 

century.  The  clergy  availed  themselves  of  this  opinion,  and  worked  it  to 
their  own  advantage.  Near  the  close  of  the  century,  nnen  would  give, 
first,  all  their  money,  and  next,  all  their  lands,  to  the  priests,  for  their 
prayers.  The  century  at  length  closed,  but  the  world  still  existed — existed 
— but  the  chief  of  it  belonged  to  the  priests. 

In  the  eleventh  century,  a  Christian  clergyman,  called  Peter  the  Her- 
mit, crept  out  of  his  cell,  and,  going  on  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  he  saw 
the  holy  land  in  the  hands  of  Infidels ;  he  returned,  and  taking  a  cru- 
cifix,  ran  to  the  European  princes,  and  inflamed  them  to  commence  the 
crusades  and  holy  wars,  which  lasted  a  century,  and  destroyed  the  lives  of 
two  millions  of  people,  to  take  the  country  where  Christ  lived  and  died, 
out  of  the  hands  of  those  who  did  not  believe  in  him.  These  orders  of 
men  are  exempt  from  taxes,  and  their  lands  with  them — freed  from  bear- 
ing arms,  and  all  the  burthens  of  government.  And  it  is  candidly  be- 
lieved that  they  inflame  the  people  to  commit  more  cruelty  and  injustice 
than  they  restrain  them  from.  But  nothing  is  here  intended  to  invalidate 
the  characters  or  usefulness  of  that  number  of  individuals,  who  are  the 
ministers  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus.  Let  such  individuals  be  left  where 
they  ought  to  be,  in  relation  to  the  laws,  without  partial  indulgence,  and 
without  legal  proscriptions  ;  and,  as  citizens,  they  will  feel  the  common 
burthen  of  government,  and  thereby  be  led  to  seek  the  good  of  their  coun- 
try,  and,  as  ministers  of  Christ,  will  exert  their  powers  to  save  the  souls  of 
men  from  the  wrath  to  come.  Constitutions  of  government,  and  the  laws 
of  the  land,  should  never  know  religious  officers,  by  placing  golden  baits 
and  exemption  from  social  burthens  before  them,  nor  by  proscribing  them 
from  any  civil  offices  in  the  state.  Either  of  these  establishes  them  as  a 
holy  order  ;  the  first  rewards  them  as  such — the  last  reserves  them  be- 
cause they  are  such.  The  first  is  calculated  to  make  hypocrites — the  last 
to  encumber  virtue. 


NUMBER  TEN. 

OLD   PIGS  WANT    TEATS    AS    "WELL    AS    THE    YOUNG. 

It  is  become  fashionable  to  consider  the  body  politic  under  the  emblem 
of  a  sow ;  the  lucrative  offices  of  state,  as  teats  ;  and  place-men,  who  hold 
those  offices,  to  be  pigs.  Pigs  will  squeal  and  nuzzle  until  the  milk  comes; 
but  the  freer  the  milk  flows,  the  more  easy  and  silent  the  pigs  are  ;  but, 
when  the  sow  has  exhausted  her  treasury,  and  drives  them  off",  they  squeal 
and  bite  like  furies.  If  there  are  more  pigs  than  teats,  it  is  attended,  at 
least,  with  noisy  consequences,  for  no  pig  will  willingly  give  up  the  teat, 
which  he  is  in  possession  of,  to  another.  The  truth  is,  pigs  had  rather 
live  on  the  milk  of  the  sow,  than  root  the  clods  for  a  living. 

54 


426  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Some  time  past,  the  writer  sold  a  barrel  of  cider  to  a  couple  of  labor- 
ers  ;  after  they  had  finished  their  labor,  they  were  invited  into  the  cellar 
to  choose  their  barrel  :  they  concluded  the  best  way  was  to  take  a  quill, 
and  choose  by  taste.  But  the  musical  part  of  the  whole,  was  the  impa- 
tience  of  each  when  the  other  had  the  tasting  quill.  "You've  had  it  long 
enough — do  let  me  taste,"  reverberated  the  subterraneous  cavern,  as  much 
as  the  like  sound  does  a  republic  by  office  wish-fors. 

To  see  young  men  wishing  to  rise  and  shine,  is  natural  ;  but  what  shall 
we  think  of  old  men,  who  employ  all  their  friends  to  solicit  for  them,  and 
after  they  gain  the  appointment,  will  declare  that  the  office  was  unasked 
for,  and  undesired  ?  Does  not  this  look  as  i^  old  pigs  wanted  teats  ?  And 
does  it  not  look  as  if  old  men  would  say  that  which  is  not  true,  to  cover 
their  ambitious  and  avaricious  views  ?  It  is  a  matter  of  notoriety,  that 
many  old  men  behave  as  if  they  believed  that  a  possession  of  an  office  for 
some  time,  gave  them  a  life  lease  of  it ;  why  else  should  they  be  so  cha- 
grined when  they  are  dismissed  ? 

From  these  observations,  it  is  not  to  be  concluded  that  all  men,  either 
old  or  young,  are  hungry  pigs.  No  ;  there  are  many  men,  who  are  so  rich 
and  happy  in  the  furniture  of  their  own  minds — who  so  far  prefer  retire- 
ment to  the  noisy  stage  of  office,  that  they  make  a  great  sacrifice  of  incli- 
nation whenever  they  accept  of  any  appointment ;  nothing  but  imperious 
duty  will  move  them  to  do  it. 


NUMBER  ELEVEN. 

NIMROD,    MOSES,    CHRIST,    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

As  Nimrod  was  the  great  grandson  of  Noah,  he  founded  his  government 
not  far  from  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  A.  M.  His  gov- 
ernment is  called  a  kingdom,  and  yet  it  speaks  the  language  of  a  common- 
wealth. "  They  said,  go  to,  let  us  make  brick — let  us  build  us  a  city,  and 
let  us  make  us  a  name."  These  expressions  do  not  accord  with  the  lan- 
guage of  an  absolute  monarch.  It  is  probable  that,  in  the  first  founding 
of  this  government,  there  was  a  general  consent — that  a  majority,  if  not 
of  numbers,  yet  of  affluence,  agreed  to  the  measure  ;  for  fancy  itself  can- 
not invent  how  government  could  take  rise  against  the  consent  of  the  peo- 
ple. After  the  government  was  formed,  Nimrod,  by  his  exploits  and  de- 
ception, gained  an  ascendency  over  the  rest. 

In  the  twenty-fifth  century,  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  were  formed  into 
a  government,  at  Mount  Sinai.  This  people  received  all  their  laws,  both 
civil  and  religious,  from  Jehovah  ;  consequently,  they  had  neither  legisla- 
ture nor  executive  in  their  institutions.  The  judiciary  only  was  establish- 
ed among  them.     Judges  over  thousands — over  hundreds — over  fifties  and 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  427 

over  tens,  were  appointed  ;  but  no  salaries  were  provided  for  thorn ;  the 
expense,  therefore,  of  the  civil  list  was  nothing.  The  term  in  which  the 
judges  ruled  (from  the  inauguration  of  Moses  to  the  death  of  Samuel)  was 
about  four  hundred  and  fifty  years.  While  the  stationary  judges  performed 
their  work,  a  number  of  extraordinary  judges  was  raised  up,  who  judged 
and  ruled  the  whole  nation.  Of  this  last  description,  there  were  sixteen. 
During  this  period,  they  had  no  king,  "  but  every  man  did  that  which  was 
right  in  his  own  eyes."  That  they  sometimes  did  wrong,  is  certain  ;  but 
they  did  worse  after  they  became  a  kingdom. 

There  were  two  intervals,  of  forty  years  each,  in  which  there  was  no 
war,  while  the  judges  ruled,  and  one  interval  of  eighty  years,  which  was 
never  the  case  after  their  regal  modification.  Religion,  in  all  its  forms, 
was  established  among  this  people — the  line  of  priests  was  fixed — and  their 
salaries  appointed,  which  consisted  of  the  tenth  part  of  all  the  products  of 
the  people.  This,  I  say,  was  appointed — God  commanded  it ;  but,  if  men 
did  not  obey,  they  were  accountable  to  God  alone — the  judges  had  no  or- 
ders to  take  cognizance  of  it. 

This  people,  at  length,  (to  get  clear  of  wicked  judges,  and  have  a  gene- 
ral stated  among  them  to  fight  their  battles,)  changed  their  government 
into  a  qualified  monarchy.  A  king  they  would  have — a  king  God  gave 
them  in  his  anger.  The  king,  however,  was  to  make  no  laws  ;  but  rule 
them  according  to  the  laws  given  by  Moses.  The  theocracy,  therefore, 
still  existed.  Four  kings  reigned  over  the  twelve  tribes  ;  and  then  ten  of 
the  tribes  separated,  and  formed  a  distinct  kingdom.  Over  these  ten  tribes, 
reigned  nineteen  kings  in  succession  ;  and  over  the  two  tribes,  on  the 
throne  of  Judah,  reigned  twenty.  The  ten  tribes  were,  at  length,  cap- 
tivated by  the  Assyrians  ;  and,  some  time  after,  the  two  tribes  shared 
the  same  fate  by  the  Chaldeans.  The  length  of  time,  from  the  royal 
modification  of  the  tribes,  unto  the  close  of  the  dynasties  of  the  two 
lines  of  kings,  was  about  four  hundred  and  seventy  years.  Over  the 
two  tribes,  the  crown  was  hereditary  in  the  house  of  David  ;  but  over 
the  ten  tribes,  he  who  was  the  most  ambitious  and  fortunate  wore  the 
crown.  In  short,  ail  the  qualifications  of  many  of  those  kings  were 
comprised  in  killing  the  one  who  reigned  before  them. 

About  the  middle  of  the  fifth  millennium,  the  kingdom  of  Christ  was  set 
up.  Jesus  said  he  was  a  king,  born  to  bare  witness  unto  the  truth — that 
his  kingdom  was  righteousness  and  peace,  but  not  of  this  world  ;  of  course 
his  servants  were  not  to  fight  for  it  with  carnal  weapons.  The  cause  of 
Christ,  without  coercion  by  law  or  sword  ;  by  appealing  to  the  reason  and 
judgment  of  men,  gained  such  evidence  of  its  divinity,  that  in  three  hundred 
years,  it  overturned  the  empire,  which  claimed  universal  sway.  Let  it 
carefully  be  observed,  that  Jesus  claimed  no  civil  preogatives  among  men 
— has  set  no  example — given  no  code  of  laws  for  the  government  of  state  ; 


428  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

but  left  all  such  affairs  to  have  their  course  in  Providence,  while  he  pursued 
his  object,  the  eternal  salvation  of  men.  It  should  here  be  noticed,  that 
when  Christianity  overturned  empire,  as  mentioned  before,  in  a  great 
measure,  it  overturned  itself.  Government,  which  before  had  opposed  it, 
now  flattered  it.  Learning,  which  till  then  had  used  all  its  force  against 
it,  now  sought  to  support  it  by  the  aid  of  reasoning,  and  by  the  court  and 
the  college,  Christianity  was  disrobed  of  her  native  beauty,  and  prostituted 
to  the  basest  purposes.  Christianity  being  established  in  the  empire,  it 
opened  a  large  door  for  Christian  officers :  to  fill  the  civil  offices,  the  am- 
bitious would  be  Christians ;  and  to  get  a  fat  living,  many  would  be  called 
to  preach. 

Strange  to  relate  !  It  was  left  for  the  United  States  of  North  America, 
to  give  the  example  to  the  world ;  to  draw  the  proper  line  between  church 
and  state,  religion  and  politics.  Yes,  from  the  beginning  of  Christianity, 
down  to  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  A.  D.  it  never  prevailed 
among  a  people,  of  any  considerable  consequence,  but  they  would  either 
punish  or  pamper  it  almost  to  death  :  either  proscribe  it,  or  make  it  a  prin- 
ciple of  state  policy.  To  say  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  is 
perfect,  would  be  arrogant ;  but  I  have  no  hesitancy  in  saying,  that  the 
Constitution  has  left  religion  infallibly  where  it  should  be  left  in  all  govern- 
ment, viz :  in  the  hands  of  its  author,  as  a  matter  between  God  and  indi- 
viduals ;  leaving  an  open  door  for  Pagans,  Turks,  Jews  or  Christians,  to 
fill  any  office  in  the  government,  without  any  religious  test,  to  make  them 
hypocrites  :  securing  to  every  man  his  right  of  argument  and  free  debate  : 
not  considering  religious  opinions  objects  of  civil  government,  or  any  ways 
under  its  control  :  duly  appreciating  that  Christianity  is  not  a  scheme  of 
coercion ;  but  only  calls  for  a  patient  hearing,  a  dispassionate  examination 
and  a  rational  faith. 


NUMBER  TWELVE. 


FAITH. 


In  reading  and  hearing,  I  have  discovered  a  considerable  variety  of 
opinion,  among  divines,  respecting  faith. 

Some  consider  it  to  be  the  simple  assent  of  the  mind,  to  a  declaration  or 
fact  which  is  supported  by  rational  evidence.  Others  suppose  that  faith  is 
expressive  of  the  exercises  of  a  gracious  soul,  believing  and  embracing  what 
God  reveals  to  men  ;  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  all  men,  who  hear  the 
gospel,  to  exercise  faith.  In  this  view  of  the  subject,  they  boldly  call  on 
all  their  hearers  to  believe  and  be  saved.  A  third  class  will  have  it  that 
faith  is  the  gift  of  God,  that  it  intends  something  received,  and  not  anything 
done  by  men. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  429 

To  me,  nothing  appears  more  evident,  than  that  faith  is  an  indefinite 
word,  admitting  of  a  variety  of  significations.  That  faith  frequently  in- 
tends  the  exercise  of  the  soul ;  and  that  men  are  under  the  strongest  ob- 
ligations  to  hear  and  believe  all  that  God  reveals,  admits  of  no  doubt ;  but 
that  faith  always  has  that  meaning  is  not  so  clear.  Eph.  vi.  2,  3.  Peace 
be  to  the  brethren,  and  love  \^\\.]\  faith,  from  God  the  father,  and  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  II.  Thes.  i.  11.  We  pray  always  for  you,  that  our  God 
would  count  you  worthy  of  this  calling,  and  fulfil  all  the  good  pleasure  of 
his  goodness,  and  the  work  o^ faith  with  power.  I.  Tim.  i.  14.  And  the 
grace  of  our  Lord  was  exceeding  abundant,  w\\\\  faith  and  love  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Heb.  xi.  1.  "Now  faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for, 
the  evidence  of  things  not  seen.  Heb.  xii.  2.  Looking  unto  Jesus,  the 
author  and  finisher  of  our  faith.  II.  Peter,  i.  1.  To  them  that  have  ob- 
tained like  precious  faith  with  us,  through  the  righteousness  of  God  and 
our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  Let  any  man  divest  himself  of  the  prejudices 
of  system,  and  dispassionately  reflect  on  the  texts  here  quoted,  and  it  is 
probable  he  will  confess  that  faith  sometime  bespeaks  the  work  of  God  in 
man,  and  not  always  the  work  which  God  requires  of  man.  Nothing  is  here 
intended  to  chill  the  burning  zeal  of  those,  who  so  pathetically  call  on  all 
to  repent  and  believe  the  gospel,  and  deal  out  the  vengeance  of  God  and 
the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  to  unbelievers :  but  let  them  at  the  same  time  remem- 
ber, that  there  is  a  faith  superior  to  all  duty,  called,  sometimes,  the  spirit 
which  God  pours  out  upon  them  ;  at  other  times,  the  water  of  life ;  an  unction 
from  the  Holy  One ;  the  word  of  God  which  liveth  and  abideth  in  the 
saints  ;  Christ  in  them  the  hope  of  glory,  &c.  This  kind  of  faith,  Adam, 
in  innocency,  had  not;  this  faith  came  not  by  Abraham  or  Moses,  but  by 
Jesus  Christ,  and  is  life  eternal. 

It  is  hard  to  believe  that  a  righteous  God,  requires  us  to  be  inherently 
more  rarified  and  celestial  than  innocent  Adam  was ;  but  if  the  saints  of 
Jesus  are  not  so,  what  mean  such  texts  as  these  ?  "I  am  come  that  they 
might  have  life,  and  that  thej-  might  have  it  more  abundantly.  But  where 
sin  abounded  grace  did  much  more  abound.  We  are  more  than  conquerors 
through  him  that  loved  us."  Christ  did  not  come  to  re-Adam  the  sons  of 
men ;  he  does  not  restore  them  to  the  garden  of  Eden.  The  flood  and 
other  causes,  have  blotted  out  of  existence  the  garden  of  Eden,  and  sin 
has  done  the  same  to  the  pristine  innocence  of  Adam  ;  neither  of  them  are 
in  existence,  and  of  course  cannot  be  described.  But  Christ,  in  the  new 
covenant,  raises  men  to  a  station  more  exalted  than  the  genesian  paradise 
— to  a  life  more  sublime  than  Adam  possessed.  "  H^is  flesh  shall  he  fresher 
than  a  child's."  It  is  not  unreasonable  for  God  to  require  men  to  be  as 
good  as  Adam  was ;  to  believe  what  he  did,  and  as  much  more  as  is  re- 
vealed to  them ;  (for  the  faith  and  obedience  of  men  should  always  keep 
pace  with  the  revelation  and  commands  of  God,J  but  if  the  saints  of  Jesus 


430  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

are  made  partakers  of  a  divine  nature,  and  are  more  celestial  than  Adam 
was,  as  has  been  suggested,  then  there  is  one  faith  which  is  not  a  duty ; 
not  a  woric  of  man  ;  not  an  exercise  of  the  soul :  the  want  of  this  faith 
constitutes  no  crime  :  the  possession  of  it  meetens  us  for  heaven. 

If  the  scheme  of  salvation  is  nothing  more  than  a  remedial  law,  and 
men  are  only  re-Adamed  by  grace,  they  may  fall  away  as  Adam  did.  As 
temptations  have  increased  a  hundred  fold,  it  is  a  hundred  times  as  likely 
thai  all  gracious  souls  will  fall,  as  it  was  that  Adam  should  fall  :  every  ar- 
gument, therefore,  drawn  from  Adam's  fall,  to  prove  that  saints  may  fall 
from  grace,  proves  that  they  all  certainly  will.  But  if  we  consider  the 
new  covenant  as  established  upon  better  promises,  that  Christ  is  the  author 
and  finisher  of  faith,  in  men  ;  and  that  faith  is  eternal  life  ;  we  may  con- 
clude that  the  saints  are  kept  by  the  power  of  God,  through  faith,  unto 
salvation. 


NUMBER  THIRTEEN. 

SADDLE-BAGS   JOURNAL. 

Growing  weary  with  the  objects  within  the  smoke  of  my  chimney,  I 
fixed  myself  as  decently  as  I  could,  and  made  my  tour  through  the  adjacent 
country.  The  first  man  that  saluted  me  was  a  hard-handed  laborer,  with 
his  sickle  in  his  hand.  After  the  usual  remarks  on  the  weather,  without 
any  solicitation  of  mine,  he  proceeded  to  give  the  following  history  of  him- 
self. 

"  I  am  a  laboring  man,  and  get  my  bread  by  the  sweat  of  my  face.  I 
began  the  world  with  nothing,  but  by  labor  and  frugality,  have  gained  a 
considerable  property.  I  make  it  my  practice,  when  I  am  in  company,  to 
talk  as  loud,  and  as  much,  as  any  of  them.  If  I  hear  a  man  reading,  I 
often  interrupt  him,  and  make  my  remarks  on  the  subject;  if  I  see  a  man 
writing,  I  look  over  his  shoulder  to  see  what  he  is  about.  On  politics,  I 
give  my  opinion  with  independent  freedom,  for  I  carry  no  velvet  mouth  in 
my  head.  I  have  heard,  that  in  the  southern  states  they  give  a  man  time 
to  think,  without  forcing  him  to  speak  or  to  hear,  and  conceive  it  a  great 
rudeness  to  interrogate  a  stranger,  or  interrupt  the  student  or  speaker ;  but, 
thank  God,  I  am  no  Buck-skin,  Tuckahoe,  or  Vandalian,  but  a  true  born 
Yankee,  and  interrogate  and  animadvert  constantly,  keeping  the  wind-mill 
and  clatter  always  in  motion,  when  I  am  in  company,  and  think  when  I 
have  leisure :  by  these  means  I  have  gained  more  information  than  many 
of  those  who  make  such  a  bustle  about  education,  as  if  bookish  knowledge 
was  every  thing.  Such  men  read  books,  but  I  read  men  and  facts :  such 
men  talk  much  of  the  advantages  of  literature,  but  if  the  laborers  did  not 
support  them,  they  would  soon  "  be  as  poor  as  Job's  turkey." 


ELDER    JOHN    LEL.AND.  431 

Sir,  said  I,  will  you  be  pleased  to  give  me  some  information  of  your  dis- 
coveries ? 

'*  Ah  !  you  need  not  sir  me,"  said  the  man,  "  but,  if  you  have  got  a  head 
for  it,  I  can  easily  do  it,  for  the  Almighty  has  made  a  good  turnpike  from 
my  brains  to  my  mouth.  I  have  found  that  two  hundred  and  seven  thou- 
sand, three  hundred  and  sixty  rails,  each  noting  eleven  feet,  will  enclose 
a  square  containing  two  hundred  and  seven  thousand,  three  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land,  with  a  fence  six  rails  high,  and  I  question  whether 
many  of  the  soft  fingered  tribe  know  it.  This  I  did  not  learn  from  Sir 
Isaac,  but  was  self-taught,  myself  original. 

"  Again.  One  penny  at  simple  interest,  five  per  cent,  from  the  birth  of 
Christ  to  1800,  would  be  no  more  than  seven  shillings  and  seven  pence.  But 
the  same  penny,  at  compound  interest  would  amount  to  the  amazing  sum 
of  nearly  one  hundred  and  thirty  five  thousand  quatrillionsof  tons  of  gold, 
avoirdupoise  :  which  ball  of  gold  would  be  heavier  than  four  hundred  and 
forty-four  millions  of  such  globes  as  this." 

I  then  bid  the  man  adieu,  remembering  what  I  had  read,  that  a  pearl  is 
found  in  an  oyster-shell,  and  in  a  toad's  head. 

I  had  not  traveled  far,  before  I  was  overtaken  by  a  gentleman,  neatly 
clad,  well  mounted,  with  a  very  small  pair  of  saddle-bags.  Remembering 
that  I  was  in  a  country  where  questions  would  not  be  unpleasant,  I  asked 
the  gentleman  his  occupation  and  destination.  To  which  he  replied  with 
a  smile,  "  sir,  I  am  a  doctor  of  physic,  and  am  going  to  visit  a  circle  of 
patients ;  the  season  is  sickly,  and  I  have  abundance  of  custom  ;  not  less 
than  forty  are  now  indisposed  ;  and,  notwithstanding,  it  is  an  evil  day 
among  the  people,  yet  it  is  fine  times  for  doctors.  '  Every  dog  has  his 
day.'  " 

"  Are  your  saddle-bags  large  enough  to  carry  medicines  for  so  many 
patients,"  said  I  ?  "  Plenty  large,"  said  the  doctor,  "  I  have  medicine 
enough  in  them  for  three  hundred  people.  Once  there  was  a  time,  when 
physicians  studied  the  difll:!rence  of  constitutions,  as  well  as  the  difference 
of  diseases :  but  in  these  days  of  improvement  and  patent  rights,  it  is  be- 
come obsolete.  Mercury,  mercury  is  now  the  catholicon  :  nearly  all  other 
medicines  are  in  disuse,  and  he  who  differs  from  the  mercurial  line,  is  cried 
down  as  a  quack :  and  it  certainly  has  one  preference,  being  so  energetic, 
a  small  quantity  answers  ;  hence  little  saddle-bags,  and  a  small  horse, 
will  do." 

"  Are  all  your  patients  willing  to  be  quicksilvered  so  much,"  said  I  ? 
"  They  are  not,"  said  he,  "  but  we  know  how  to  work  it  with  them.  We 
use  our  technical  phrases,  to  raise  their  admiration,  and  have  so  many  pre- 
parations of  mercury,  that  we  get  it  down  before  they  know  it ;  and  when 
we  get  them  well  charged,  their  resistance  leaves  them.  And,  besides,  if 
they  were  only  splecny  before,  the  mercury  makes  them  sick,  and  when 


432  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

they  revive,  we  get  the  praise  of  being  skilful  physicians.  We  have  es- 
tablished a  great  importance  among  the  people,  especially  those  who  are 
superstitious:  if  we  direct  them  to  give  seven  drops  once  in  seven  and  a 
half  minutes,  they  durst  not  measure  in  the  tea-spoon,  nor  intermit  eight 
minutes,  believing  that  life  depends  on  the  exact  quantity  and  time  which 
we  prescribe.  If  nature  triumphs  over  the  disease,  we  impute  it  all  to 
medicine  ;  but  if  nature  sinks,  we  preach  up  the  foreordination  of  God. 
The  clergy  and  lawyers  have  a  great  ascendency  over  the  people,  and  we 
endeavor  to  keep  up  our  end  of  the  yoke.  We  studied  as  long  as  they  did 
before  we  began  practice — we  know  how  to  make  our  charges  as  well  as 
they  do — we  love  money,  like  them,  and  are  as  intent  to  get  it." 

On  saying  this,  the  doctor  outrode  me,  and  left  me  behind  to  reflect  on 
this  query :  "  does  the  devil  and  doctors  know  any  thing  about  the  inside 
of  men  ?" 

Soon  after  this,  I  overtook  a  man,  affecting  genteel  gravity,  with  a  huge 
pair  of  saddle-bags  :  he  soon  opened  the  conference  in  the  following  man- 
ner :  "  Where  do  you  live  sir  ?  What  sort  of  religion  is  most  fashionable 
in  your  parts?  Are  there  any  vacant  parishes  that  you  know  of?  Are 
there  any  ministerial  funds  and  perquisites  in  those  parishes  ?  What  do 
preachers  generally  have  by  the  year  among  you  ?"  etc. 

•'  Pray  sir,"  said  I,  what  mean  your  huge  saddle-bags  ?"  "  My  saddle- 
bags,"  he  replied,  "  contain  a  valuable  treasure  ;  I  am  a  minister  of  the 
gospel,  and  go  to  sojourn  where  I  can  find  a  place.  I  am  now  on  a  mis- 
sion to  visit  the  destitute,  and  the  heathen,  but  while  I  am  performing  my 
missionary  labors,  I  am  looking  out  for  a  settled  place  of  abode.  St.  Paul 
could  leave  his  cloak,  books  and  parchments  behind  him,  and  when  winter 
was  approaching,  could  send  word  to  Timothy,  to  bring  them  along  with 
him  ;  but  I  have  no  Timothy  to  do  the  like  for  me ;  I,  therefore,  carry  all 
along  in  my  saddle-bags.  I  have,  therein  (besides  my  clothes,)  my  diplo- 
ma, my  license,  my  Bible,  and  psalm  book — many  necessary  assistants, 
and  notes  enough  for  one  whole  year,  provided  I  settle  myself;  if  not,  they 
will  suffice  for  seven  years.  I  am  now  in  the  fulness  of  the  blessing  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  having  stocked  myself  before  my  departure.  If  I  can 
find  an  opening  that  pleases  me,  I  shall  engage  with  the  people,  but  if  not, 
I  shall  turn  my  attention  to  law  or  merchandize,  for  the  expense  of  my 
education  must  some  how  or  other  be  reimbursed."  Here  he  closed,  and 
here  we  parted.  He  pursued  his  course,  and  I  returned  home,  musing  on 
some  of  Paul's  words.  "  I  conferred  not  with  flesh  and  blood,  for  whom 
I  have  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things — necessity  is  laid  upon  me,  yea  woe 
is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel." 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  433 

NUMBER  FOURTEEN. 

OLD    MR.    well's    you    CAN. 

In  my  travels,  and  among  my  acquaintance,  I  have  heard  much  said 
about  a  Saviour,  by  the  name  of  Well's  you  can  ;  but  have  never  yet  seen 
him — the  house  where  he  lives,  nor  the  man  who  entertains  him :  and  am 
almost  in  despair  of  ever  finding  him  below  the  sun.  The  accounts  of 
him  are  these :  "  If  1  do  as  well  as  I  can,  I  believe  the  Lord  will  accept  of 
me,  and  if  you  do  as  well  as  you  can,  you  will  be  saved."  If  the  salvation 
of  the  soul  depends  upon  our  doing  as  well  as  we  can,  who  then  can  be 
saved  ?  If  a  man  faulters  once  in  his  life  from  doing  as  well  as  he  can, 
the  chance  is  over  with  him ;  and  where  is  the  man  to  be  found,  who  can 
lay  his  hand  upon  his  breast  and  conscientiously  declare,  that  he  has  at  all 
times,  and  in  all  cases  done  as  well  as  he  could  ?  If  such  a  man  can- 
not be  found,  it  follows  that  well  as  you  can  is  only  an  ideal,  not  a  real 
Saviour. 

It  is  a  saying  replete  with  truth,  that  those  men,  who  place  the 
greatest  hope  for  heaven  on  doing  as  well  as  they  can,  are  more  neg- 
ligent in  good  works,  than  those  who  detest  themselves  as  the  vilest  of 
the  vile,  and  trust  alone  in  the  mercy  of  God,  through  the  blood  of  the 
cross.  Pharisees  may  boast  of  good  works,  but  humble  penitents  per- 
form them.  Men,  who  are  taught  of  God,  instead  of  doing  one  good 
work  to  make  atonement  for  a  bad  deed,  see  so  much  pollution  in  their 
best  works,  that  they  implore  the  pardoning  blood  of  Christ  to  wash  their 
works  as  well  as  their  souls.  There  cannot  be  anything  meritorious  in 
the  performance  of  dependent  creatures  :  the  righteous  law  of  God  rc- 
quires,  of  all  rational  creatures,  the  unceasing  exertion  of  all  their  powers 
in  loving  and  obeying  their  Maker.  If  any  part  of  their  time  is  otherwise 
employed,  sin  is  committed,  and  guilt  is  contracted.  If,  after  the  failure, 
creatures  could  do  more  than  the  law  requires,  by  this  extra  work  (which 
would  be  meritorious)  they  might  make  amends  for  former  deficiencies ; 
but  this  extra  work  cannot  be  done,  because  the  law  i-equires  the  constant 
exercise  of  all  their  powers  in  his  service.  If,  therefore,  perfect  and  per- 
petual obedience  is  due  to  God,  neither  the  whole,  nor  any  parts  of  obedi- 
ence, can  be  meritorious.  And,  as  no  after  obedience  can  make  satisfac- 
tion for  a  former  failure,  so,  likewise,  repentance  for  sin  committed  will 
not  atone  for  guilt  contracted.  The  conclusion  of  the  whole  is,  that, 
when  creatures  have  sinned,  neither  after  obedience  nor  repentance  will 
save  their  souls. 

55 


434  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

NUMBER   FIFTEEN. 

ANTEDILUVIAN    AND    PATRIARCHAL. 

The  first  child  ever  born  of  human  parents  was  a  murderer,  and  slew 
his  brother.  It  was  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  years  after  creation,  be- 
fore men  began  (socially)  to  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord.  No  mention 
is  made  of  fire  before  the  flood,  nor  of  a  knife.  Enoch,  the  seventh 
from  Adam,  was  born  A.  M.  622,  and  about  sixty-five  years  afterward, 
(as  it  seems,)  delivered  his  prophecy  of  the  last  and  general  judgment. 
As  Adam  lived  two  hundred  and  forly-three  years  after  Enoch  walked 
with  God,  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  first  man  heard  of  the  last 
judgment. 

No  direct  promise  is  made  of  the  Messiah  unto  men,  in  the  whole 
antediluvian  history  ;  but  the  conquering  seed  of  the  woman,  is  revealed 
in  the  denunciation  of  the  Lord  God  to  the  serpent.  Noah,  the  tenth  from 
Adam,  was  born  A.  M.  1056.  He  was  a  preacher  of  righteousness,  and 
the  builder  of  the  ark,  into  which  he  entered  when  he  was  six  hundred 
years  old,  and  the  Lord  shut  him  in.  And  here  ends  the  history  of  the  an- 
tediluvians. Peleg,  the  fifth  in  descent  from  Noah,  was  born  one  hundred 
and  two  years  after  Noah  went  into  the  ark.  In  the  days  of  Peleg  the 
earth  was  divided. 

Some  think  that,  before  the  days  of  Peleg,  Europe  and  Asia  joined  with 
Africa,  but,  by  some  tremendous  shock,  the  chasm  of  the  Mediterranean 
sea  was  formed  in  his  days,  which  divided  Africa  from  Europe  and  Asia. 
Others  conclude  that  Peleg  was  the  fust  surveyor,  who  divided  the  earth 
by  lines. 

Perhaps  there  was  a  great  agreement  among  the  families  descending 
from  Noah,  about  their  territorial  claims  and  boundaries,  in  which  Peleg 
acted  a  distinguished  part.  Or,  it  may  be,  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth 
got  so  divided,  that  they  committed  great  hostilities  upon  each  other  ',  the 
hunting,  wars  and  arrogance  of  Nimrod  and  his  associates,  being  at  this 
time. 

Ten  generations  from  Noah,  and  twenty  from  Adam,  Abraham  was 
born,  A.  M.  1946.  Fourteen  generations  after  Abraham,  David  was 
born  ;  and  after  fourteen  generations  of  royal  government,  (exclusive  of 
Saul  and  Ishbosheth,)  the  Babylonish  captivity  commenced.  And  fourteen 
generations  afterwards,  which  made  the  sixty-second  from  Adam,  the  Sa- 
viour, Jesus  Christ,  was  born.  From  this,  we  learn  that  the  generations, 
in  average,  from  Adam  to  Jesus  Christ,  were  not  far  frpm  sixty-five 
years. 

How  many  generations  have  been  since  the  Christian  era  began,  I  know 
uot.     Indeed,  the  genealogy  in  the  Old  Testament  was  only  in  one  line 


ELDER    JOHN     LELAND.  435 

from  Adam  to  Jesus.  Whether  they  were  longer  or  shorter  in  other 
branches  of  the  same  families,  I  cannot  tell.*  It  is  probable  enough,  that 
the  Jews  are  very  particular  in  their  genealogical  tables,  of  the  house  of 
David  at  least,  as  they  are  looking  for  their  Messiah  yet  to  come ;  but,  of 
this  I  have  no  assurance. 


NUMBER   SIXTEEN. 

THE  PAKCHMENT.       AN    ALLEGORY. 

As  Meslucius  was  digging  in  the  earth  after  golden  ore,  he  found  an 
iron  chest,  which,  to  all  appearance,  had  lain  there  a  number  of  cen- 
turies. Opening  the  chest,  he  found  therein  a  parchment,  preserved  en- 
tire from  the  waste  of  ages,  and  every  line  thereon  written  legibly  plain. 
In  composition,  it  exceeded  everything  he  had  ever  seen.  The  bold- 
ness of  the  figures — the  pomp  and  sublimity  of  the  style,  surpassed  all 
the  writings  of  the  oriental  regions ;  but,  in  detailing  facts,  and  describing 
moral  precepts,  such  artless  simplicity  appeared,  that  a  child  would  una- 
voidably feel  the  force  of  the  narratives  and  injunctions.  By  the  face  of 
the  parchment,  it  appeared  that  it  was  written  by  a  number  of  hands,  im- 
pelled by  one  and  the  same  spirit.  It  detailed  events  which  had  taken 
place  before  the  writers  lived,  in  part ;  and  gave  an  account  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  world,  in  the  days  when  they  lived  and  wrote  ;  and,  likewise, 
foretold  what  future  events  would  take  place.  But,  what  was  most  sur- 
prising, it  gave  an  account  of  a  certain  disease  which  had  raged  among 
men,  and  how  they  found  a  cure.  It  particularly  pointed  out  a  plague 
that  would  prevail  at  the  time  when  Meslucius  found  the  chest,  and  pre- 
scribed a  certain,  and  the  only  balsam  which  would  restore  to  health.  On 
the  whole,  Meslucius  reasoned  as  follows :  "  At  what  time,  or  by  whom, 
this  parchment  was  written,  I  cannot  ascertain.  Whether  the  great  events 
therein  related,  took  place  or  not,  is  uncertain.  And  whether  those  future 
events  will  ever  emerge,  I  know  not.  But  one  thing  I  know,  it  gives  a 
true  account  of  the  condition  which  the  world  is  noiv  in ;  with  a  number 
of  peculiar  circumstances,  which  puzzle  me  to  ascribe  to  any  calculation, 
short  of  the  foreknowledge  of  God. 

"  The  plague  foretold  in  the  parchment,  I  not  only  see  raging  with  all 
its  horrors  among  all  my  acquaintance,  but  feel  its  ravages  in  myself.  All 
medicines  have  proved  unavailing,  and  I  will  try  the  prescription  of  the 
parchment." 

*  From  David  to  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  branch  of  Solomon,  were  only  twenty-eight 
generations.  See  Matt,  i.,  17.  But  in  the  branch  of  Nathan,  the  son  of  David,  to  Christ, 
were  forty-two  generations.  Luke,  iii.,  23—32.  For  a  solution  of  this  seeming  contra- 
diction of  genealogies,  see  Budget  of  Scraps — article,  Genealogy  of  Christ. 


436  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Meslucius  made  application  of  the  balsam,  and  received  immediate  cure. 
He  then  recommended  it  to  others,  and  all  who  touched  it  were  made  per- 
fectly whole.  After  this,  neither  Meslucius,  nor  any  who  were  healed,  en- 
tertained any  unconquerable  scruple  of  the  truth  of  all  the  facts  related  in 
the  parchment.     The  intention  of  this  allegory  is  easy  to  conceive  of. 

The  present  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  came  into  the  world  seventeen 
hundred  years  since  the  last  part  of  the  sacred  Parchment  (the  Bible)  was 
written  ;  at  any  rate,  all  of  us  found  it  in  existence,  at  the  time  when  we 
were  first  capable  of  knowing.  Let  it  have  been  written  by  whom,  and  at 
what  dates  soever — or  let  it  have  been  preserved  by  whom,  and  by  what 
means,  we  neither  know  nor  imagine  ;  still,  one  thing  we  know,  the  Bible 
does  exist.  And  is  there  any  reason  in  man,  or  any  book  written  by  man, 
that  reveals  precepts  equal  to  those  in  the  Bible — that  describes  a  mode  of 
life  as  harmless  and  useful  as  the  sacred  Parchment  ?  The  plague  of  mo- 
ral evil,  in  all  its  stages  and  windings,  is  drawn  with  more  than  human 
pencil.  Both  flattery  and  effrontery  are  avoided,  and  naked  truth  shines 
in  all  her  virgin  beauty. 

After  all  the  reasonings  of  men,  guilt,  with  her  iron  talons,  seizes  their 
consciences ;  nor  can  they  evade  the  assault  with  all  their  vain  surmises. 
Where  then  shall  a  guilty  sinner  find  relief?  The  light  of  nature,  philoso- 
phy, and  state  policy  are  all  silent :  neither  of  them  can  give  a  gleam  of 
hope  beyond  the  grave,  nor  show  one  sin  forgiven.  But  the  gospel  of 
Jesus,  is  loaded  with  such  blessings  as  guilty  sinners  need.  Yes,  through 
the  blood  of  the  cross,  and  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  pardon  of  sin  is  ad- 
ministered and  eternal  life  made  known.  When  sinners  are  made  sensi- 
ble of  their  pollution,  and  feel  the  plague  of  sin,  on  applying  to  the  Saviour, 
and  receiving  the  balsam  of  his  grace,  they  obtain  a  perfect  cure.  All 
whoever  apply,  are  received;  all  who  look,  do  live;  all  who  touch,  are 
made  whole.  Though  Christ  crucified,  is  to  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block, 
to  the  Greeks  foolishness,  to  the  men  of  worldly  wisdom  scorn ;  yet  to 
them  who  believe,  he  is  the  wisdom  of  God,  and  the  power  of  God.  O ! 
that  all  my  dear  countrymen  might  apply  to  this  balm ;  then  would  they 
joyfully  believe  in  the  truth  of  the  scriptures. 


NUMBER  SEVENTEEN. 

SUPERFICIAL    THOUGHTS    ON    ANGELS. 

That  Creation,  at  some  period,  had  a  beginning,  is  necessarily  believed ; 
but  where  to  fix  this  period,  is  a  matter  of  some  doubt.  Some  astronomers 
seem  confident,  that  many  of  the  fixed  stars,  must  have  existed  long  before 
the  creation  which  Moses  relates,  and  therefore  confine  the  genesian  his- 
tory to  the  solar  system.     Others  are  equally  confident,  that  angels  were 


ELDER    JOHN   LELAND.  437 

formed  at  some  period  far  anterior  to  the  formation  of  the  first  pair  of  the 
human  family.  With  the  first  of  these  I  am  not  competent  to  dispute; 
with  the  last  I  am  not  disposed.  I  have  never  yet  been  convinced,  how- 
ever, that  creation  began  at  an  earlier  date  than  the  time  which  Moses 
narrates. 

That  angels  were  in  existence  on  the  third  day,  appears  pretty  evident; 
for  on  that  day  the  Almighty  formed  the  cavern — fixed  the  bouqdaries  of 
the  sea,  and  caused  the  dry  land  to  appear  :  at  sight  of  which,  "  the  morn- 
ing  stars  sang  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy."  It  is 
most  likely  that  angels  were  created  on  the  first  day.  "  In  the  beginning 
God  created  the  heavens,"  (and  their  inhabitants.)  Let  this  supplement 
be  admitted,  and  the  sense  is  complete.  In  six  days  the  Lord  made  the 
heavens  and  earth,  and  all  that  is  in  them :  Angels,  being  in  the  heavens, 
were  certainly  made  within  the  six  days,  (if  the  history  of  Moses  includes 
all  creation,)  and  as  they  were  songsters  on  the  third  day,  where  is  a  bet- 
ter  place  to  fix  their  creation,  than  on  the  first  day  ?  In  creation,  two 
orders  of  intelligent  beings  were  made,  angels  and  men.  The  race  of 
men  were  all  to  proceed  from  one  complex  parent  by  procreation ;  but 
angels  were  more  independent  in  nature ;  all  of  them  were  created,  none 
are  procreated  :  the  whole  family  of  them  were  created  at  one  time. 
Whether  we  call  them  spiritual  matter,  or  spirit  distinct  from  matter;  in 
either  case,  they  are  not  subject  to  natural  decay,  but  are  immortal  :  age, 
sickness  and  death  never  prey  upon  them.  That  they  were  subject  to 
moral  decay,  is  certain,  for  many  of  them  have  left  their  first  estate,  and 
turned  themselves  into  devils.  How  long  the  angels,  which  are  now 
fallen,  retained  their  obedience  in  their  first  estate,  is  not  certain. 

The  Almighty  spake  all  creation  into  existence  on  the  first  day  ;  and 
on  that  day,  and  the  five  days  following,  he  formed  creatures  and  things 
out  of  the  mass,  {toTiu  and  bohu,)  which  he  made  on  the  first  day.  Angels 
stood  wondering  to  see  what  their  God  could  do.  On  the  sixth  day  man 
was  formed,  with  a  body  so  erect,  and  a  soul  so  capacious,  as  to  raise  the 
highest  admiration  among  the  angels  ;  but,  said  God  to  the  angels,  "  Do 
ye  wonder  at  what  ye  see  !  know  ye  that  my  first  begotten  shall  assume 
the  nature  and  appear  in  the  form  of  Adam  ;  and  I  command  you  all  to 
worship  him  as  God  incarnate."  This  was  the  first  time  that  the  Messiah 
was  named  ;  and  when  God  brought  his  first  begotten  into  the  world,  (by 
naming  him,)  he  said,  "  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him."  This 
was  the  test  of  angelie  obedience  :  and  the  trial  was,  whether  they  ought 
to  worship  God  in  a  nature  inferior  to  their  own,  in  obedience  to  the  com- 
mand ;  or  whether  they  ought  not  rather  to  withhold  their  adoration. 
"What,"  said  angels,  "^ shall  we  worship  a  nature  inferior  to  our  own — 
why  not  worship  a  beast  as  well  ?  We  cannot  understand  the  union  of  an 
incarnate  God  ;  and  it  would  be  idolatry  to  worship  a  creature :  our  reason 


438 


THE    WRITINGS    Or 


tells  us,  therefore,  all  things  considered,  that  it  is  best  not  to  obey."  If 
these  suggestions  are  well  founded,  the  first  sin  in  the  universe,  arose  from 
the  limited  wisdom  and  inadvertent  conduct  of  sinless  creatures.  And 
further,  if  this  is  truly  descriptive  of  the  entrance  of  moral  evil  into  the 
angelic  department,  then  angels  did  not  transgress  before  man  was  made, 
for  angels  to  see. 

At  the  close  of  the  sixth  day,  God  pronounced  all  very  good,  and  oh  the 
seventh  day  he  rested,  which  expressions  seem  to  carry  an  idea,  that  no 
disturbance,  as  yet,  had  fallen  out  among  his  creatures,  to  "grieve  him  to 
the  heart,"  and  make  him  "  repent  that  he  had  created  man  upon  the 
earth."  But,  soon  after  this,  perhaps  on  the  eighth  day,  the  rebellion  broke 
out. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  some  high  angel,  (likely  the  tallest  which  God 
had  made.)  took  the  lead  in  this  rebellion,  who,  after  he  had  become  self, 
fallen,  used  his  infernal  address  to  deceive  and  ruin  others,  and  who,  to 
this  day,  has  a  kind  of  supremacy  (under  God)  over  those  angels  who  fol- 
lowed his  pernicious  ways.  When  they  are  called  devils,  he  is  called  Bel- 
zebub,  their  prince  j  and  when  he  himself  is  called  devil,  they  are  called 
his  angels. 

An  innumerable  multitude  of  the  angels  have  kept  their  first  estate,  and 
retain  their  innocency  until  this  day.  These  are  not  sent  by  God  to  be 
preachers  of  the  gospel  among  men,  but  are,  all  of  them,  ministering  spir- 
its, to  minister  unto  the  saints  in  the  kingdom  of  Providence. 

From  the  days  of  Abraham  down,  about  two  thousand  years,  the  angels 
of  God  frequently  appeared  among  men,  to  bring  intelligence  from  heaven — 
feed  and  rescue  the  saints,  and  destroy  the  wicked :  but  from  the  close  of 
the  apostolic  age  down  until  the  present  time,  the  appearance  of  angels — 
the  spirit  of  prophecy — and  the  working  of  miracles,  have  been  more  rare. 
That  angels,  however,  still  exist — guard  the  saints  unseen — smite  the 
wicked — escort  the  souls  of  the  saints  to  Abraham's  bosom,  when  they 
die — and  will  come  in  awful  pomp  with  Christ  at  the  last  judgment — gather 
the  elect  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth — sever  the  righteous  from  the 
wicked,  and  dwell  forever  with  the  saints  in  heaven,  we  have  abundance 
of  evidence  to  believe.  Of  this  innumerable  company  of  the  heavenly 
host,  there  are  not  more  than  the  names  of  two  handed  down  to  us,  if  any 
name  at  all.  Michael,  (who  is  as  God,)  seems  to  intend  Christ,  the  angel 
of  the  covenant,  who  has  often  appeared  in  angelic  form  : — with  him  Ja- 
cob wrestled,  and  to  him  Abraham  prayed,  etc.  Whether  the  name,  Ga- 
briel (strength  of  God,)  is  peculiar  to  any  one  angel,  or  whether  the  name 
is  given  to  any  of  the  angels,,  when  they  are  sent  of  God  to  accomplish 
grand  events,  is  not  certain  ;  besides  these  two,  no  angelic  names  are  found 
in  our  translation  of  the  Bible. 

The  seraphim  of  Isaiah — the  living  creatures  and  cherubim  of  Ezekiel, 


ELDER    JOHN     LELAND.  439 

and  the  four  beasts  of  John,  seem  to  be  the  same.  Abundance  of  exposi- 
tors, by  them  understand  the  angels,  but  in  Revelations,  v.,  9,  they  are 
said  to  sing  unto  the  Lamb,  "  thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to 
God  by  thy  blood,"  which  is  not  a  song  for  angels  to  sing. 

The  Mahoraedans  hold  to  genii,  a  race  of  beings  between  angels  and 
men — that  they  bear  higher  offices  than  men,  but  are  mortal  and  die : 
from  this  opinion,  we  should  think,  that  aristocrats  got  their  notion,  that  to 
rule  over  others  is  a  right  which  some  families  are  born  to  inherit. 

All  those  creatures  which  are  more  exalted  in  nature  than  men,  who  are 
(dependently)  possessed  of  immortality,  I  call  angels.  Let  there  be  ever 
so  many  grades  or  orders,  they  form  but  one  race. 

I  have  said  that  angels  were  not  sent  to  preach  the  Gospel.  It  is  to  be 
understood,  however,  that  an  angel  first  preached  to  the  shepherds,  the 
birth  of  the  Saviour,  who  is  the  essence  of  the  Gospel,  but  the  doctrine  of 
the  gospel  among  men,  which  consists  of  law  and  grace — repentance  to- 
wards God,  and  faith  towards  the  Lord  Jesus,  contains  essential  articles 
which  angels  cannot  well  explain.  The  guilt  of  sin — repentance  for  sin — 
pardon  from  sin,  and  striving  against  the  law  of  sin,  are  articles  which  the 
apostles  preached,  and  are  essential  parts  of  the  Gospel:  but  should  angels 
undertake  to  preach,  they  must  either  omit  these  articles,  or  preach  what 
they  never  experience. 


440 


THE    WRITINGS    OP 


ON  SABBATICAL  LAWS. 


Of  the  pamphlet  (published  in  1815)  entitled,  "  Remarks  on  Holy  Time — 
on  Moral  Law — on  the  changing  of  the  Day — on  Sabbatical  Laws" — 
the  ideas  contained  in  the  first  three  divisions,  are,  for  the  most  part, 
comprised  in  other  pieces  on  the  same  subject,  and  in  a  more  condensed 
form.  It  has,  therefore,  been  deemed  advisable  to  omit,  in  this  place, 
all  except  the  last  head. 

The  Mosaic  institution,  which  formed  the  tribes  into  a  theocracy,  was 
very  different  from  the  government  of  any  other  nation,  and  from  the  gov- 
ernment of  Gospel  churches. 

The  Israelites  had  no  legislature,  but  received  their  laws  from  Jehovah ; 
they  had  no  executive,  God  was  their  king.  Judges  they  had,  but  no  sala- 
ries provided  for  them ;  of  course  their  civil  list  did  not  cost  them  a  cent 
per  annum. 

Exclusive  of  their  "  divers  washings  and  carnal  ordinances,"  which  were 
typical  of  good  things,  they  had  many  laws  to  regulate  them  as  a  body 
politic,  peculiarly  adapted  to  their  circumstances,  and  binding  on  no  other 
nation.  Their  laws  for  trying  jealousy  by  bitter  water  ;  for  deciding  the 
cause  between  the  man-slayer  and  avenger  of  blood,  at  the  gates  of  the 
cities  of  refuge  ;  against  taking  usury ;  to  oblige  a  man  to  marry  the 
widow  of  his  deceased  brother  ;  to  release  lands  at  the  jubilee,  etc.,  no 
other  nation  has  seen  cause  to  adopt,  nor  felt  themselves  bound  to  obey. 
The  incompleteness  of  the  political  part  of  the  Mosaic  code  to  govern  other 
nations  by,  requires  no  other  proof,  but  just  to  observe,  that  the  people  were 
forbidden  to  have  commerce  with  other  nations,  of  course  had  no  commer- 
cial laws.  Any  laws,  therefore,  which  the  Jews  had  to  enforce  the  obser- 
vance of  the  sabbath,  or  punish  the  sabbath-breaker,  give  no  grounds  to 
Christians  to  exercise  like  force.  The  king  of  Israel  gave  that  people 
their  laws  and  orders,  but  Christ  has  given  laws  for  the  regulation  of  Chris- 
tianity. Now,  if  there  be  any  account  in  the  New  Testament,  that  Jesus 
called  upon  the  rulers  of  state,  to  make  and  enforce  laws,  to  oblige  the 
people  to  keep  the  first  day  of  the  week  holy,  and  fine  or  punish  them  if 
they  did  not ;  such  an  account  would  be  direct  in  point,  but  such  an  ac- 
count we  have  not. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  441 

It  has  been  noticed,  in  a  foregoing  page,  that  the  evidence  was  so  clear 
that  the  first  Christians  assembled  in  course  on  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
that  it  hardly  admitted  of  a  doubt,  and  the  evidence  is  about  as  clear,  that 
it  was  done  voluntarily,  as  a  matter  of  prudence,  without  any  divine  com- 
mand  ;  hence  a  disregard  of  the  day  was  not  esteemed  a  matter  of  offence. 
In  Gulatians,  iv.,  10,  11,  Paul  reproves  the  Galatians  for  observing  diys, 
months,  times  and  years,  as  the  Jews  did  ;  for  Jewish  times,  no  doubt,  are 
intended.  But  in  Romans,  xiv.,  5,  a  day  is  spoken  of,  which  some  regarded, 
and  some  regarded  not,  but  none  of  them  were  reproved  by  Paul.  It  is 
probable  the  day  here  spoken  of  was  the  Lord's  day,  for  if  it  had  been  a 
ceremonial  day  of  the  Jews,  he  would  have  reproved  them  for  regarding 
it,  as  he  did  the  Galatians  ;  but,  in  the  case  before  us,  a  regard,  or  disre- 
gard to  the  day,  was  not  to  be  ^  cause  of  judging  and  setting  at  nought  a 
brother,  whom  the  Lord  accepted.  If,  then,  a  disregard  to  the  Lord's  day 
was  not  censurable  by  the  church,  can  we  possibly  suppose  that  it  ought 
to  be  punished  by  the  laws  of  state  ? 

For  the  first  eighteen  centuries  of  time,  there  was  no  government  among 
men  but  patriarchal,  which  took  its  rise  in  nature.  Next,  a  more  exten- 
sive government  was  formed,  by  mutual  agreement,  (Genesis,  xi.,  3,  4,) 
but,  by  the  address  of  an  ambitious  hunter,  the  government  was  soon 
turned  into  a  kingdom.  The  government  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  was  a 
theocracy  (from  Tlieos,  God,)  because  they  received  all  their  laws  from 
God.  The  government  of  the  Christian  church  is  from  heaven,  and  not 
from  men. 

Among  the  nations  of  the  world  in  general,  that  government  which  does 
not  rise  in  compact,  is  usurpation  and  tyranny.  When  men  associate,  it 
is  for  specific  purposes,  viz.,  to  protect  life,  liberty  and  property,  and  not 
to  prepare  them  for  heaven.  Souls  and  conscience  are  inalienable.  The 
gracious  and  ungracious,  all  belong  to  the  body  politic,  and  are  equally  eli- 
gible to  posts  of  authority.  The  work  of  the  legislature  is  to  make  laws 
for  the  security  of  life,  liberty  and  property,  and  leave  religion  to  the  con- 
sciences  of  individuals.  If  the  sacred  code,  in  the  New  Testament,  is  not 
sufficient  to  govern  Christians  in  all  their  religious  affairs,  either  the  wis- 
dom  or  goodness  of  Christ  is  deficient. 

Much  confusion  arises  in  government,  when  sins  and  crimes  are  blended 
together.  Every  state  crime  is  a  moral  evil  or  sin,  (provided  the  laws  of 
state  are  legitimate,)  but  every  sin  is  not  a  crime  to  be  punished  by  law. 
Malice,  guile,  hypocrisy,  envy,  piide,  impenitence,  unbelief,  etc.,  are  sins, 
but  not  crimes.  Suppose,  then,  that  a  disregard  of  the  first  day  of  the 
week  is  a  sin  as  flagrant  as  enmity,  bigotry  or  ill-will,  yet  it  is  not  a  crime 
to  be  punished  by  law  ;  for  I  would  here  request  an  instance  where  Jesus, 
or  the  inspired  apostles,  ever  called  on  the  civil  rulers  to  punish  sabbath 
breakers,  or  those  who  dis.egarded  the  first  day  of  the  week.     If  there  is 

56 


442  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

such  an  instance,  let  it  be  pointed  to ;  but,  if  not,  let  clamor  cease.  When 
God,  by  Moses,  gave  law  to  the  tribes,  they  had  no  king,  nor  any  thing 
that  looked  like  one,  but  the  Almighty,  knowing  what  would  take  place 
about  four  hundred  and  fifty  years  afterwards,  gave  them  the  character  and 
administration  of  a  king  :  (Deuteronemy,  xvii.,  14,  20.) 

When  Christianity  was  first  set  up  in  the  world,  it  was  small.  The 
power  of  making  laws  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of  Christianity. 
Laws  to  guard  the  Christian  religion  could  not  have  been  expected,  but 
Christ  knew  what  would  come.  He  knew  that  about  three  hundred  years 
thereafter  Christianity  would  rise  triumphant ;  why  did  he  not  then  give 
some  precept,  at  least  some  small  hint,  that  when  Christianity  should  be- 
come so  general,  that  then  the  rulers  of  stale  should  make  laws  to  establish 
Christianity,  and  force  the  observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  ?  We 
look  in  vain  to  find  any  thing  like  it  in  the  New  Testament,  and  it  is  gen- 
erally confessed,  that  when  the  event  did  take  place — when  Constantine 
the  Great  established  Christianity  in  the  empire,  and  forced  an  observance 
of  the  first  day  of  the  week,  Christianity  was  disrobed  of  her  virgin  beauty, 
and  prostituted  to  the  unhallowed  principle  of  state  policy,  where  it  has 
remained  in  a  criminal  commerce  until  the  present  moment. 

Men  of  little  reading,  and  less  thought,  conclude,  that  if  there  is  no  law 
of  state  to  force  the  observance  of  the  sabbath,  (for  so  they  name  the  first 
day  of  the  week,)  it  would  entirely  run  out.  and  not  be  regarded  at  all. 
Why  did  it  not  then  run  out  in  the  three  first  centuries  ?  How  came  it 
to  be  regarded  all  that  time  as  purely  as  it  has  ever  been  since  ?  There 
•were  no  sabbattical  laws  during  that  period.  Why  has  it  not  run  out  in 
Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and  New  York  ?  They  have  no  holy  laws  in 
those  states,  and  yet  the  sabbath,  so  called,  is  not  run  out,  but  meeting- 
houses and  public  worship  in  those  states  are  not  inferior  to  those  of  New 
England.  Those  states  abound  with  Quakers,  who  never  thank  a  legisla- 
ture for  making  religious  laws,  and  yet  they  keep  the  first  day  of  the  week 
as  regularly  as  the  Presbyterians,  and  the  fifth  day  of  the  week  beside. 

The  Jews,  and  some  of  the  Christians,  would  keep  the  seventh  day — 
most  of  the  Christians  would  keep  Sunday — the  Turks  would  hallow  Fri- 
day— Infidels  no  day.  Shall  that  sect,  which  is  most  numerous  and  am- 
bitious, direct  the  sceptre  of  government  to  interpose,  and  force  all  to  sub- 
mit to  one  standard,  and  fine,  punish  and  burn  non-conformists  ?  Such  has 
been  the  course  of  things,  it  must  be  confessed,  but  does  not  human  nature 
fihudder  at  the  thought,  and  the  spirit  of  Christianity  flee  from  the  sight ! 
Let  each  sect  enjoy  their  own  rights  and  freedom,  in  respect  of  the  God 
whom  they  wish  to  adore,  the  days  on  which  they  would  pay  that  adora- 
tion, and  the  modes  of  performing  it.  If  one  sect  has  the  liberty  of  wor- 
shipping whom,  when  and  as  they  please,  why  should  that  sect  wish  to  force 
other  sects  to  worship  whom,  when  and  as  they  would  not  ? 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  443 

Legal  force  is  not  the  armor  with  which  the  Captain  of  our  salvation 
clothes  the  soldiers  of  the  cross.  An  honest  appeal  to  the  reasons  and 
judgments  of  men,  is  all  the  force  that  Christians  should  use  to  induce 
others  to  believe  in  and  worship  God  as  they  themselves  do.  All  the  pun- 
ishment that  pious  Christians  inflict  on  the  irreligious,  is  pity,  forgiveness, 
and  prayer,  unless  the  irreligious  man  breaks  out  into  overt  acts,  in  which 
case  he  is  to  be  punished  according  to  his  crime.  If  labor  or  amusements, 
on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  may  be  considered  as  the  foulest  sins,  yet 
they  were  no  crimes  to  be  punished  by  law,  for  the  first  three  hundred 
years  after  Christ,  nor  are  they,  at  this  time,  crimes  in  several  of  the  states 
in  our  country,  and,  if  laws  were  fixed  as  they  should  be,  they  would  not 
be  crimes  any  where.  If  those  who  keep  the  first  day  of  the  week,  in 
remembrance  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  believe  themselves  to  be  right, 
(as  they  have  cause  to,*)  let  them  "  beseech  others,  by  the  mercies  of  God, 
to  present  their  bodies  a  living  sacrifice  to  God,  which  is  a  reasonable  ser- 
vice," (Romans,  xii.,  1,)  and  not  make  use  of  legal  force  to  do  it,  which 
will  only  prejudice  others  against  the  day  and  against  themselves. 

Where  Jews  (of  which  there  are  eight  millions  in  existence)  and  seventh- 
dayrian  Christians  reside,  they  must  either  sacrifice  conscience,  or  lose  a 
day  in  each  week.  The  majority  of  Christians  in  our  country  keep  the  first 
day  of  the  week ;  but  if  there  was  a  majority  who  kept  the  seventh  day, 
and  should  oblige  all  others  to  regard  the  day,  would  those  who  now  make 
the  law  and  plead  for  its  utility,  bear  the  privation  of  one-seventh  part  of 
their  labor,  or  change  their  day?  If  they  did  the  first,  they  would  justly 
complain  of  partial  oppression — if  the  last,  discover  the  rottenness  of  their 
consciences. 

It  has  been  observed  before,  that  government  should  guarantee  the  right* 
of  conscience  to  all ;  consequently  if  an  individual  or  an  assembly  should 
be  interrupted  by  assault,  on  Sunday,  Monday,  or  any  other  day  or  night, 
either  at  the  meeting-house,  a  private  house,  market,  field  or  grove,  where 
he  or  they  should  be  conscientiously  paying  devotion  to  God,  the  law 
ought  to  be  open,  as  it  is,  to  punish  the  assailants,  as  disturbers  of  the  peace  ; 
for  the  design  of  the  law  is,  to  punish  him  who  works  ill  to  his  neighbor. 
This  law  is  sufficient  for  all,  every  day  of  the  week.  It  is  no  assault  up- 
on one  man's  right  for  another  to  refuse  to  unite  with  him  in  his  devotion. 
Those  who  keep  the  first  day  of  the  week,  will  work  in  their  fields  and 
travel  roads,  where  Jews  assemble  in  their  synagogues,  and  sevendayrians 
meet  in  their  meeting-houses  on  Saturday,  and  never  suspect  that  they  are 
interrupting  them  in  their  worship  ;  why,  then,  should  it  be  looked  upon  an 
interruption  for  sevendayrians,  or  those  who  regard  no  day,  to  work  in  the 
field  or  drive  their  team  in  the  road  upon  the  first  day?     Yet,  in  many 

*  See  remarks  at  the  cJose  of  "  The  Sabbath  Examined." 


444  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

places,  tything-men,  or  wardens,  are  chosen  as  legal  officers  to  prevent  labor 
and  recreation  on  the  first  day  of  the  week.  When  I  see  men  turn  their 
backs  upon  public  worship,  and  pursue  their  labor  or  recreation  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  service  of  God,  either  on  Sunday  or  on  any  other  day,  my 
heart  beats  in  poetic  strains, 

"  O  might  they  at  last,  with  sorrow  return, 

The  pleasures  to  taste,  for  which  they  were  born, 

The  Saviour  receiving,  the  happiness  prove. 

The  joy  of  believing,  the  heaven  of  love." 

Or  breaks  out  in  the  language  of  the  Hebrew  prophet,  "  Oh  that  they  were 
wise,  that  they  understood  this,  that  they  would  consider  their  latter  end  !" 
Or  vents  itself  in  the  words  of  Paul,  "  I  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  you 
reconciled  to  God." 

But  when  I  see  a  man  with  the  insignia  of  his  office,  arrest  a  fellow-man 
for  non-attendance  on  worship,  or  labor  or  amusement  on  Sunday,  it  strains 
every  fibre  of  my  soul.  Who  that  ever  read  the  New  Testament,  which 
describes  the  meekness,  patience,  forbearance  and  suflferings  of  the  first 
Christians,  would  ever  have  expected  to  see  those  who  call  themselves 
Christians,  avail  themselves  of  such  weapons  to  suppress  vice  and  support 
Christian  morality  ?  The  spirit  seems  to  be  the  same  that  influenced  Peter 
to  draw  his  sword  and  cut  off  the  ear  of  one  who  did  not  reverence  Christ; 
or,  like  that  which  stimulated  James  and  John  to  command  fire  to  come 
down  from  heaven  and  consume  those  who  would  not  receive  the  blessed 
Saviour.  The  first  was  ordered  to  put  up  his  sword  ;  and  the  last  were  re- 
buked,  with  "ye  know  not  what  manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of."  It  reminds 
me  of  an  instaiice  which  took  place  with  one  of  Burgoyne's  men,  who  pro- 
fessed to  be  a  zealous  Christian.  The  man,  hearing  an  American  speak 
irreverently  of  religion,  exclaimed,  "  How  I  hate  him — I  will  kill  him,  be- 
cause he  does  not  love  my  blessed  Jesus."  About  two  centuries  past,  the 
spirit  of  witchcraft  and  witchburning  ran  through  a  considerable  part 
of  the  world,  like  a  raging  plague.  The  rulers  used  to  reason  thus :  "  God 
will  burn  wizards  and  witches  in  the  next  world,  and  we  who  are  God's 
representatives,  must  burn  them  in  this  world."  B'U  it  is  thought  that  the 
following  reasoning  would  have  been  belter  :  "  God  is  merciful  to  the  poor, 
deluded  creatures,  and  lets  them  live,  and  we  will  imitate  him."  So  in  re- 
gard to  those  improperly  called  sabbath  breakers.  If  they  commit  overt 
acts — if  they  assault  the  life,  liberty  or  property  of  any  man,  let  them  be 
punished  by  law.  But  if  their  only  error  is  not  worshipping  where,  when, 
and  as  you  do,  your  only  weapon  is  fair  reasoning  with  them.  If  God  lets 
them  live,  though  in  disregard  of  Sunday  solemnities,  let  not  man  kill  them. 

But  how  must  a  tything-man  feel  ?  The  day  he  conceives  to  be  holy  : 
no  civil  or  economical  business  must  bedone  on  the  sacred  day  ;  devotion 
must  employ  his   time  and  his  thoughts ;  and  yet  his  office  is  civil ;  he  re- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  445 

ceives  his  authority  from  the  acts  of  the  legislature,  and  not  from  the  acts 
of  the  apostles,  and  his  oath  obliges  him  to  profane  the  day  which  he  con- 
ceives to  be  holy,  by  performing  civil  actions,  for  he  has  no  authority  to  offic- 
iate, except  on  the  time  which  is  holy.  When  he  rises  on  Sunday  morning, 
instead  of  having  his  mind  disentangled  from  earthly  things,  he  is  watching 
the  fields  and  the  roads  ;  when  going  to  meeting,  instead  of  watching  to  pre- 
pare  his  heart  for  the  solemnities  of  the  day,  he  is  watching  how  others  be- 
have  ;  when  at  meeting,  his  eyes  and  his  ears,  which  should  be  open  alone  to 
God,  and  to  his  word,  are  constantly  looking  and  harking  to  prevent  the  er- 
rors of  others.  And  thus,  by  law,  he  is  obliged  to  do  evil  that  good  may  come. 
However  others  may  seek  to  regulate  religious  societies  by  law  and  by  force, 
to  me  a  man  cannot  give  greater  evidence  that  he  is  ignorant  of  the  precepts 
and  destitute  of  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  than  by  calling  the  aid  of  the  civil 
arm  to  legalize  religious  days  and  modes,  and  punish  those  who  will  not 
submit. 

I  shall  close  this  part  of  the  subject,  with  a  few  reflections  on  some  late 
events.  When  the  British,  (who  are  called  the  bulwark  of  religion,)  landed 
near  Say  brook,  it  was  Sunday.  The  good  people  of  Connecticut  would 
not  assemble  to  drive  them  off,  because  it  was  holy  time,  until  the  enemy 
had  burnt  the  shipping  at  Pettipague.  The  God  whom  they  served  did  not 
protect  them  from  the  depredations  of  the  old  "  Bulwark."  But  on  Lake 
Champlain,  the  '•  Bulwark"  attacked  McDonough  on  Sunday.  McDonough 
solemnly  prayed  for  success,  and  then  fought  with  astonishing  bravery. 
The  signal  victory  which  he  obtained  over  the  "  Bulwark,"  together  with 
what  was  achieved  by  the  land  forces,  under  General  Macomb,  have  met 
with  the  thanks  and  rewards  of  more  states  than  one.  I  have  not  yet  heard, 
however,  whether  the  pious  apathy  of  Connecticut,  or  the  profane  heroism 
of  the  northern  fleet  and  army,  meets  with  the  most  applause  from  those 
who  conceive  Sunday  to  be  holy  time.  It  is  highly  probable,  however, 
that  there  were  no  tything-men  aboard  McDonough's  fleet. 

The  public  assembling  of  Christians  for  religious  worship,  is  certainly 
appointed  in  the  New  Testament  by  precept,  and  abundantly  by  example. 
And,  as  has  been  noticed,  the  evidence  is  nearly  conclusive,  that  the  first 
Christians  generally  assembled  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  not  with  a 
view  that  it  was  of  moral  obligation — not  in  obedience  to  the  fourth  com- 
mand of  the  decalogue,  which  enjoined  the  observance  and  rest  of  the 
seventh  day — nor  in  obedience  to  any  command  given  them  by  Christ,  but 
voluntarily,  as  a  prudential  thing,  to  perpetuate  the  event  of  Christ's  re- 
surrection. Their  public  assembling,  however,  was  not  confined  to  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  but  daily,  in  the  temple  and  other  places,  both  day  and 
night,  as  opportunity  served,  they  assembled  for  Christian  worship.  There 
were  some  among  them,  who  did  not  discover  any  advantages  in  their  as- 
sembling on  the  first  day  more  than  on  any  other  day,  and,  a.s  the  day  was 


446 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


not  divinely  appointed,  those  who  regarded  it,  did  not  judge  and  set  at 
nought  those  who  regarded  it  not,  but  left  every  man  to  be  fully  persuaded 
in  his  own  mind. 


SUMMARY. 


1.  God,  for  once,  rested  on  the  seventh  day. 

2.  No  proof  that  God  commanded  men  to  rest  on  the  seventh  day  during 
the  patriarchal  age. 

3.  About  two  thousand  four  hundred  years  after  creation,  the  holy  sab- 
bath was  enjoined  on  the  tribes  of  Israel. 

4.  The  fourth  commandment  was  not  moral,  but  absolute. 

5.  The  sabbath  was  not  a  day  of  public  worship,  but  of  rest. 

6.  After  the  return  of  the  Jews  from  Babylon,  of  their  own  accord  they 
built  synagogues,  and  assembled  in  them  every  sabbath,  to  read  and  hear 
the  law  of  Moses  and  the  prophets,  for  which  they  had  no  command,  and 
received  no  reproof. 

7.  The  Gentiles  were  never  reproved  for  sabbath-breaking. 

8.  The  first  day  of  the  week  was  never  appointed  by  Christ,  to  be  kept 
different  from  other  days. 

9.  Proof,  nearly  conclusive,  that  the  first  Christians  paid  particular  at- 
tention to  the  first  day  of  the  week ;  those  who  did  not  regard  the  day, 
were  not  judged  and  set  at  nought  by  those  who  regarded  it. 

10.  The  observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week,  perpetuates  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ. 

11.  The  appointment  of  religious  days,  no  article  of  legislation. 

12.  The  observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  was  never  enforced  by 
law  until  the  reign  of  Constantino,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century. 

13.  Tything-men  are  obliged,  by  their  oaths,  to  profane  the  time  which 
they  conceive  to  be  holy. 

14.  The  public  assembling  of  Christians  for  religious  worship,  enjoined 
by  New  Testament  precept,  and  abundant  examples. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  447 


June  15,  1815. 

Mr.  Printer — In  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  when  wizards  and 
witches  were  abundant,  her  majesty  established  a  court  for  the  trial  of 
witches.  An  ignorant  peasant,  (not  rightly  conceiving  of  the  design  of  the 
court,  and  concluding  that  the  honorable  bench  were  only  to  inform  per- 
sons who  suspected  themselves,  whether  they  were  witches  or  not,)  took 
a  journey  of  about  sixty  miles,  when  the  court  was  in  session,  to  be  ex- 
amined. Entering  the  solemn  hall,  he  addressed  the  court  as  follows : 
"  May  it  please  your  worship!  I  am  come  to  be  examined  whether  I  am 
a  wizard  or  not.  My  wife  tells  me  that  I  am  a  witch  ;  and,  I  have  a  mole 
on  my  breast,  which  my  mother  said  was  a  witch-teat ;  and  having  strange 
cogitations  of  mind,  I  am  suspicious  of  myself,  and  have  come  to  be 
examined  whether  I  am  a  wizard  or  not."  The  decision  of  the  court,  and 
the  reception  which  the  old  peasant  received  from  his  wife,  on  his  return, 
I  shall  not  detail ;  but,  with  all  the  honesty  of  the  old  peasant,  shall  re- 
late to  you  my  moles,  marks,  and  cogitations,  and  request  yourself,  or 
some  of  your  readers,  to  tell  me  what  I  am. 

In  the  administration  of  Mr.  Adams,  the  democrats,  by  publishing  a 
great  deal  of  truth,  and  a  little  falsehood,  completely  run  down  the  stu- 
pendous system  of  administration,  which  greatly  disturbed  me,  and  I  took 
the  holy,  patriotic  resolution,  that  by  publishing  a  great  deal  of  falsehood, 
and  a  little  truth,  I  would  run  down  the  democratic  administration  ;  which 
resolution  I  have  pursued  ever  since,  but  have  not  yet  succeeded. 
When  the  act  that  established  the  court  of  sixteen  judges  was  re- 
pealed, I  boldly  declared  that  the  constitution  was  destroyed  ;  which 
declaration  I  have  repeated  in  every  essential  measure  of  government, 
from  that  time  until  the  present.  And,  yet,  I  fully  approved  of  the  Hart- 
ford convention,  which  owned  that  the  constitution  did  exist,  and  resolved 
to  have  it  amended  in  seven  particulars.  The  constitution,  I  know,  bears 
the  signature  of  Washington  ;  but  those  who  stick  to  it,  are  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Bonaparte,  and  I  am  a  Washingtonian  to  the  back-bone. 

When  Mr.  Jefferson  presided,  my  constant  cry  was,"  protect  our  trade, 
secure  our  naval  rights,"  &c.  When  the  embargo  was  laid,  I  pronounced 
it  "  worse  than  war."  When  war  was  declared,  I  said  it  was  unjust,  im- 
politic and  unnecessary.  The  disasters  of  Hull,  Van  Rensselaer,  Win- 
chester, and  Wilkinson,  gave  me  pleasure  under  the  jacket,  but,  with  a 
sanctimonious  grimmace,  I  would  say,  "poor  creatures!  how  my  fellow 
men  suffer  the  fault  lies  somewhere  !  Our  government  were  wicked  in 
declaring  war,  and  incompetent  to  manage  it."     Such  sermons  I  often 


448  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

preached,  with  a  view  to  disparage  those  in  power,  and  get  myself  and 
my  partizans  into  their  seats.  1  sometimes  doubted  the  moral  rectitude 
of  my  conduct  for  a  moment  ;  but,  when  I  reflected  that  the  ends  I  had 
in  view  were  sufficient  to  justify  the  most  deceitful  means,  it  eased  my 
conscience  from  such  childish  scruples.  The  bravery  of  the  American 
troops  at  Niagara — the  victories  of  Erie,  Champlain,  and  New  Orleans, 
I  am  obliged  to  own,  have  not  been  exceeded  since  the  age  of  miracles 
ceased.  That  the  war  was  justly  waged,  I  will  not  believe.  That  God 
would  succeed  an  unjust  war,  I  dare  not  say.  However,  I  ease  myself  of 
this  dilemma,  partly  by  saying  it  was  done  by  the  genius  of  the  people, 
distinct  from  government,  and  partly,  by  hoping  that  the  democrats  are  so 
stupid  that  they  will  not  discover  any  inconsistency  in  my  sayings  and  do- 
ings. The  victories  and  captures  on  sea,  have  given  me  pleasure  and 
pain.  Pleasure,  to  see  naval  defence  successful.  In  this  particular,  I  can 
say,  "  I  lold  you  so ;  which  establishes  my  character  as  a  man  of  forecast. 
Pain,  to  think  that  our  best  friends  who  have  done  us  no  essential  injury, 
the  very  bulwark  of  our  religion,  should  lose  sixteen  hundred  of  their 
ships,  with  their  rich  cargoes. 

When  Bonoparte  was  sent  to  Elba,  and  Louis  ascended  the  throne,  I 
grew  fat;  the  jig  I  concluded  was  nearly  over;  and  the  movements  of 
the  British  afmy  at  Washington,  exactly  corresponded  with  my  wishes. 
Had  that  army  succeeded  in  catching  Madison  and  sending  him  to  Elba, 
my  joy  would  have  been  full ;  I  should  have  burst  all  the  buttons  from 
my  jacket.;  but,  to  my  chagrin,  Madison  made  his  escape.  My  joy,  how- 
ever,  was  considerable  in  blasting  Madison  for  cowardice,  and  compli- 
menting bim  with  smoky  walls;  this  joy,  nevertheless,  was  somewhat  al- 
layed, when  the  British,  near  Baltimore,  (the  nest  of  democrats,)  were  re- 
pulsed, and  lost  a  thousand  men,  including  their  commander  and  Sir  Peter 
Parker.  What  a  pity  that  lords  and  sirs  must  fall  by  the  barbarous  hand 
of  low-bred  democrats!  Notwithstanding  all,  I  rejoiced,  and  kept  thanks- 
giving for  the  downfall  of  Napoleon,  and  chanted  forth,  "  How  art  thou 
fallen,  Oh  Lucifer,  son  oi^  the  morning."  The  return  of  Napoleon,  it  is 
true,  has  astonished  the  world,  but  I  hope  his  triumphs  will  be  short.  I 
trust  that  the  combined  powers,  with  their  armies,  will  soon  destroy  him ; 
for  it  is  not  war  that  1  am  principled  against,  it  is  only  war  with  Great 
Britain. 

The  late  treaty  of  peace  is  an  unkind  affair  to  me.  I  once  said  that  the 
government  could  not  be  kicked  into  war,  and  did  all  in  my  po^^cr  to  pre- 
vent, not  the  aggression  of  Great  Britain,  but  the  declaration  of  war,  to 
fulfil  my  prediction  ;  but  I  failed — war  was  declared.  I  then  said  that 
Great  Britain  would  never  make  peace  while  Madison  presided  ;  and  used 
to  tell  my  neighbours,  at  election  terms,  that  the  dt-mocrats  had  plunged 
th?m,  into,  a  ruinous  war ;  but,  if  they  placed  the   Federalists  in  power. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  449 

peace  would  immediately  follow ;  but  peace  is  made  while  Madison  pre- 
sides, without  the  aid  of  Federalists,  or  the  Hartford  convention.  But 
even  here,  I  find  some  food  to  cheer  me.  Great  Britain  has  not  agreed 
to  desist  from  a  single  thing  that  the  war  was  declared  for  ;  the  democrats, 
therefore,  I  say,  have  lavished  blood  and  treasure  for  nothing. 

There  is  one  staff  that  supports  me  more  than  all  the  rest,  viz.  taxes. 
At  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war,  the  national  debt  was  about  seventy 
millions  of  dollars,  which  increased  to  eighty  millions  in  twelve  years. 
This  increasing  debt  was  a  very  popular  argument  for  the  democrats ; 
and,  as  that  debt  was  diminished  more  than  forty  millions  of  dollars 
io  the  eight  years  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration,  democracy  wore 
a  bold  front ;  but  now,  thank  my  stars,  the  scale  is  turned.  The  late  war 
has  greatly  increased  the  debt,  and  this  I  am  resolved  to  play  off  against 
the  government,  and  all  those  that  support  it.  No  doubt  there  will  be 
different  statements  of  the  amount  of  the  debt;  but,  I  am  determined  to 
believe  the  largest,  which  will  strengthen  my  arguments  the  more :  for 
have  the  art  of  believing  and  saying  whatever  a[)pears  most  ikely  to  sup- 
plant the  democrats,  all  under  the  garb  of  religion  and  good  order  ;  and  never 
intend  to  quit  the  pursuit,  until  the  object  is  gained;  for,  as  long  as  Mor- 
decai  sits  in  the  king's  gate,  everything  else  avails  me  nothing.  One 
cogitation  more  I  have  to  communicate,  viz.,  I  am  resolved  to  blacken  the 
characters  of  Monroe,  J.  Q.  Adams,  and  Gov.  Tompkins,  and  eulogize 
King,  Pickering,  and  Strong. 

Now  sir,  if  yourself,  or  any  other  man  will  tell  me   what  I  am,  you  will 
much  oblige  your  humble  servant.  broken- le&.\7 


.57 


450  THE    WRITINGS    OP 


CATECHISM. 


Q.   Which  is  the  eleventh  commandment  ? 

A.  The  eleventh  commandment  is,  "  Remember  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  and  keep  ii  hypocritically  :  the  six  following  days  may  labor,  laugh- 
ter, lying,  cheating,  drinking,  gaming,  revelling  and  oppression,  be  done, 
by  day  or  by  night,  according  to  the  inclination  of  the  individuals  ;  but,  on 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  shall  no  labor  or  recreation  be  done,  save  only 
that  men  may  salt  their  cows  in  the  morning,  sleep  in  time  of  service,  talk 
about  politics,  fashions  and  prices,  at  noontime;  read  newspapers  after 
service,  and  pay  their  addresses  at  night.  To  redeem  time,  however,  a 
traveller,  on  a  journey,  may  continue  his  travel  until  Saturday  midnight, 
and  resume  it  on  Sunday  at  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  losing  but  cigliteen 
hours  in  a  week  ;  but  recreation  must  cease  on  Saturday  at  sun  down, 
and  not  commence  again  until  Sunday  midnight,  losing  thirty-six  hours 
each  week.  The  law,  morever,  commands  towns,  precincts,  and  parishes 
to  have  teachers  of  moiality,  piety  and  religion,  at  least  six  months  in  a 
year,  on  the  penalty  of  from  thirty  to  one  hundred  dollars.  It  also  enjoins 
it  on  the  people  to  attend  on  the  instruction  of  said  teachers,  if  they  con- 
veniently and  conscientiously  can." 

This  is  the  eleventh  and  great  command  ;  on  the  observance  of  which 
hang  all  religion  and  good  order. 

Q.   Is  there  any  precedent  in  the  New  Testament  for  all  this  ? 

A.  Christ's  kingdom  was  not  of  this  world  :  he  claimed  no  civil  prero- 
gative ;  consequently,  he  could  not  make  any  law  of  state,  with  pecuniary 
or  corporeal  penalties  to  sanction  it ;  nor  did  he  give  any  divine  orders  to 
the  rulers  of  this  world  to  make  such  laws.  But  Constantino  loved  the 
Christians,  who  supported  his  imperial  dignity,  so  much,  that  he  made  a 
law  to  enforce  the  observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  pay  the 
teachers  of  Christianity.  And,  as  every  generation  grows  wiser,  by  ex- 
perience  of  former  generations,  when  our  virtuous  ancestors  fled  from 
Europe,  and  came  to  America,  Mr.  Co^on,  in  Massachusetts,  and  Mr. 
Davenport,  in  New  Haven,  like  Haggai  and  Zechariah,  instructed  the 
rulers  how  to  proceed.  Mr.  Davenport,  in  particular,  and  his  company, 
had  high  notions  of  a  Christian  commonwealth  ;  that  government  should 
be  administered  in  an  ecclcsiastico-political  mode.     When  the  assembly 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  451 

met  at  New  Haven,  they  took  up  the  subject  ;  but,  as  the  season  was  busy, 
thev  adjourned,  with  the  resolution  that"  they  would  take  the  laws  of  God 
for  their  rule  until  the  winter  session,  when  they  should  have  leisure  to 
amend  them  ;  and,  consequently,  at  their  leisure  session,  they  culled  those 
parts  of  Mjs^s's  law  they  chose  to  preserve,  and  Christianized  them  ;  and, 
by  little  and  little,  have  made  the  law  as  perfect  as  the  state  of  society 
will  admit  of.  In  Massachusetts,  they  progressed  in  the  same  manner; 
in  Connecticut,  they  begin  their  holy-day  at  the  sun's  setting,  and  end  it 
at  the  same  time ;  and,  also,  the  Connecticut  laws  are  blue,  while  some  of 
Massachusetts'  were  red. 

Q.  Does  not  the  New  Testament  forbid  Christians  to  judge,  and  set  at 
nought,  those  who  differ  with  them  about  the  observance  of  days  ?  If  so, 
are  not  all  penal  laws,  on  that  subject,  cruel  persecution. 

A.  Christians,  as  members  of  churches,  are  not  to  judge  them  that  are. 
without ;  nor  judge,  and  set  at  nought,  those  who  differ  with  themselves, 
respecting  meats  and  days  ;  but  every  man  is  to  be  fully  persuaded  in  his 
own  mind.  Every  man  must  give  an  account  of  himself  to  his  Maker,  and, 
of  course,  ought  to  be  free  to  act  as  conscience  dictates.  Nor  should 
Christians,  as  citizens  or  magistrates,  ever  quit  the  weapon  of  fair  reason- 
ing,  and  assume  legal  force,  to  coerce  and  reform  others  from  what  they 
suppose  to  be  religious  errors.  All  laws,  therefore,  that  describe  the  God 
— the  day — or  the  mode  of  worship,  are  usurpative  and  oppressive — con. 
trary  to  the  genius  of  the  gospel,  the  dictates  of  grace,  and  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  ;  which  laws  have  done  incalculable  evil  among  men.  But  times 
are  altered  so  much — New  Testament,  meek  and  humble  religion,  grqwn 
so  unpopular — and  men  have  become  so  much  wiser,  (especially  in  the 
New  England  states,)  that  laws  to  force  people  to  keep  the  first  day  of  the 
week  holy,  and  oblige  them  to  have  teachers,  and  pay  them,  are  absolutely 
necessary.  Without  such  laws,  Sabbaths  would  be  neglected  and  forgotten, 
the  sanctuary  forsaken,  the  priesthood  disgraced,  and  Christianity  demol- 
ished. Leave  religion  as  unguarded  by  law  as  the  New  Testament  leaves 
it,  and  the  New  England  stales  would  soon  fall  into  the  same  licentious, 
ness  of  manners,  and  error  in  politics,  that  many  of  the  states  are  now  in- 
volved  in. 

Q.  If  such  laws  are  necessary,  what  is  the  best  mode  to  carry  them  into 
effect  ? 

A.  The  path  is  plain,  but  requires  a  little  disguise.  Let  a  society  be 
formed  with  all  pharisaic  pomp,  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  promoting 
good  morals ;  let  this  society  have  a  president,  vice-president,  and  execu- 
tive officers ;  and  let  as  many  auxiliary  societies  be  likewise  self-created 
as  is  necessary  with  their  presidents  and  company.  By  this  method,  there 
will  be  a  number  of  presidents,  who,  otherwise,  would  live  in  obscurity. 
Let  all  these  societies,  by  their  executive  committees,  make  a  bold  stand 


452  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

against  vice  ;  but  let  them  be  cautious  not  to  crinninate  covetous  and  fraud 
among  the  a^ed,  nor  balls  and  revelling  among  the  youth,  for  that  would 
be  unpopular;  but  let  them  bend  their  whole  force  to  prevent  travelling 
on  the  first  day  of  the  week.  This  will  make  people  believe  that  the 
whole  of  good  morals  consists  in  keeping  the  day  abstemiously.  Let  the 
executive  committees  call  on  justices,  sheriffs  and  tything-men,  to  aid 
them  in  the  laudable  work.  Let  the  justices  fill  their  writs,  and  sheriffs 
pursue  and  arrest  the  traveller,  and  bring  him  to  trial  till  he  pays  seven 
dollars,  and  then  let  him  travel  on.  Half  of  the  money  will  be  for  the 
prosecutors ;  and  here  the  society  will  get  mone)',  as  well  as  presidents. 
Indeed,  this  course  of  proceeding  will  give  the  society  boldness  in  the 
faith — many  honorary  officers,  and  a  quantum  of  that  which  answers  all 
things,  and  all  gained  by  the  pure  motive  of  suppressing  vice,  and  promo- 
ting good  morals.  And,  by  making  the  day  more  sacred,  it  will  make  a 
better  market  for  the  sons  of  these  officers,  if  any  of  them  choose  to  be 
teachers  of  piety,  morality  and  religion.  One  thing  must  be  carefully  at- 
tended to,  viz.,  in  rare  instances,  the  fines  must  be  relinquished  after  they 
are  awarded  ;  and  these  acts  of  generosity  must  be  published  abroad, 
otherwise,  the  people  will  judge  that  the  society  acts  for  filthy  lucre's  sake ; 
whereas  nothing  is  sought  for  but  the  good  of  the  souls  of  the  poor  deluded 
travellers.  Another  advantage  arises  from  this  method  of  procedure ; 
should  arrests  and  law  suits  attend  it,  which  is  highly  probable,  it  will  be 
a  harvest  to  the  attorneys,  who  fatten  on  the  glorious  uncertainties  of  the 
law,  and  the  distresses  of  their  fellow  creatures. 

Q.  Is  the  law,  which  sanctifies  the  first  day  of  the  week,  made  for  all 
of  the  community,  or  for  a  part  only  ?  If  binding  on  all,  can  it  be  exe- 
cuted in  the  mode  just  described,  without  defeating  itself? 

A.  On  a  superficial  glance,  the  answer  is  no.  Lying  in  wait  to  detect 
others — watching  houses,  roads  and  fields — gazing  around  in  the  meeting- 
house— filling  writs — pursuing  travellers,  and  arresting  them — holding 
courts  of  trial,  and  awarding  fines,  are  as  radical  infringements  on  holy 
time,  as  labor,  travelling  or  recreation.  But,  when  justices,  sheriffs,  and 
others,  through  great  self-denial,  undc  rtake  the  holy  and  meritorious  work 
of  promoting  good  morals,  by  preventing  disorder  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  they  receive  another  heart,  like  Saul  ;  old  things  are  done  away, 
and  all  things  are  become  new ;  so  that,  like  a  goose,  they  can  have  one 
eye  to  heaven,  and  the  other  to  earth  ;  they  can  keep  their  hearts  with  all 
diligence  ;  pray,  love  and  forgive ;  esteem  others  better  than  themselves, 
and  follow  every  good  work,  while  they  are  prosecuting  profligate  and 
•abandoned  men.  If  this  is  not  altogether  the  case,  yet  the  end  is  so  laud- 
able, that  it  would  justify  the  worst  rneans  that  could  be  used.  And,  fur- 
ther,  if  the  very  bulwark  of  religion  would  lead  on  to  battle,  on  Lake  Ciiam- 
plain,  and  at  New  Orleans,  on  Sunday,  to  overthrow  Democracy,  who  can 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  453 

hesitate  to  attack  Democrats  for  sabbath-breaking  ?  Likewise,  Procrustus 
made  an  iron  bedstead  to  measure  his  subjects  by :  those  who  were  too 
long  he  would  lop  off,  and  those  who  were  too  short  he  would  stretch,  so 
that  all  might  be  of  a  length  ;  just  so  we  must  lop  and  stretch  the  opinions 
and  consciences  of  others,  for  we  know  that  we  are  right. 

Q.  With  all  submission,  I  will  state  a  certain  case,  and  ask  a  question 
upon  it.  Some  years  past,  a  certain  Indian  was  arrested  and  carried  be- 
fore  a  justice  for  sabbath-breaking,  as  it  was  called,  and  was  fined  a  quar- 
ter of  a  dollar  for  his  crime.  The  Indian  very  peaceably  paid  the  fine  to 
his  honor,  and  then  requested  a  certificate.  Why  would  you  have  a  cer- 
tificate ?  said  his  honor.  Because,  said  the  Indian,  bye  and  bye  I  die, 
and  go  before  the  Great  Spirit  for  breaking  the  law,  and,  if  I  have  no 
certificate  to  show  that  I  mended  the  law,  I  shall  have  to  go  all  the 
way  down  to  hell  for  you,  Mr.  Justice,  to  come  as  a  witness  for  me 
that  I  have  mended  the  law.  From  this  stated  case,  I  ask  the  ques- 
tion, what  will  be  the  future  destiny  of  justices,  sheriflTs,  tything-men  and 
others,  who  take  their  own  judgments  (perhaps  their  interest)  for  a  test 
of  orthodoxy  and  good  morals,  and  must  stop,  keep  in  custody,  and 
fine  others,  as  good  men  as  themselves,  because  they  do  not  believe 
what  they  cannot  believe,  and  are  too  honest  to  be  hypocritical  ? 

A.  The  prospect  is  gloomy.  When  they  are  asked  by  him  who 
judgeth  righteously,  "  who  hath  required  this  at  your  hands  ?"  their 
mouths  will  be  shut.  The  hope  and  the  prayer  of  the  pious  is,  that 
they  may  repent  of  the  evil  of  their  way,  and  be  saved. 


454 


TUB    WRITINGS    OF 


FREE  THOUGKTS  ON  WAR, 


If  Christianity  forbids  national  war — if  tlie  precepts  of  Christ,  "  I  say 
unto  you  that  ye  resist  not  evil,"  etc.,  were  intended  for  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  and  are  binding  on  them,  as  political  bodies,  it  follows,  of  course, 
that  all  the  wars  that  have  been  since  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  have 
been  in  direct  rebellion  against  God. 

Taking  this  to  be  the  case,  what  ought  to  be  done  to  remedy  the  evil, 
and  make  an  atonement  for  the  long  perpetuated  crime  ?  Those  nations 
of  savages,  who  have  never  heard  the  precepts  of  Christ,  are  excepted 
from  present  animadversion,  but  those  nations  that  have  heen  favored  with 
the  gospel,  and  now  call  themselves  Christian  nations,  are  particularly 
addressed. 

A  reformation,  acceptable  to  God,  consists  in  a  disavowal  of  crimes — - 
turning  to  the  way  of  future  righteousness — and  restoring  to  the  injured 
that  which  was  wrongfully  taken  away.  In  this  view  of  the  subject,  it 
becomes  the  kings  and  rulers,  kingdoms  and  states,  of  this  world,  to  con- 
fess the  sin  of  war — turn  to  a  course  of  perpetual  peace — and  restore  all 
the  dominion  and  territory,  that  has  been  taken  by  war,  to  those  from  whom 
they  wrested  them.  Anything  short  of  this  would  be  hypocritical  refor- 
mation. It  is  true,  that  this  procedure,  in  a  retrospective  chain,  would 
carry  most  of  the  nations  and  territories  back  to  Rome,  with  Tiberius 
Caesar  at  their  head  ;  in  which  condition  the  world  was  when  Christianity 
was  introduced. 

This  would  be  utterly  impracticable.  But  the  now  existing  kings  and 
rulers,  kingdoms  and  states,  have  it  in  their  power  to  m.ike  restoration  of 
the  dominion  and  territory,  which  they  now  possess,  that  were  taken  from 
others  by  the  horrid  criir>e  of  war.  And  for  such  rulers  and  states  to  plead 
for  peace  without  a  restoration,  is  like  the  felon  who  wishes  all  others  to 
be  at  peace,  that  he  m  ly  quietly  pf)ssess  his  stolen  goods. 

When  two  men  are  in  single  combat,  and  one  casts  the  other,  and  holds 
him,  he  cries,  "■  Will  you  be  [)eaeeMble  ?"  But  if  the  master  was  in  the 
place  of  the  underling,  he  would  think  more  of  extricating  hinf>self  than 
he  would  of  peace. 

«  Fifot  published  in  1816. 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  455 

It  is  now  rumored  that  the  great  powers  of  Europe,  particularly  Russia 
and  Great  Britain,  are  for  giving  peace  to  the  world.  Russia  is  the  strong- 
est power,  by  land,  in  Europe,  and  likely  in  the  world.  Great  Britain 
connmands  the  sea,  with  her  navy,  which  is  far  superior  to  that  of  any 
other  nation,  if  not  to  all  other  nations.  Should  these  nations,  therefore, 
unite  to  extirpate  war  from  the  earth,  and  establish  universal  peace,  the 
poor  and  needy  would  resound  their  praist — the  widows  and  fatherless 
would  bless  them.  But  while  they  proclaim  peace,  is  it  their  intention  to 
keep  their  navies,  armies  and  garrisons  in  such  repairs,  that  other  nations 
cannot  effectually  resist  them  ?  If  so,  it  is  but  the  boast  of  complete  des- 
potism. The  plain  language  of  it  is  this:  "  We  are  masters,  and  intend 
to  be  so  ;  we  command  you  all  to  be  peaceable  one  with  another,  and  with 
us  in  particular;  if  not,  see  the  rod  in  our  hands,  by  which  we  will  scourge 
you  until  you  are  peaceable,  for  we  are  determined  that  all  others  shall  be 
in  peace,  on  the  conditions  that  we  prescribe."  Did  Napoleon  ever  wish 
for  more  ?  Can  a  tyrant  ask  for  more  ?  If  this  state  of  the  world  is  de- 
sirable, why  did  not  Russia,  Great  Britain,  Austria,  Prussia,  and  other 
powers  adopt  it  seventeen  years  past  ?  What  scenes  of  horror,  and  seas 
of  blood  it  would  have  prevented. 

If  the  now  triumphant  kingdoms  are  convinced  of  the  moral  evils  of 
war,  and  wish  to  make  an  atonement  for  the  treasure  which  they  have 
consumed,  the  powers  which  they  have  overturned,  and  the  lives  which 
they  have  destrcfyed,  let  them  now  confess,  reform,  and  restore  all  that 
they  can  ;  but,  if  they  justify  their  past  wars,  under  the  pretence  that  they 
were  necessary,  in  order  to  free  the  world  from  the  tyranny  of  Napoleon, 
and  bring  it  into  the  happy  state  which  it  is  now  in,  other  nations  may  jus- 
tify future  wars,  to  deliver  the  world  from  its  present  masters,  and  bring 
it  into  a  happier  state  than  it  is  in  at  present.  But  if  the  conviction  of 
the  now  triumphant  kingdoms  is  genuine,  and  their  desire  is  to  free  the 
world  from  the  cause  of  war,  without  seeking  their  own  supremacy,  then 
let  them  disband  all  their  troops,  and  dismiss  their  military  officers — demol- 
ish all  their  garrisons — destroy  every  ship  of  war — and  convert  every  im- 
plement of  war  into  instruments  of  mechanism  and  husbandry.  Let  them, 
moreover,  restore  the  provinces  and  territories,  with  their  respective  juris- 
dictions, which  they  have  taken  from  others,  and  make  declaration  that 
every  section  of  the  world  shall  attach  itself  to  what  government  they 
choose,  establish  that  form  of  government  which  is  most  congenial  to  their 
wishes,  and  have  those  to  administer  it  whom  they  prefer,  and  that  every 
man  shall  be  free  in  his  religion,  to  worship  whom,  when,  and  as  he  plea- 
ses, without  any  interruption.  Let  this  proclamation  be  niade,  and  put 
into  effect  by  the  great  powers,  and  followed  by  all  the  smaller  dominions, 
and  all  but  tyrants,  pensioners,  and  covetous  priests,  who  make  merchan- 
dise of  what  they  preach,  and  of  the  souls  of  rnen,  would  hail  the  halcyon 


450  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

day.  For  princes  to  talk  about  peace,  without  coming  to  this  standard,  is 
but  mocking  the  people — seeking  to  be  emblazoned  for  noble  generosity 
after  they  have  killed  and  taken  possession,  without  restoring  to  nations 
their  liberties,  and  guaranteeing  to  individuals  their  inalienable  rights. 

If  the  period  has  arrived  when  the  lust  of  power,  the  love  of  supremacy, 
and  the  thirst  for  wealth,  are  so  far  extinguished,  that  men  are  willing  to 
be  on  a  level  with  men,  and  the  Lord  alone  be  exalted  by  them,  universal 
peace  may  be  expected ;  otherwise,  strife  and  war  are  likely  to  continue. 
For  a  number  of  centuries  a  political  project  has  been  thought  of  to 
prevent  the  evil  of  war,  which  project  is  now  considerably  agitated.  The 
project  is,  "  that  a  great  congress  shall  be  formed,  by  representatives  from 
all  the  powers  of  Europe,  and  by  as  many  more  as  choose  to  unite.  That 
no  one  power  shall  proclaim  war,  or  commit  hostilities  against  another, 
but  that  the  cause  shall  be  common.  That  this  congress  shall  adjust  the 
controversies  that  may  arise  between  two  or  more  of  those  powers,  and  if 
any  one  will  not  submit  to  the  decision,  all  the  rest  shall  unitedly  join  to 
compel  them." 

As  the  project  has  never  assumed  the  character  of  system,  and  been  put 
in  operation,  it  is  unknown  whether  the  members  that  are  to  compose  this 
congress  are  to  be  chosen  by  the  people,  or  appointed  by  the  sovereigns — 
whether  they  arc  to  hold  their  offices  for  Jvfe,  during  good  behavior,  or  for 
limited  terms — whether  each  kingdom  and  state  shall  have  an  equal  num- 
ber of  members,  or  whether  kingdoms  and  states  shall  be  represented  ac- 
cording to  their  numbers — whether,  in  all  cases,  a  majority  shall  rule,  or 
in  some  cases  more  than  a  majority  should  be  necessary  to  carry  a  point-^ 
whether  the  non-submission  of  a  single  power,  or  several  of  them  in  con- 
cert, shall  be  suppressed  by  force  of  arms^  or  by  non-intercourse  only. 

Should  all  these  questions,  and  all  others  that  might  arise,  be  cordially 
adjusted,  and  a  congress  assemble  in  style,  it  would  remind  one  of  what  a 
barbarian  said  to  the  senate  of  Rome :  "  My  own  countrymen  are  hydras, 
but  the  senate  is  an  assembly  of  the  gods." 

In  a  congress  thus  formed,  it  is  presumed  that  every  member  would  have 
the  views  and  wishes  of  their  respective  governments  at  heart.  So  long 
as  unity  continued  among  them,  so  long  harmony  would  remain  among  the 
confederate  nations;  but  in  case  of  disagreement,  the  same  evils  that  now 
infest  the  world  would  arise  in  all  their  baleful  ^aspects.  From  a  know- 
ledge of  the  physical  strength  of  the  greater  powers  ,the  smaller  ones  would 
feel  afraid,  as  tlicy  now. do;  but  supposing  the  decrees  of  congress  should 
be  contrary  to  the  will  of  Russia  or  Great  Britain,  or  against  both  these 
powers  in  connection,  would  those  great  powers  succumb  to  the  little  states 
for  the  sake  of  peace,  or  would  they  not  more  naturally  resist  ?  If  war 
is  declared  to  subject  the  powers  that  will  not  acquiesce,  the  design  of  the 
congress,  which  is  to  prevent  war,  will  be  defeated.     If  an  embargo  is  ap- 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  457 

pealed  to,  that  none  of  the  confederate  nations  shall  buy  or  sell  any  arti- 
cle to  the  obstinate  states,  could  they  enforce  it  ?  Would  not  the  avarice 
and  enterprise  of  the  merchant  defeat  all  the  laws  of  congress  ?  It  is  hard 
to  conceive  of  any  advantage  that  vv^ould  arise  from  a  congress  thus  formed, 
that  does  not  now  exist  by  friendly  embassy,  but  it  is  easy  to  foresee  what 
pomp  and  expense  would  attend  it. 

To  prepare  the  way  for  a  congress  to  be  appointed,  to  prevent  the  hor- 
rors  of  war,  peace  societies  are  forming  to  facilitate  the  grand  event.  If 
these  societies  lay  the  foundation  of  their  appeal  upon  this  condition  : 
"  That  on  the  day  of  in  the  year  all  nations,  by  their 

agents,  shall  meet  at  for  the  purpose  of  affixing  the  day,  when  all 

armies  shall  be  disbanded — all  ships  of  war  be  sunk  in  the  sea — all  forts 
and  garrisons  be  destroyed — all  the  instruments  of  war  broken  to  pieces — 
all  territory  and  dominion,  taken  by  force  of  arms,  restored  to  their  best 
claimants — all  legal  establishments  of  religion  repealed,  with  a  pledge  that 
war  never  shall  be  appealed  to  for  any  purpose,  and  that  no  law  shall  ever 
be  made  to  regulate  religion,  all  good  men,  who  understand  the  genius  of 
Christianity,  will  give  them  their  support.  But  if  their  exertions  tend  only 
to  prevent  the  military  exertions  of  one  nation  of  the  world,  while  other 
nations  are  waxing  stronger  and  stronger,  they  must  not  judge  that  all  those 
who  withhold  their  support  are  enemies  to  human  happiness. 

The  remarks  already  made  originated  from  the  supposition  that  the  pre- 
cept of  Christianity,  "resist  not  evil,"  was  a  prohibition  of  national  war; 
but  the  precept,  connected  as  it  is,  looks  as  much  like  a  prohibition  of  legal 
resistance,  as  it  does  of  military  force.  If  you  are  compelled,  stripped  of 
your  coat,  persecuted  or  smitten,  never  make  use  of  the  law  to  resist  the 
evil,  or  get  redress.  Rather  than  go  to  law,  why  do  ye  not  take  wrong  ? 
Why  do  ye  not  rather  suffer  yourselves  to  be  defrauded  ? 

To  see  the  criminal  arrested,  dragged  before  the  judge,  condemned  to 
the  dungeon  for  life,  or  hanged — his  wife  left  a  sorrowful  widow,  and  his 
children  hungry,  naked  and  destitute  orphans — does  not  the  spirit  of  Christ 
recoil  as  much  at  this  as  it  does  when  a  man  is  slain  in  battle  ? 

It  is  strange  that  any  man  should  pursue  his  fellow-men  in  a  legal  course 
that  will  inevitably  kill  him,  and  yet  be  so  scrupulous  in  his  conscience 
about  pursuing  any  in  a  military  course,  vi'hich  does  but  kill  him.  What 
is  the  law  without  the  sword  ?  Let  a  criminal  be  found  guilty  by  the  jury, 
and  condemned  by  the  judge :  let  it  be  known  by  the  criminal  that  the 
court  cannot  use  the  sword  to  execute  the  decision,  and  he  would  laugh  at 
the  sentence.  The  ministers  of  God  (magistrates)  bear  not  the  sword  in 
vain.  It  is  by  force  and  arms  that  the  penal  laws  are  executed.  Govern- 
ment,  without  the  sword,  is  but  a  cypher,  and  if  the  sword  is  not  to  be 
used,  all  is  but  a  bubble — the  powers  that  are  ordained  of  God  are  vain. 

If  Christians,  then,  in  the  character  of  citizens,  or  in  their  national  com- 

58 


458  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

pact,  are  not  to  resist  any  kind  of  injury,  what  are  they  to  do  ?  Physical 
strength,  and  universal  uprightness,  are  all  their  weapons ;  if  the  first  is 
not  to  be  used,  the  last  only  can  be  resorted  to :  and  is  a  reliance  on  right 
a  sufficient  guard  for  men  in  a  wrong  world  ?  In  a  kingdom  or  common- 
wealth of  Christians — if  an  individual,  Jew,  Turk,  or  Pagan,  or  a  small 
number  of  them,  should  arm  themselves  with  clubs  and  knives,  and  begin 
to  kill  and  plunder  at  one  end  of  the  kingdom  or  commonwealth,  and  pro- 
ceed  from  house  to  house  with  their  depredations,  must  the  many  ten  thou- 
sands sit  still,  and  see  themselves  robbed  and  killed,  and  use  no  resistance, 
but  faithfully  preaching  unto  them,  "  my  friends,  ye  are  wrong  ?" 

Erasmus  describes  the  horrors  of  war  among  men,  in  high  shaded  col- 
ors, but  seems  to  justify  it  among  brutes.  For  man  ne  shows  great  benevo- 
lence, but  for  the  whole  creation,  which  groan  in  painful  travail,  he  dis- 
covers no  pity.  Would  the  Almighty  arm  all  the  animals  with  weapons 
of  war,  and  also  allow  of  war  in  heaven  between  Michael  and  his  angels, 
and  the  Dragon  and  his  angels,  and  prohibit  man  alone  from  self-defence  ? 
If  men  are  to  learn  wisdom  from  the  ant,  industry  from  the  bee,  and  a  re- 
liance on  Providence  from  the  birds,  why  not  learn  more  ?  The  brutes 
have  natures  and  clothing  to  live  without  shelter,  store -house  or  barn,  but 
men  possessed  of  reason,  which  the  beasts  have  not,  are  to  provide  these 
things  for  themselves.  Beasts  are  clad  with  a  natural  armour,  men  are 
not ;  but  from  reason  and  experience  find  it  necessary  to  arm  themselves. 

That  the  precepts  of  Christianity,  which  enjoin  non-resistance  on  the 
disciples,  were  not  intended  as  maxims  of  state  policy,  or  civil  law,  appears 
pretty  evident,  from  the  consideration,  that  Christ  never  assumed  the  char- 
acter  of  a  worldly  king,  or  civil  judge.  He  said  his  kingdom  was  not  of 
this  world,  and  he  refused  to  act  as  judge,  in  dividing  the  inheritance  of 
two  brethren,  and  in  pronouncing  the  penalty  of  the  law  against  the  adulter- 
ous woman.  The  direct  tendency  of  Christ's  kingdom  was  the  eternal 
salvation  of  souls;  but  the  systems  of  civil  law  and  national  war,  have 
nothing  to  do  with  souls  and  eternity.  In  the  case  of  the  dying  thief,  both 
governments  show  their  nature  and  distinctness.  The  government  of  men 
condemned  him  to  death,  which  he  himself  said  was  just,  and  the  govern- 
ment of  Christ  pardoned  his  sin.  Christ  did  not  deliver  him  from  the 
penalty  of  the  law,  and  the  decision  of  the  law  did  not  interfere  with  the 
government  of  Christ,  which  was  wonderously  displayed,  in  saying,  "  This 
day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise."  The  civil  judge  is  not  to  ques- 
tion whether  the  cirminal  is  saint  or  sinner,  or  how  it  will  fare  with  him 
in  the  world  to  come  j  but  these  characteristics  are  all  important  in  the 
kingdom  of  Christ. 

In  war,  also,  which  is  the  same  among  nations  that  courts  of  trial  are 
among  individuals,  the  moral  state,  and  worth  of  the  soul  is  out  of  the 
question,  and  national  justice  is  all  that  is  (or  ought  to  be)  in  view.     Noth- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  459 

ing  can  be  more  preposterous  and  presumptuous  than  to  declaim,  or  con- 
ceive  that  all  who  fall  in  battle,  will  undoubtedly  go  to  heaven.  The  ag- 
riculturist, the  mechanic,  the  merchant,  the  sailor,  the  scholar  and  the 
soldier,  in  this  respect,  stand  on  even  ground.  The  truth  is,  those  who 
fear  God  and  work  righteousness,  will  be  accepted  of  their  Maker,  and 
all  others  will  not.  The  soldier,  therefore,  who  is  a  devout  saint,  if  he 
falls  in  battle,  will  go  from  the  field  of  battle  to  the  regions  of  glory  ;  but 
he  who  is  a  hardened  sinner,  falling  in  battle,  will  sink  where  he  will  lift 
up  his  eyes  in  torment. 

Christianity  was  not  designed  by  its  author,  to  be  characteristic  of  the 
nations  of  the  earth,  in  their  political  state ;  nor  was  the  name  given  in 
the  days  of  its  purity,  to  any  but  the  meek  disciples  of  Christ.  The 
name,  however,  has  been  filched  by  the  enemies  of  Christ,  and  Christi- 
anity has  been  prostituted  to  the  vilest  purposes.  Since  Christianity  be- 
came national,  Christian  nations  have  been  equally  cruel  and  bloodthirsty, 
and  more  unjust  and  perfidious  than  Turks  or  heathens.  Nevertheless, 
Christ  has  a  people  among  these  nations,  whom  he  redeemed  and  washed 
with  his  blood — a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works  ;  they  are  not  of  this 
world,  and  the  world  knows  them  not.  These  are  his  disciples  indeed. 
And  to  these  disciples,  there  are  so  many  commands  of  non-resistance, 
patience,  forgiveness  of  offences,  praying  for  enemies,  rendering  good  for 
evil,  and  blessing  for  cursing,  that  if  these  disciples  are  not  to  be  consid- 
ered in  a  two-fold  capacity,  it  is  notoriously  wicked  for  them  to  bear  arms 
and  go  to  war,  prosecute  any  one  for  smiling  or  robbing  them,  suing  any 
man  for  debt,  or  applying  to  any  legal  office  to  secure  the  titles  of  their 
lands. 

By  their  two-fold  capacity,  is  intended,  first,  their  being  members  of 
Christ's  body,  which  is  the  church ;  and  secondly,  their  being  subjects  of 
the  government  where  they  reside. 

As  members  of  Christ's  body,  or  kingdom,  their  weapons  are  all  spirit- 
ual. Force  and  recrimination  are  forbidden  them.  Their  law  is  love. 
Their  armor  is  the  word  of  God  for  a  sword — faith  for  a  shield,  and 
hope  for  a  helmet.  Where  legal  force,  and  carnal  weapons  are  used 
among  nominal  Christians,  to  convert  heathen,  punish  heretics,  establish 
creeds  of  faith  and  forms  of  worship,  collect  money,  compel  attendance 
on  worship,  etc.  under  a  religious  covert,  the  commands  of  Christ  to  his 
disciples  are  broken.  If  they  think  they  are  serving  God  in  it,  they  know 
not  what  manner  of  spirit  they  are  of. 

In  the  government  of  Christ  among  his  members,  commonly  called 
church  discipline,  no  force  or  resisting  of  evil  is  to  be  used.  The  church 
is  to  restore  such  as  are  overtaken  with  faults,  in  the  spirit  of  meekness, 
warn  the  unruly,  with  all  the  gentleness  of  Christ — admonish  and  reject 
heretics,  and  cast  from  among  them  wicked  persons ;  but  church  censure 


460  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

extends  no  farther  than  non-fellowship.  Fines,  imprisonments,  punish- 
ments and  civil  incapacities,  are  not  imposed  by  church  censure.  A 
declaration  of  who  and  what  is  fellowshipped,  and  who  and  what  is  not  fellow- 
shipped,  is  all  that  the  church  is  to  do. 

But,  if  the  disciples  ot  Christ  are  considered  in  the  second  capacity 
that  has  been  suggested,  members  of  civil  society,  other  things  may  be 
said.  Civil  society  (which  takes  its  rise  from  the  weakness  of  individ- 
uals to  defend  themselves  from  other  individuals  more  daring  and  villain- 
ous than  themselves)  is  a  society  of  force  and  arms.  Rules  are  formed 
for  the  government  of  this  society,  called  laws,  which  are  either  writen 
or  sanctioned  by  custom  ;  and  the  whole  physical  strength  of  the  society  is 
pledged  for  the  execution  of  those  laws,  both  against  the  villains  among  them- 
selves and  foreign  invaders ;  and  the  club,  the  stone,  the  knife,  the  toma- 
hawk, the  gallows,  or  the  sword,  is  the  last  appeal.  It  is  in  vain  for  men 
to  plead  for  the  use  of  the  law,  and  deny  the  utility  of  the  sword ;  for 
it  is  a  truth  as  self-evident  as  a  sun-beam,  that  the  decision  of  a  magis- 
trate, a  court  or  a  monarch,  would  be  no  more  than  the  song  of  a  night- 
ingale, if  the  whole  military  force  did  not  stand  ready  to  support  the  de- 
cision. In  this  capacity,  the  saints,  in  common  with  others,  share  the  ad- 
vantages, and  ought  to  bear  the  burdens  of  the  society  proportionably. 

War,  famine,  and  pestilence,  are  the  three  scourges  with  which  the  Al- 
mighty chastises  rebellious  creatures. 

War,  for  the  most  part,  involves  in  debt,  spreads  sore  distress  around, 
gives  place  for  ambitious  knaves  to  rise,  imposes  partial  burdens  on  the 
citizens,  is  merciless  to  parental,  conjugal  and  fiUial  affection,  tends  to  har- 
den and  demoralize  the  people,  seldom  gains  its  object,  increases  the  number 
of  widows  and  orphans,  and  is  a  species  of  human  butchery. 

Famine,  in  besieged  cities,  is  often  produced  by  war ;  but  extensive 
famines  are  caused  by  drouth.  Famine  creates  impatience,  fosters  cov- 
etousness,  provokes  theft  and  robbery,  extinguishes  parental  affection  and 
social  intercourse,  preys  upon  the  vitals,  gnaws  upon  the  bowels,  and  ends 
in  painful  death.  When  the  whole  staff  of  bread,  and  the  whole  stay  of 
water  is  taken  away,  the  description  of  famine,  by  skilful  writers,  is  as 
follows :  "  Our  skin  is  become  black  as  an  oven,  by  reason  of  the  terrible  fam- 
ine. The  garners  are  laid  desolate,  the  barns  are  broken  down,  for  the 
corn  is  withered.  How  do  the  beasts  groan !  the  herds  of  cattle  are  per- 
plexed, because  they  have  no  pasture.  The  fire  hath  devoured  the  pas- 
tures of  the  wilderness,  and  the  flame  hath  burned  all  the  trees  of  the  field. 
The  beasts  cry,  for  the  rivers  of  water  are  dried  up.  The  hands  of  the 
pitiful  women  have  sodden  their  own  children,  and  eaten  them  for  meat. 
They  that  be  slain  with  the  sword,  are  better  than  they  that  are  slain  with 
hunger,  for  these  pine  away  for  want  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth." 

Famine  is  not  only  very  distressing  for  the  time  being,  but  sometimes 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  461 

leads  on  to  lasting  evils.  The  famine  in  the  days  of  Joseph,  (not  to  men- 
tion the  calamities  of  other  countries,)  cost  the  Egyptians  all  their  money 
and  cattle,  their  liberty,  and  the  fee  of  their  lands ;  so  that  afterwards, 
they  were  ever  servants  and  tenants  of  Pharaoh. 

Pestilence  seems  to  be  descriptive  of  all  the  calamities  that  befal  man- 
kind, that  are  affected  by  water,  fire,  wind,  disease,  or  any  strange  phe- 
nomena contrary  to  the  usual  course  of  things.  In  this  sense,  however, 
I  shall  use  the  word. 

When  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty-six  years  had  elapsed  from 
creation,  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  except  eight,  were  destroyed  by 
a  flood  of  water.  The  number  of  souls  destroyed  in  the  deluge  cannot  be 
well  ascertained.  Some  have  said  there  were  eleven,  and  others  eighty 
thousand  millions.  The  great  longevity,  health,  and  prolificacy  of  that 
age,  suggests  the  conclusion,  that  there  were  more  people  drowned  in  the 
flood  than  have  been  slain  in  all  the  battles  that  have  been  since  that  time. 
Half  a  million  is  the  greatest  number  of  men  slain  in  one  battle,  that  we 
have  an  account  of  in  the  Old  Testament.  John,  in  his  visions,  gives  us 
an  account  of  a  cavalcade  of  two  hundred  millions,  who  slew  the  third  part 
of  men;  but  whether  all  these  troops  paraded  in  one  day,  and  slaughtered 
so  many,  or  whether  they  were  all  that  were  called  forth  and  killed  during 
the  dynasty  of  some  warlike  and  triumphant  kingdom,  he  has  not  told  us. 

As  the  old  world  was  destroyed  by  water,  so  Sodom  and  Gomorrah, 
Admah  and  Zeboim,  were  consumed  hyjire ;  not  kindled  by  a  wicked  in- 
cendiary, but  rained  down  from  heaven,  mixed  with  brimstone. 

The  pestilence  in  Egypt,  besides  destroying  the  necessaries  of  life,  cut 
oflTthe  first-born  in  every  house,  and  drowned  Pharaoh,  and  all  his  host,  in 
the  Red  sea.  The  earth  opened  her  mouth,  and  swallowed  up  Korah, 
Dathan  and  Abiram,  with  their  rebellious  company.  Fifty  thousand  Beth- 
shemites  were  smitten  to  death,  for  prying  too  curiously  into  the  ark.  One 
hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand  Assyrians  were  slain  in  one  night,  by  an 
angel  of  the  Lord,  etc.,  etc.  Add  to  these  the  calamities  by  earthquakes, 
the  eruption  of  burning  mountains,  hurricanes  on  land,  and  destructive 
gales  at  sea,  epidemical  diseases  and  raging  plagues.  If  all  these  are  placed 
with  the  havoc  of  war  and  famine,  it  will  force  us  to  say,  "  The  misery  of 
man  is  great  upon  him." 

Should  any  object  to  the  justice  of  national  war,  on  the  principle  that  it 
places  the  burdens  on  those  who  have  no  hand  in  it — no  voice  in  declaring 
it,  and  no  ill  will  against  those  with  whom  they  fight,  let  them  reflect  a 
moment,  and  they  will  find  that  famine  and  pestilence  are  uniform  with 
war,  in  this  respect.  Infants,  virgins,  and  the  aged  fall  indiscriminate  vic- 
tims to  the  ravages  of  one  as  well  as  the  other. 

Kingdoms  and  political  bodies,  like  human  bodies,  contain  many  mem- 
bers;  and,  if  one  member  of  the  body  suffers,  all  the  members  suffer  with 


462  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

it ;  and,  very  frequently,  for  the  sin  of  one  nnember,  other  members,  if  not 
the  whole  body,  bear  the  punishment :  for  the  sin  of  the  hand,  or  the 
tongue,  other  members  suffer,  and  often  the  whole  body  is  imprisoned  or 
hanged. 

When  David  sinned,  in  numbering  the  people,  and  not  offering  a  ran- 
som for  their  souls,  the  pestilence  destroyed  seventy  thousand  of  them,  of 
whom  David  said,  "  As  for  these  sheep,  what  have  they  done  ?"  When 
Saul,  in  his  wrath,  had  slain  the  Gibeonites,  three  years'  famine  fell  upon 
Israel,  nor  could  it  be  assuaged  but  by  the  heads  of  seven  of  Saul's  sons. 
The  blood  of  all  the  prophets,  from  Abel  the  first,  to  Zacharias  the  last, 
was  required  of  a  generation,  which  had  risen  many  thousand  years  after 
some  of  the  murders  were  committed. 

The  thing  contended  for  is  this,  that  war  was,  in  the  days  of  the  Old 
Testament,  as  much  used  by  God,  to  punish  wicked  men  and  wicked  na- 
tions, as  famine  or  pestilence ;  and,  that  the  mode  of  punishing  by  war, 
coincides  as  much  with  divine  justice,  equity  and  goodness,  as  punishment 
by  famine  or  pestilence. 

That  God  called  Joshua,  David,  and  many  others  of  his  favored  nation 
(the  Israelites)  to  wage  war,  is  not  more  true,  than  that  he  called  Cyrus, 
the  king  of  Assyria,  and  Nebuchadnezzar,  to  do  likewise. 

But  the  great  question  is,  whether  national  war  is  appointed  by  Christ, 
or  can  be  justified  from  the  New  Testament  ? 

That  war,  famine  and  pestilence,  have  continued  their  ravages  among 
men,  since  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  as  much  as  they  did  before, 
will  be  generally  granted,  it  is  presumed  ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  earth- 
quakes, eruptions,  etc.  But  for  Christ,  in  his  mediatorial  character,  to  di- 
rect national  war,  would  be  meddling  with  the  government  of  this  world, 
which  does  not  appear  to  be  included  in  his  mission.  He  did  not  come 
into  the  world  to  teach  men  the  arts  of  husbandry,  mechanism  or  science. 
He  gave  no  code  of  laws  for  the  government  of  nations,  nor  pointed  out 
the  best  mode  of  administration.  He  left  no  orders,  whether  all  nations 
should  adopt  the  ancient  Theocracy  of  the  Israelites,  or  whether  they 
should  govern  themselves  as  reason  and  justice  dictate.  He  came  into  the 
world  with  the  avowed  purpose,  "  To  glorify  God  on  earth — to  seek  and 
save  that  which  was  lost — to  lay  down  his  life  for  his  sheep — to  wash  sin- 
ners from  their  sins  in  his  own  blood — to  magnify  the  law,  make  an  atone- 
ment for  sin,  and  bring  in  everlasting  righteousness — to  abolish  death,  and 
open  a  new  and  living  way  into  the  kingdom  of  glory — to  save  men  by  the 
washing  of  regeneration  and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  etc.  Hav- 
ing these  great  works  to  finish,  (all  of  which  tended  to  the  eternal  salvation 
of  the  souls  of  men,)  he  did  not  intermeddle  with  the  affairs  of  this  world, 
but  left  the  wheels  of  commerce  and  government  to  roll  on  as  Providence 
led  the  way. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  463 

The  great  silence^  however,  in  the  New  Testament,  about  war,  has 
more  signification  than  words  could  have.  Had  Christ  given  a  precept 
that,  in  certain  cases,  it  was  the  duty  of  kingdoms  and  states  to  wage  war, 
every  nation  would  make  such  cases  their  own,  though  the  war  which  they 
waged  was  ever  so  unjust.  Had  he,  on  the  other  hand,  given  a  precept 
that  every  species  of  war  was  criminal,  the  whole  would  have  been  ex- 
posed  by  robbery  and  death,  by  the  cruelty  of  an  individual,  or  a  few, 
at  most.  But,  although  there  is  no  direct  precept  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, for  or  against  national  war,  yet  there  are  some  useful  hints  given 
to  direct  our  minds  in  research. 

John  was  the  forerunner  of  Christ,  and  his  ministry  is  called  "  the 
beginning  of  the  gospel  of  Christ."  He  admitted  those  to  his  baptism, 
who  repented  of  their  sins,  and  gave  evidence  of  their  repentance,  by 
bringing  forth  its  fruits.  Some  of  these  were  soldiers,  who  asked  the 
divine  teacher  "what  they  should  do?"  John  never  suggested  to  them 
that  a  military  life  was  incompatible  with  the  gospel,  and  that  they  must 
quit  the  sword,  if  they  would  follow  the  Lamb  of  God  who  stood  among 
them  ;  but  prudently  answered  them,  "  Do  violence  to  no  man,  (who  is 
a  private  citizen,)  neither  accuse  any  falsely,  (for  a  pretence  to  kill 
him,)  and  be  content  with  your  wages."  If  your  work  was  unjust,  your 
wages  would  be  unrighteous ;  but,  while  you  do  your  duty,  be  content 
with  your  pay,  and  not  covet  more. 

A  centurion  (captain  of  an  hundred  men)  sent  to  Christ,  requesting 
him  to  speak  a  healing  word,  that  his  favorite  sick  servant  might  live. 
The  condescending  Saviour  answered  his  request — healed  his  servant — 
gave  him  no  reproof   for    bearing    the    sword — no  orders  to  relinquish 
the  army  ;  but  said  of  him,  "  I  have  not  found  so  great  faith  in  Israel." 
Another  centurion  we  read  of,  who  was  a  devout    man,   that   feared 
God  with  all  his  house,  who  gave  much  alms  to  the  people,  and  prayed 
to  God  always.     The  character  given  him  is  excellent ;  but  he  had  not, 
as  yet,  heard  of  the  gospel  way  of  salvation.     As  he  was  at  prayer,  he 
was  warned  of  God,  by  a  holy  angel,  to  send   for  a  New  Testament 
preacher  ;  and  the  preacher  was  also  warned  by  a  vision  to  go  to  the 
centurion,  and  tell  him  the  way  of  salvation,  and  what  he  ought  to  do, 
Peter  came,  accordingly,  and  preached  to  him  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
in  the  name  of  Jesus ;  and,  when  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  him,  and  those 
that  were  assembled  with  him,  Peter  commanded   them  to  be  baptized 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord ;  but  gave  him  no  reproof  for  bearing  a  mili- 
tary  commission — no  orders  to  resign  his  command  of  the  Italian  band. 
The  parable  of  the  marriage  made  for  the  king's  son,  and  the  din- 
ner made  ready,  is  so  self-evident  in  its  meaning,  that  all  interpreters 
are  agreed  about  it.     The  king's  son,  is  Christ.     The  sumptuous  dinner, 
intends  the  blessings  of  grace   in    the  gospel,  including  forgiveness  of 


464  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

sins  and  eternal  life.  The  first  bidden  guests  were  the  Jews,  who  made 
light  of  it,  and  murdered  the  servants  of  the  king  :  they  both  killed  the 
Lord  Jesus  and  their  own  prophets — persecuted  the  apostles — pleased  not 
God,  and  were  contrary  unto  all  men.  For  their  opposition  to  the  truth, 
and  malice  prepense  against  the  messengers  of  it,  He  (the  king)  sent  forth 
his  armies,  and  destroyed  those  viurderers,  and  burnt  up  their  city.  That 
these  armies  intend  the  Roman  legions,  these  murderers,  the  Jews,  and  the 
city,  Jerusalem,  there  seems  to  be  no  real  doubt.  This  event  took  place 
more  than  three  score  years  after  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era. 
Here,  then,  is  one  instance  in  which  the  Almighty  made  use  of  war,  after 
the  gospel  dispensation  took  place ;  and  wars  and  rumors  of  wars  have 
been  in  the  world  ever  since.  Many  of  the  sore  calamities,  which  God 
inflicts  on  wicked  nations,  (spoken  of  in  the  book  of  Revelations,)  are  evi- 
dently effected  by  the  scourge  of  war. 

But  one  thing  should  be  particularly  noticed,  viz.,  that  war  was  never 
appointed  by  God,  by  an  original  statute.  Laws  of  civil  government — put- 
ting away  wives — war  and  such  like  precepts,  were  not  from  the  beginning. 
As  they  all  presuppose  sin  in  creatures,  they  could  not  have  been  appoint- 
ed until  sin  had  taken  place.  But  after  rebellious  creatures  had  kindled  the 
fire  of  hatred  and  war,  the  Almighty  varied  his  precepts  to  meet  their  con- 
dition, and  of  course  appointed  war,  which  rebellious  creatures  had  made, 
to  punish  them  for  their  rebellion.  This  was  the  case  in  Old  Testament 
times,  and  is  as  true  in  these  days. 

The  Old  Testament  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  accommodation  of  God  to 
fallen  barbarous  men,  containing  the  best  rules  that  the  conditon  and  gen- 
eral good  of  the  world  would  admit  of,  having  its  special  bearings  towards 
the  Jews. 

The  New  Testament  is  not  fraught  with  a  code  of  civil  laws,  or  national 
maxims,  but  has  the  salvation  of  souls  for  its  object. 

It  appears,  therefore,  proper  to  examine  the  rise  and  rage  of  war  among 
men,  and  whether  any  or  all  wars  can  be  justified,  on  the  principle  of  g/er- 
nal  right  and  wrong.  Acknowledging  this,  however,  in  our  examination, 
that  the  principle  of  eternal  right  and  wrong,  like  a  golden  cord,  runs  through 
the  Old  and  Nf^w  Testaments,  and  shines  with  a  thousand  times  more  ef- 
fulgence, than  human  reason  can  paint  it  with. 

It  is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  the  parent  of  all  rational  beings  allots 
to  each  of  them  a  certain  degree  of  national  right  and  independence,  which 
no  other  individual,  nor  many  individuals,  in  concert,  ought  to  deprive  him 
of.  If  this  was  not  the  case,  individuals  would  never  feel  guilt  for  what 
they  do,  nor  be  accountable  to  their  Maker  for  their  deeds  ;  but  society  must 
bear  the  whole.  But  as  guilt  preys  upon  individuals  for  overt  acts,  and 
as  every  one  must  give  an  account  of  himself  to  his  Maker,  the  argument 
is  conclusive  that  each  has  a  measure  of  original  right,  of  which  he  cannot 


ELDER    JOHN   LELAND.  465 

justly  be  deprived.  In  this  measure  of  natural  right,  exist  life,  liberty  and 
■property.  Should  one  individual,  therefore,  be  attacked  by  another  individ- 
ual, or  a  number  of  them  in  connection,  in  quest  of  life,  liberty  or  property, 
the  injured  individual  has  a  just  right  to  use  his  weapon  to  defend  himself, 
and  if  blood  and  life  are  lost  in  the  contest,  the  guilt  falls  upon  the  assail- 
ants. 

If  no  resistance  can  be  justly  offered  to  repel  violence,  it  would  follow 
of  course,  that  one  or  two  individuals  might  arm  themselves,  and  destroy 
whole  nations. 

This  kind  of  assault  began  with  the  first  man  that  ever  was  born  of  a 
woman.  His  works  were  evil,  and  he  slew  his  brother,  and  has  ever  since 
been  called  a  murderer. 

In  process  of  time,  individuals  found  it  necessary  to  form  into  collective 
bodies,  to  withstand  the  aggressions  of  daring  individuals  and  banditti.  And 
what  was  unjust  or  expedient  among  individuals  at  first,  became  unjust  or 
expedient  among  these  collective  bodies,  now  called  govemiments  and  na- 
tions of  the  earth. 

As  an  individual  who  assaults  and  kills  another,  is  a  guilty  murderer,  so 
the  nation  that  wages  war,  out  of  vain  glory,  from  enmity,  through  covet- 
ousness,  or  from  any  other  motive  than  self-defence,  is  guilty  of  murder, 
and  will  be  treated  by  the  King  of  kings  as  such.  For  notwithstanding  any 
use  that  the  Almighty  may  make  of  war,  as  a  scourge  to  wicked  nations, 
yet  the  nation  that  plunges  voluntarily  into  it,  is  always  criminal.  Let  all 
unrighteous,  offensive  wars  cease,  and  there  cannot  be  any  righteous  de- 
fensive wars  on  earth  :  for,  if  there  is  no  assailant,  there  can  be  no  defend- 
ant. 

When  one  nation  or  government  encroaches  upon  the  territory  or  property 
of  another  government,  dictates  the  other  about  her  laws  or  rulers,  or  sheds 
the  blood  and  enslaves  the  persons  of  her  citizens,  whether  it  is  done  un- 
der a  proclamation  of  war  or  not,  it  is  offensive  war.  And  after  the  in- 
jured government  has  remonstrated  and  exercised  all  becoming  patience, 
if  a  cessation  and  restitution  do  not  follow,  a  defensive  war  seems  not  only 
justifiable  but  imperious  ;  for  the  nation  that  does  not  contend  for  its  own 
right,  contends  for  the  wrong  of  the  encroaching  nation. 

Although  Christianity,  in  its  purest  state,  was  not  national,  but  persona! 
and  ecclesiastic,  yet  it  is  now  become  a  national  characteristic,  to  distin- 
guish those  nations  where  Christianity  is  professed,  from  Pagans,  Turks 
and  Jews. 

Granting  the  propriety  of  the  title,  (which  in  fact  is  very  disputable,) 
these  nations,  as  bodies  politic,  may  wage  war  upon  the  same  footing  as 
other  nations,  and  on  no  other,  viz.,  to  defend  their  lives,  liberty  and  pro- 
perty from  the  hands  of  those  who  assault  them  without  cause.  Nothing  can 
be  more  horrid  and  wicked,  than   for  these  Christian  nations  to  form  their 

59 


466  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

crusades  and  holy  wars  to  convert  the  heathen,  violently  take  away  the  land 
of  the  savages  and  make  slaves  of  the  prisoners. 

But  supposing  there  was  a  kingdom  or  commonwealth,  of  not  only  nom- 
inal Christians,  but  of  real  disciples  of  Jesus,  whose  hearts  and  practices 
were  as  perfect  as  this  state  of  the  world  admits  of,  would  it  be  lawful  and 
duty  for  them  to  proclaim  war,  on  any  account  ? 

This  question  is  predicated  upon  a  supposition  which  has  never  existed, 
it  is  presumed,  since  Christianity  was  introduced  among  men.  The  tares  and 
the  wheat  have  grown  together,  and  will  continue  to  do  so  until  the  harvest. 
Some  colonies,  however,  have  been  settled  by  companies  that  made  some 
advances  towards  it  ;  but  Roger  Williams,  Mr.  Davenport  and  William 
Penn,  with  their  respective  associates,  in  Rhode  Island,  New  Haven  and 
Pennsylvania,  found  so  many  tares  among  themselves,  that  they  were  obliged 
to  have  civil  law  (which  is  always  sanctioned  by  the  sword)  to  govern  by. 
And  notwithstanding  Williams  and  Penn  were  great  favorites  of  the  sava- 
ges, yet  those  colonies  were  involved  in  war. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  many  of  those  good  people,  who  condemn  national 
war  of  every  description,  are  sincere  in  their  profession  ;  but  should  there 
be  a  commonwealth,  in  which  all  the  leading  characters,  who  control  the 
destinies  of  bodies  politic,  were  real  saints,  and  conscience  bound  against 
all  war,  should  that  commonwealth  be  invaded  by  a  hostile  army,  of  less 
physical  strength  than  the  commonwealth  possessed,  is  there  any  doubt  but 
what  the  citizens  of  said  commonwealth  would  smcereZy  change  their  opin- 
ion ?  Would  they  not  be  guilty  of  neglecting  the  means  which  were  in 
their  hands,  to  defend  themselves  from  the  wrong  of  others,  if  they  did  not  ? 
Could  not  the  most  pious  saint  meet  the  hostile  foe,  in  such  a  case,  with 
the  high  praises  of  God  in  his  mouth,  and  a  two  edged  sword  in  his  hand  ? 
Could  he  not  do  as  a  venerable  old  man  did  at  Deerfield,  in  an  Indian  war? 
Said  he,  "  I  met  an  Indian,  and  1  loved  him  ;  but  to  defend  my  right  from 
his  iDTong,  after  praying  the  Lord  to  have  mercy  on  his  soul,  I  shot  a  bul- 
let through  his  heart." 

In  the  first  settlement  of  Hartford,  the  inhabitants  lived  in  a  fort:  but  a 
young  woman  going  out  of  the  fort,  was  taken  by  two  Indians  and  led  to 
their  canoe  in  the  river.  As  soon  as  she  was  missed,  two  of  their  gunners 
took  their  guns  and  ran  to  the  river,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Hooker,  their 
preacher.  The  Indians  had  placed  the  young  woman  in  the  canoe,  and 
were  rowing  off,  keeping  the  canoe  in  such  direction,  that  the  gunners 
on  shore  could  not  well  hit  them  without  hitting  the  young  woman.  The 
gunners  saw  that  in  a  short  time  the  canoe  would  bo  out  of  gunshot,  and 
cried  out,  "  Mr.  Hooker,  what  shall  we  do  ?"  The  venerable  man  stretched 
his  hands  and  turned  his  eyes  towards  heaven,  and  answered,  "  Take  good 
eight,  and  heaven  direct  the  balls."  They  shot  and  killed  both  the  Indians 
and  the  girl  rowed  back  to  the  shore. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  467 

In  this  case,  I  ask  whether  the  war,  proclaimed  by  Mr.  Hooker,  and 
carried  on  by  the  two  hunters,  against  the  Indians,  was  according  to  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  or  not?     I  think  the  question  answers  itself. 

We  may  reason  from  a  unit  to  a  universe  :  that  which  is  right  or  wrong 
in  an  individual,  would  be  the  same  in  a  government.  Such  kind  of  defen- 
sive war,  is  the  only  war  that  can  be  justified  upon  the  principle  of  eternal 
right ;  all  other  wars  are  robbery,  piracy  and  murder.  And  yet,  the  mis- 
anthropy  and  barbarity  of  fallen  men  are  so  great,  that  wars  waged  in  ava- 
rice, on  purpose  to  plunder — in  ambition  to  rise  high  in  esteem — or  through 
hatred  to  a  rival,  are  called  honorable  wars ;  and  the  more  they  can 
slaughter,  the  more  splendid  is  the  battle  ;  while  those  who  fall  of  their 
own,  are  said  to  be  covered  with  glory  ;  and,  if  they  succeed  to  deprive 
the  nation  with  whom  they  are  at  war,  of  all  its  sovereignty  and  rights, 
Te  Deum  is  chanted,  and  the  leaders  of  the  war  are  led  in  triumph- 
Military  force,  whether  armed  with  staves,  stones,  battle-axes,  swords 
or  fire-arms,  should  never  be  called  forth,  but  to  repel  invasions,  suppress 
insurrections,  and  enforce  the  laws.  The  words  of  Washington,  in  his 
last  will  and  testament,  breathe  forth  the  spirit  of  a  good  citizen.  In  be- 
queathing his  sword  to  his  kinsman,  he  adds,  "  Never  draw  it  but  in  de- 
fence of  your  country's  rights  ;  and,  when  drawn,  never  sheath  it  until 
the  object  is  attained." 

It  is  a  melancholy  thought,  that,  in  all  ages,  men,  as  individuals  and  as 
nations,  have  been  so  ungrateful,  covetous,  and  full  of  misanthropy,  that 
justice  and  goodness  could  not  restrain  them  without  the  scourge  of  se- 
verity ;  but,  when  the  King  of  kings  gives  orders  to  "  loose  the  four  an- 
gels, which  are  prepared  to  kill  the  third  part  of  men,"  it  is  "  in  righteous- 
ness— HE  doth  judge  and  make  war."  So  individuals,  in  prosecuting 
other  individuals,  and  nations,  in  warring  with  other  nations,  should  do  it 
out  of  Zoue  to  right,  and  not  from  a  spirit  of  hatred. 

The  man  who  prosecutes  his  neighbor  before  a  legal  bar,  does,  in  fact, 
declare  war  with  him,  as  much  as  one  nation  does  with  another  when  it 
commences  military  hostilities.  How  happy  it  would  be  for  the  world,  if 
there  was  so  much  virtue  in  it,  that  no  kind  of  war  would  be  necessary  ! 
If  every  man  and  every  nation  would  do  right  to  their  neighbors,  there 
would  not  and  could  not  be  any  war  on  earth.  But  the  reasoning  is  irre- 
futable, that  those  individuals  who  conduct  in  a  manner  that  justifies  a  le- 
gal prosecution  against  them,  when  collected  together  in  a  political  body, 
would  conduct  so  as  to  justify  a  war  of  hostilities  against  them. 

The  path  is  plain  before  us  :  let  no  individual  work  ill  to  his  neighbor, 
and  let  no  nation  be  unjust  to  another,  and  war  will  cease  forever. 

As  things  are  managed  at  present,  if  not  an  individual,  yet  a  few  con- 
trol the  destinies  of  each  nation.  The  mass  of  the  people  are  so  ignorant 
that  they  know  not  why  war  is  proclaimed,  or  so  circumstanced  that  they 


h 


468  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

cannot  help  it.  In  such  cases,  some  fight  for  a  living,  and  others  because 
they  are  forced  to.  To  conquer  or  to  be  conquered  leaves  them  in  the 
same  predicament.  This  is  a  sore  evil  under  the  sun,  but  it  is  common 
among  men. 

The  religion  of  Jesus,  in  its  genuine  course,  fills  men  with  such  meek- 
ness and  philanthropy,  that,  if  it  was  universally  possessed,  there  would  be 
no  prosecution  at  law,  nor  any  wars  among  men.     But,  when  Christianity 
is  prostituted,  to  be  the  characteristic  of  an   unhallowed   nation — a  prin- 
ciple of  state  policy— -a  test  to  office — a  footstool  to  promotion — a  sinecure 
to  religious  orders,  and  a  piece  of  merchandise,  it  ever  will  be,  as  it  ever 
^  has  been,  followed  by  war  and  slaughter, 
^r  '    Among  nations,  as  among  individuals,  it  frequently  happens  that  each 
^^   party  has  injured  the  other  ;  and,  if  they  plunge  into  war  in  that  predica- 
\^f^      ment,  it  is  like  the  potsherds  of  the  earth  striving  with  the  potsherds  of  the 
earth.     Innocency  has  nothing  to  plead  ;   justice  has  nothing   to  hope. 
If  they  mutually  make  confession  and  restoration,  war  will  be  prevented. 
If  one  party  only  makes  all  reasonable  concessions,  and  the  other  party 
makes  none,  but    rushes    into  war,  the  offence  lies  on  the  side  of  the 
last  party,  and  the  first  is  the  defendant. 

In  this  wrong  world,  right  does  not  always  take  place.  "  Truth  fail- 
eth  in  the  streets,  and  equity  cannot  enter  ;"  hence,  victory  and  tri- 
umph often  attend  the  basest  tyrant,  while  the  unoffending  are  trod- 
den  down  like  the  mire  of  the  street.  The  king  of  Babylon  conquer- 
ed and  subjugated  more  than  twenty-five  kingdoms  (see  Jeremiah  xxv.) 
and  made  them  drink  tl>e  bitter  cup.  The  Lord  used  him  as  a  scourge 
to  those  wicked  nations  ;  but,  as  they  had  done  the  king  of  Babylon  no 
harm,  he  was  wicked  in  his  offensive  wars  upon  them ;  and,  therefore, 
in  his  turn,  the  king  of  Sheshach  (Babylon)  was  made  to  drink  after 
them. 

Right  will  finally  take  place.  Though  the  contest  between  truth  and 
error,  right  and  wrong,  is  long,  and,  to  appearance,  very  doubtful  in  its 
issue,  yet  truth  and  right  must  triumph  at  last. 


KLDER    JOHN    LELAND. 


A  RAY  FOR  THE  SUN.* 


In  a  parody  between  Dean  Swift  and  Alexander  Pope,  the  following  fra- 
cas  took  place.  Swift  was  a  Churchman,  and  Pope  was  a  Papist.  The 
Dean  offered  Pope  twenty  pounds  to  change  his  religion,  to  which  offer  l» 
the  ingenious  poet  replied  :  "  the  Dean  of  St.  Patrick's  cannot  be  serious ! 
twenty  pounds  to  change  my  religion  !  it  is  more  than  any  clergyman  ever 
gave  for  any  religion,  from  the  days  of  Moses  until  the  present  time." 

In  the  Mosaic  economy,  the  Levites  lived  on  tythes,  but  a  tenth  part  of 
their  tythes  they  gave  to  the  Aaronites  :  this  was  the  tax  which  the  Levites 
paid.  But  is  there  not  too  much  truth  in  the  implication  of  Pope,  in  these 
days,  that  ministers  stimulate  others  to  honor  the  Lord  with  their  substance, 
but  touch  not  the  burden  themselves  with  one  tip  of  a  finger  ?  To  accuse 
them  of  covetousness  would  be  illiberal  ;  perhaps  the  whole  defect  arises 
from  the  want  of  system.  I  would,  therefore,  propose  a  scheme  to  raise 
a  fund  for  the  relief  of  the  indigent,  by  items  which  the  people  will  never 
feel.  Let  every  minister  retrench  his  expenses  so  that  he  may  give  a  tenth 
part  of  his  salary,  including  what  he  gets  from  parish  votes,  donations,  and 
marriage  fees.  And  let  him  labor  in  the  field  one  day  in  ten,  (Sundays 
excepted,)  the  wages  to  be  applied  to  benevolent  uses.  Moreover,  as  min- 
isters are  exempted  from  bearing  arms,  and  paying  taxes,  some  returns  to 
the  public  are  due  therefor,  otherwise  they  would  be  partially  eased,  while 
others  would  be  partially  burthened. 

Suppose  there  are  four  hundred  settled  ministers  in  Massachusetts,  (which 
is  a  moderate  estimate,)  and  that  in  average  they  receive  five  hundred  dol- 
lars per  annum,  this  would  make  a  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
The  tenth  part  of  which  would  be  twenty  thousand  dollars,  which  might 
be  considered  as  the  first  item. 

The  tenth  part  of  the  days  of  labor,  in  a  year,  is  more  than  thirty,  but 
let  thirty  be  accepted  of.  Each  of  the  four  hundred  ministers  laboring 
thirty  days  in  a  year,  would  be  twelve  thousand  days.  State  the  wages  of 
each  day  at  twenty-five  cents  only,  (for  it  is  possible  that  some  of  them 
would  make  but  awkward  work  with  the  hoe  and  pitchfork,)  and  the  amount 
will  be  three  thousand  dollars. 

Published  in  the  Pittsfield  Sun,  1818. 


470  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

The  benefit  which  they  receive  from  the  exemption  of  taxes  and  bear- 
ing  arms  I  have  no  data  to  judge  by.  I  will  fix  it,  therefore,  at  ten  dollars 
for  each,  and  if  any  of  them  think  it  is  too  much,  let  them  equip  themselves 
and  perform  military  duty,  and  pay  their  taxes  and  work  at  the  highways, 
and  this  shall  exempt  them,  otherwise  the  sum  arising  from  this  source 
would  be  four  thousand  dollars,  making  in  all  a  sum  total  of  twenty  seven 
thousand  dollars. 

Let  this  fund  be  appropriated  to  the  assistance  of  young  men  who  have 
no  interest.  Their  fathers  labored  hard  to  support  the  ministers,  educate 
pious  youth  for  the  ministry,  and  to  send  out  missionaries,  and  they,  with 
their  fathers,  sweat  in  the  burning  sun,  and  shivered  with  the  cold  to  aid 
their  fathers  to  make  those  benevolent  donations,  but  now,  when  they  come 
to  an  age  when  they  must  shift  for  themselves,  how  gloomy  is  the  prospect 
before  them  ! 

Their  fathers  have  neither  land  nor  money  for  them,  and  being  thus 
destitute,  they  fall  into  an  indolent  despair,  and  relapse  into  the  course  of 
violating  the  sabbath,  frequenting  the  taverns  and  giming  table,  and  end  their 
days  in  the  state  prison,  or  on  the  gallows.  Whereas,  if  they  had  only 
had  the  assistance  of  two  hundred  dollars  to  start  with,  it  is  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  they  would  have  pursued  a  course  more  reputable  to  them- 
selves and  more  beneficial  to  their  country. 

The  fund,  already  described,  would  annually  assist  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five,  distributi  ig  to  each  of  them  the  sum  of  two  hundred  dollars, 
and  how  many  blessings  would  they  pour  on  the  heads  of  their  patrons  for  the 
relief!  How  strong  their  conviction  that  their  fathers  had  been  disposing 
of  their  money  to  educate  and  support  an  order  of  men  who  did  not  wish 
to  grind  the  faces  of  the  poor,  and  take  from  them  burdens  of  wheat,  and 
prepare  war  against  every  one  who  did  not  put  into  their  mouths,  but  an 
order  of  men,  who,  from  the  purest  motives,  sought  to  make  their  fellow- 
creatures  virtuous  and  happy. 

As  a  fund  of  this  kind,  wisely  distributed,  would  relieve  and  save  many 
every  year,  so,  likewise,  it  would  be  a  salutary  check  to  prevent  unworthy 
characters  from  crowding  into  the  ministry.  The  drawbacks  and  duties 
necessary  to  form  the  items  of  this  fund  would  check  those  who  have  filthy 
lucre  or  indolent  ease  in  view.  It  would,  moreover,  be  the  most  effectual 
defeat  of  all  such  sarcasms  as  Pope  complimented  the  Dean  with,  and 
leave  the  ministers  more  affluent  than  Paul  was,  who  endured  hunger  and 
nakedness,  and  far  more  so  than  HE  who  went  about  doing  good,  but  had 
not  where  to  lay  his  head. 


ELDER    JOHN     LELAND. 


471 


MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES.* 


A  CORRESPONDENT  in  Palestine,  in  a  late   letter  to   his  friend  in  this 
country,  dated  at  Nazareth,  in  Galilee,  writes  thus : 

"  By  a  great  number  of  pamphlets,  said  to  be  Evangelical  Magazines, 
and  a  great  variety  of  other  writings,  purporting  to  be  of  a  religious  na- 
lure,  forwarded  to  this  country,  we  have  received  correct  and  authentic 
knowledge  of  numerous  missionary  societies,  and  other  societies  of  a  like 
kind,  formed  and  very  zealously  supported  in  New  England,  and  adjoin- 
ing parts,  in  North  America.     Believing  that  these  zealous  societies  wish 
for  useful  assistance  in  the  great  work  they  have  undertaken,  we  are  happy 
to  inform  you — which  information  you  will  please  to  communicate  to  these 
societies — that,  about  seventeen  hundred  years  ago,  a  missionary  society 
was  formed  and  instituted  in  this  country.     Having  had  access  to  the  re- 
cords and   minutes  of  this  society,  we  are   able,  with  great  pleasure,  to 
state  to  you,  that  the  great  design  and  objects  of  this  society  were  not  of 
this  world.     The  chairman,  or  president,  or  more  properly  speaking,  the 
founder  of  this  society,  was  a  person  whose  character  is  divine,  and  alto- 
gether lovely  ;  his  name,  according  to  the  records,  is  Jesus  Christ.     The 
more  effectually  to  accomplish  the  great  objects  in  view,  he  associated  to 
himself  twelve  assistants,  taken  chiefly  from  that  class  of  men  known  by 
the  appellation  of  fishermen,  and  constantly  going  about  doing  good,  was, 
himself  the  most  self-denying  and  laborious  of  all  in  promoting  the  all-im- 
portant ends  of  the  mission.     The  missionary  work  increasing  greatly,  a 
meeting  of  the  society  was  called  and  holden  about  the  year  thirty.    Pres- 
ent at  this  meeting,  the  president  and  the  twelve  assistants.     After  consid- 
ering the  extensiveness  of  the  missionary  ground,  and  the  importance  of 
thoroughly  promoting  the  missionary  work,  seventy  missionaries  were  ap- 
pointed and  sent  out  into  a  great  variety  of  places,  which  the  president 
himself  designed  afterwards  to  visit.     Their  instructions,  with  orders  to 
report  after  they  had  accomplished  their  mission,  were  these  :  "  Go  your 
ways,  and,  as  ye  go,  preach,  saying,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand. 
Provide  neither  gold,  nor  silver,  nor  brass  in  your  purses,  nor  scrip  for 
your  journey,  neither  two  coats,  nor  yet  shoes,  for  the  workman  is  worthy 
of  his  meat,  and  that  they  should  eat  such  things  as  were  set  before  them." 
Having  fulfilled  the  duties  of  their  appointment,  they  made  their  report 

*  First  published  in  1818. 


472  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

with  great  joy  in  the  success  of  their  mission,  not  that  they  had  gained 
money  in  great  or  small  sums,  but  that  even  the  devils  were  subject  to 
them  through  the  name  of  the  president.  The  president  highly  approved 
their  fulfilment  of  their  mission,  and  congratulated  them  on  their  success ; 
but,  at  the  same  time,  informed  them  that  their  highest  cause  of  joy  was, 
that  their  names  were  written  in  heaven.  About  three  years  after  this,  on 
a  very  trying  occasion,  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  concourse  of  people,  he  ad- 
dressed his  missionaries,  and  said,  '  When  I  sent  you  without  purse  and 
scrip  and  shoes,  lacked  ye  anything  V  And  they  said,  nothing.  It  is  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  the  people  of  Galilee,  that,  had  the  president  and 
members  of  this  society,  together  with  their  missionaries,  declined  en- 
gaging in  the  labors  of  their  mission,  until  ample  funds  for  their  abundant 
pay  and  support  had  been  collected  and  fixed  on  permanent  security,  the 
work,  which  they  so  remarkably  performed,  would  never  have  been  en- 
tered upon,  even  to  this  day. 

"  When  the  people  of  Galilee  consider  the  unceasing  solicitations,  and 
that  in  a  great  variety  of  shapes,  which  are  made  for  money,  by  your  mis- 
sionary societies ;  the  numerous  and  continual  collections  and  contribu- 
tions that  are  made  for  them  ;  the  amazing  sums  they  have  funded  ;  and 
the  presidents  and  directors  of  the  New  England,  and  other  missionary 
societies,  almost  wholly  taken  up  in  managing  money  matters  ;  even  de- 
scendintT  to  obtain  from  the  unsuspecting  little  children,  the  few  cents 
which  are  given  them  by  their  friends  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  few  young 
and  inexperienced  persons,  with  great  salaries  fixed  upon  them,  sent  out  as 
missionaries  ;  (and,  at  the  same  time,  probably,  parish-hunting  ;)  they  are 
strongly  persuaded  that  your  missionary  societies  are  unacquainted  with 
this  ancient  Galilean  society  ;  or,  if  they  have  heard  of  it,  they  pay  little  or 
no  attention  to  its  example.  The  inhabitants  of  Galilee,  to  be  sure,  after  be- 
infT  made  acquainted  with  their  schemes  and  practices,  wish  to  be  excused 
from  having  a  branch  of  the  New  England  missionary  society,  or  any  of 
the  missionary  societies  of  their  neighborhood,  established  in  Nazareth,  or 
in  any  part  of  their  country  ;  being  altogether  better  satisfied  with  the 
missionary  society  anciently  established  in  this  country,  and  which  we  ar- 
dently wish  to  see  flourish  in  its  power  and  purity,  not  only  in  Palestine, 
but  in  America,  and  in  all  the  earth." 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  473 


SHORT  ESSAYS  ON  GOVERNMENT, 

AND  THE  PROPOSED  REVISION  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  GOV- 
ERNMENT FOR  THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.* 


The  first  seventeen  hundred  years  of  the  world's  age  elapsed,  without 
any  kind  of  government  in  it,  but  parental  and  patriarchal,  that  we  have 
any  account  of. 

The  Genesian  history  is  short,  and,  to  us,  rather  obscure,  which  leaves 
the  enquirer  to  the  fertility  of  his  own  conjecture.  As  the  inhabitants  of 
the  earth  increased,  a  number  of  them  journeyed  westward,  and  finding  a 
beautiful  plain,  they  formed  themselves  into  a  kind  of  political  body,  and 
said,  "  go  to,  let  us  build  us  a  city,  and  a  tower,  whose  top  may  reach  un- 
to heaven  ;  and  let  us  make  us  a  name,  lest  we  be  scattered  abroad  upon 
the  face  of  the  whole  earth."  Nothing  monarchical  in  this  language — all  is 
confederate.  These  confederates  were  scattered  abroad  for  their  pride  and 
impiety ;  and  Nimrod,  the  unblushing  sinner  before  the  Lord,  who  formed 
a  party  in  his  favor,  and  hunted  down  men  like  beasts,  laid  the  foundation 
of  his  kingdom  in  Babel  and  the  adjacent  country.  If  it  may  be  supposed 
that  Nimrod  was  one  of  the  confederates,  and  by  his  address  gained  an  as- 
cendency qver  the  rest,  or  that  he  formed  a  banditti  and  came  and  scat- 
tered the  confederates  abroad,  and  took  possession  of  their  territory ;  how- 
ever this  may  be  conceived  of,  one  thing  is  certain :  The  character  oS 
these  confederates,  and  of  Nimrod  in  particular,  is  such,  that  the  thing  is 
certain,  that  dominion  was  not  founded  in  grace. 

From  this  rise  of  government,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  until  the  intro- 
duction of  Christianity,  which  was  more  than  two  thousand  years,  all  kinds 
of  dominion  were  tested,  from  the  most  absolute  monarchy,  to  the  most  li- 
centious mobocracy. 

In  the  twenty-fifth  century  the  Almighty  established  the  Sinai  govern- 
ment, which  was  afterwards  new  modified,  to  meet  the  conditions  of  the 
Israelites,  which  government  is  commonly  called  the  Jewish  Theocracy. 
In  the  first  establishment  of  this  government,  there  was  neither  executive 
nor  legislature.     Judges  only  were  appointed,  but  no  salaries  provided  for 

^ ,  —  ■  — ■         I  t 

*  Published  in  1820. 
60 


474  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

them.     It  was  not  then  understood  that  judges  must  have  honorable  sala- 
ries, to  qualify  them  to  give  righteous  decisions. 

The  Romans  tried  kings,  consuls,  dictators,  decemvirs,  tribunes  and  em- 
perors, and  had  shut  the  temple  of  Janus,  and  quietly  submitted  to  the  im- 
perial dignity  of  Ceesar  Agustus,  when  Christ  was  born.  All  other  pow- 
ers  were  then  subordinate  to  Rome. 
It  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  Almighty  had  the  same  agency  in  forming 
codes  of  laws  for  all  the  nations  as  he  had  in  the  Jewish  code  ;  yet  he  en- 
dowed all  with  reason  and  the  principle  of  self-defence,  to  seek  their  own 
safety  and  happiness,  and  raised  up  Phareoh  to  show  forth  his  power,  Cy- 
rus for  his  shepherd,  the  Assyrian  for  his  rod,  Nebuchadnezzar  for  his  ser- 
vant, &CC.,  and  frequently  rebuked  the  nations  for  their  pride,  injustice, 
idolatry  and  cruelty,  and  is,  therefore,  with  propriety  called  the  king  and 
governor  of  all  nations.  The  conclusion  is,  that  the  powers  that  were  in 
existence  when  Christianity  was  set  up,  ivere  of  God,  although  in  the  hands 
of  heathens.  To  these  powers,  the  Christians  were  commanded  to  submit : 
not  to  speak  evil  of  dignities,  but  pray  for  all  in  authority,  knowing  that 
magistrates  are  God's  ministers,  sot  for  the  punishment  of  evil  doers,  and 
the  praise  of  them  who  do  well.  How  undeniable  the  fact,  that  civil  gov- 
ernment is  not  founded  on  Christianity. 

The  greatest  civilians,  who  equally  contend  for  the  rights  of  individuals 
and  the  energies  of  government,  are  in  the  habit  of  enumerating  certain 
rights  of  which  the  citizens  cannot  be  deprived,  but  by  despotic  tyranny. 
And  nations  that  are  wise,  form  their  constitutions  of  government  as  char- 
ters of  rights  retained,  and  of  jiowers  granted.  Indeed  there  are  some 
rights  which  may  or  may  not  be  surrendered,  and  the  quantum  of  sacrifice 
depends  upon  the  exigence  of  the  time  and  the  object  to  be  obtained.  But 
there  are  other  rights  which  individuals  possess,  so  inalienable  jn  their  na- 
ture that  they  cannot  be  surrendered.  The  tyrant  himself  cannot  acquire 
them,  nor  can  individuals  grant  them.  Like  sight,  hearing,  thinking  and 
breathing,  they  are  always  attached  to  individuals.  Of  this  description  are 
the  rights  of  conscience  and  private  judgment.  Men  will  have  an  opinion  of 
what  is  right  and  wrong,  and  their  consciences  will  accuse  or  excuse  them- 
selves for  what  they  do.  But  notwithstanding  conscience  and  private  judg- 
ment  are  both  inalienable,  yet  they  are  radically  distinct  in  their  exercises. 
Conscience  never  goes  abroad,  but  opinion  ranges  the  world  over.  One 
man's  best  judgment  may  dictate  what  God  his  neighbor  ought  to  adore,  on 
what  days  or  hours  he  should  adore  him,  what  creed  he  should  believe  and 
what  ceremonies  perform,  but  conscience  has  nothing  to  do  with  all  this.  The 
liberty  and  duty  of  one  man  is  not  judged  by  another  man's  conscience. 
One  man  has  his  reasons  to  believe  that  another  man  believes  and  does 
wrong  ;  the  last  has  the  same  opinion  of  the  first ;  which  of  the  two  is  to 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  475 

be  umpire  ?  To  their  own  master  each  of  them  stands  or  falls.  Conscience 
takes  cognizance  of  the  home  department,  but  meddles  not  with  foreigners. 
How  improper,  how  unjust,  how  anti-Christian  it  must  be,  for  one  man  or 
one  party  of  men  to  get  that  kind  of  religion  interwoven  into  the  civil  con- 
stitution, which  they  believe  is  best,  under  the  pretence  that  their  conscien- 
ces are  wounded  if  others  do  not  believe  like  themselves.  The  plea  of  con- 
sdience,  in  such  cases^  is  the  art  of  ill  design,  or  the  effect  of  imposition, 
which  none  but  tyrants  or  bigoted  enthusiasts  will  make. 

Pure  Christianity  is  the  only  religion,  ever  known  on  earth,  that  met  the 
guilty  sinner's  needs,  and  relieved  his  woes.  It  brings  pardon  for  the  re- 
bellious— cleansing  for  the  polluted,  and  life  for  the  dead.  Ten  thousand 
times  ten  thousand  and  thousands  of  thousands  have  felt  its  divine  efficacy, 
and  are  now  drinking  of  rivers  of  pleasure,  where  their  God  is  their  glory. 
But  still  a  question  arises,  whether  Christianity,  as  a  national  characteris- 
tic, or  political  institute,  has  ever  been  of  any  advantage  to  the  nations  and 
governments  on  earth,  in  their  collective  capacities  ?  Was  Rome  more 
virtuous  or  prosperous  after  Christianity  was  established  there,  than  it  was 
when  Paganism  was  their  religion  ?  Are  the  papal  kingdoms,  now  subject 
to  the  see  of  Rome,  governed  by  Christian  princes,  and  directed  by  the 
successor  of  Peter,  more  honest,  peaceable,  chaste,  brave  in  war,  or  re- 
nowned for  just  maxims  of  jurisprudence,  than  they  were  under  Pagan 
rulers  ? 

Can  Christian  nations  produce  greater  geniuses  than  Greece  and  Athens 
— more  superb  cities  than  Babylon  and  Nineveh — or  more  flourishing 
commerce  than  Tyriis  1  Was  there  ever  a  more  unjust  and'cruel  conquest 
than  that  of  Spain  over  South  America  ?  Or  when  was  there  ever  a  con- 
federation of  Goths,  Vandals  and  Moors,  more  unreasonable,  mischievous 
and  disasterous,  than  the  crusades,  etc.,  etc. 

If  simple  Christianity  is  all  innocent  and  interesting,  and  yet  the  most 
horrid  evils  have  existed,  and  do  still  exist,  in  Christian  kingdoms  and 
states,  the  cause  should  be  sought  for,  and  shunned. 

The  kingdom  of  Christ  is  not  of  this  world — all  parts  of  it  are  unlike 
everything  in  state  policy.  He  never  interfered  with  Ccesar's  dues — 
would  not  act  as  civil  judge  in  dividing  the  inheritance  between  two  breth- 
ren, or  in  giving  judgment  on  the  adulterous  woman.  He  claimed  no 
civil  prerogative,  and  had  no  civil  promotion  to  bestow  on  his  followers. 
When  he  pardoned  the  sin  of  a  criminal,  and  promised  him  admission  into 
Paradise,  he  yet  left  him  to  bear  the  penalty  of  the  law,  which  he  had 
broken.  And  he  told  his  disciples  that,  if  they  had  given  offence  to  any 
other,  which  was  actionable  at  law,  to  settle  the  matter  quickly,  lest  a  civil 
process  should  bring  them  before  the  judge,  who,  finding  them  guilty, 
would  deliver  them  to  the  executive  officer  ;  and,  if  that  should  take  place, 
the  religion  which  they  professed  would  not  deliver  them  until  they  had 
paid  the  last  farthing. 


476  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

Had  the  rulers  of  this  world  been  as  cautious  of  intruding  on  Christ's 
prerogative  and  government,  the  evils  complained  of  would  never  have 
existed. 

Christianity  was  introduced  in  a  peaceable,^  harmless  manner :  it  asked 
only  for  a  dispassionate  hearing,  with  a  correspondent  faith,  grounded  on 
facts  and  undeniable  evidence.  And,  by  appealing  to  the  reason  and 
judgment  of  men,  without  being  armed  with  royal  edicts,  military  force, 
or  aided  by  the  college,  and  the  wisdom  of  this  world ;  but,  in  opposition 
to  all  of  them,  it  prevailed  with  that  astonishing  rapidity,  that,  in  less  than 
three  hundred  years,  it  overturned  an  empire  that  claimed  universal  sway. 
The  founding  of  a  Christian  college  in  Alexandria,  to  polish  the  Christians 
like  rubies,  and  make  Christianity  itself  mechanical ;  and  the  establish- 
ment  of  Christianity,  by  Constantine,  to  be  the  only  religion  tolerated  in 
the  vast  empire — allowing  none  but  Christians  to  fill  offices  of  state — 
building  and  ornamenting  temples  for  their  use — providing  fat  salaries  for 
the  ministers — appointing  the  first  day  of  the  week  for  Christian  sabbath, 
or  auction  day,  for  the  mechanical  Christian  auctioneers  to  vend  their 
wares,  etc. 

All  these  things  together  made  the  Christians  shine  like  carbuncles. 
The  error  of  Constantine  did  not  exist  in  his  delivering  the  Christians  from 
the  bloody  hands  of  Pagans.  So  far  he  was  right.  But  his  great  error 
was  giving  the  same  fatal  dagger,  which  the  Pagans  had  used,  unto  the 
Christians,  who  soon  used  it  with  as  bloody  hands. 

That  Constantine  founded  his  government  on  Christianity,  is  certain  ; 
for  he  allowed  none  but  Christians  to  bear  rule.  That  Christianity  was 
disrobed  of  apostolical  order,  and  ravished  of  her  virgin  chastity,  by  this 
establishment,  cannot  be  confuted.  By  the  imperial  Christian  establish- 
ment, arose  the  shocking  monster  of  Christian  nation. 

When  Christianity  becomes  national,  a  majority  who  govern  the  church 
will  be  ungodly  men,  and  have  recourse  to  law  and  coercive  measures  to 
regulate  religion  ;  and,  as  all  men  are  not  stamped  in  the  mill  of  uniformi- 
ty, the  strongest  party  will  oppress  the  weakest. 

Government  is  the  formation  of  an  association  of  individuals,  by  mutual 
agreement,  for  mutual  defence  and  advantage  ;  to  be  governed  by  specific 
rules.  And,  when  rightly  formed,  it  embraces  Pagans,  Jews,  Mahome- 
tans and  Christians,  within  its  fostering  arms — prescribes  no  creed  of  faith 
for  either  of  them — ^proscribes  none  of  them  for  being  heretics,  promotes 
the  man  of  talents  and  integrity,  without  inquiring  after  his  religion — im- 
partially protects  all  of  them — punishes  the  man  who  works  ill  to  his  neigh- 
bor, let  his  faith  and  motives  be  what  they  may.  Who,  but  tyrants,  knaves 
and  devils,  can  object  to  such  government  ? 

It  follows,  of  course,  that  a  man  has  a  civil  right  to  believe  that  which 
is  erroneous,  and  do  that  which  is  morally  wrong.     Nor  can  this  liberty  be 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  477 

taken  from  him,  without  supporting  the  doctrine,  that  a  man's  religion  af- 
fects his  civil  capacity  ;  which  doctrine  has  occasioned  the  persecution 
and  bloodshed  of  all  the  saints  and  martyrs  on  earth. 

Who  is  to  be  judge,  whether  a  man  believes  truth  or  error,  or  whether 
his  exercises  (that  no  wise  effect  the  civil  compact)  are  right  or  wrong  ? 
The  decision  belongs  not  to  the  body  politic  ;  for  neither  legislators,  judges 
nor  jurors,  in  their  official  capacities,  have  anything  to  do  with  consciences, 
souls  or  eternity. 

It  is  the  glory  of  the  United  States,  that,  after  Christian  tyranny  had 
raged  with  savage  fury  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  its  progress  should  be  ar- 
rested in  this  land  of  liberty.  Rhode  Island,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania, 
produced  the  first  fruits  of  delight,  that  abound  in  a  state  where  persons, 
property  and  equal  right  are  protected  by  law,  and  Christianity  left  in 
the  hands  of  its  author,  and  conscience  free  in  the  hearts  of  each  pos- 
sessor. 

The  new  experiment  succeeded  beyond  their  calculation,  and  rose  so 
high  in  esteem,  that  the  framers  of  the  constitution  of  government  for  the 
United  States,- interwove  the  sacred  principle  into  the  body  of  that  charter 
of  rights  retained  and  powers  granted,  by  which  the  states  in  union  are 
now  governed.  And  the  benign  influence  of  this  state  of  things  has  pre- 
vailed in  almost  all  of  the  states,  in  their  local  government,  either  in  the 
first  formation  of  their  constitutions,  or  by  revisions  afterwards.  In  Mas- 
sachusetts, however,  the  priniciple  is  not  recognized.  A  religious  test  is 
required.  The  legislature  is  empowered  to  make  laws  to  oblige  the  peo- 
ple to  support  Protestant  teachers  of  piety,  morality  and  religion.  Papal 
Christian  teachers  cannot  be  provided  for  like  Protestants.  Pagans,  Jews, 
Turks  and  Deists  cannot  be  promoted  to  office,  except  they  declare  and 
subscribe  a  lie.  But,  as  there  is  now  legislative  provision  made  for  the 
revision  of  the  constitution  of  government  for  the  commonwealth  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, a  few  strictures  will  here  be  made  on  the  religious  parts  of  the 
existing  constitution,  with  a  proposed  amendhient  annexed. 

According  to  the  existing  constitution,  all  the  members  of  the  executive 
and  legislative  departments,  must  make  and  subscribe  the  following  dec- 
laration, viz.  :  "  I  do  declare  that  I  believe  the  Christian  religion,  and  have 
a  firm  persuasion  of  its  truth."  This  reminds  us  of  ancient  sayings  :  "  If 
thou  believest  with  all  thine  heart,  thou  mayest,  but  he  that  doubteth  is 
damned."  But,  supposing  God  has  hidden  the  mystery  of  the  truth  from 
the  wise  and  prudent,  and  revealed  it  only  unto  babes:  that  none  of  the 
princes  of  this  world  know  these  things,  and  that  the  world,  by  wisdom, 
cannot  find  them  out ;  must  men  of  talents  be  proscribed,  because  God  has 
has  not  given  them  the  like  gift  of  faith  ?  The  declaration  is  a  good  one 
for  man  to  make  when  joining  a  Christian  church  ;  but  in  this  place,  his 
Christian  confession  is  prostituted  to  civil  purposes.     When  a  man  is 


^ 


478 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


elected  to  fill  those  places,  the  question  is,  "  has  he  talents — is  he  honest  ?" 
and  not  whether  he  is  a  firm  believer.  A  very  ingenius  author  has  in- 
formed us,  that  God  has  concluded  all  Jews  and  Gentiles  in  unbelief; 
from  which  interpreters  tell  us,  that  all  men,  in  their  natural  state,  until 
they  are  renewed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  unbelievers.  If  this  is  true,  no 
unregenerate  man  can  make  the  declaration,  without  giving.  God  the  lie. 
The  conclusion  is,  that  government  is  founded  on  Christian  grace  ;  and 
consequently,  where  this  grace  is  wanting,  there  can  be  no  government. 
When  riook  over  the  declaration  of  rights,  the  second  and  third  articles 
remind  me  of  the  last  will  and  testatmerit  of  a  dying  man,  who  prefaces 
his  will  with  a  creed  of  his  faith.  Perhaps,  in  countries  where  heresy 
works  corruption  of  blood,  it  is  proper  to  confess  an  orthodox  creed  ;  but 
in  the  United  States,  such  testimonies,  make  the  legacies  neither  larger 
nor  surer.  If  a  like  creed  was  to  preface  every  bond,  note,  or  any  in- 
strument of  writing,  the  loss  of  time  and  paper,  would  be  the  only  injury 
sustained.  But,  where  such  creeds  grant  powers  and  jeopardize  rights, 
they  are  of  more  consequence.  The  articles  under  consideration,  were 
evidently  formed  as  a  compromise  of  conflicting  parties,  and  as  the  powers 
granted  militated  against  the  provisions  made,  all  was  clothed  in  ambi- 
guity, to  give  each  party  hope.  A  man  once  wrote  a  letter  to_his  attorney, 
but  after  he  had  written  he  could  not  read  it.  He  then  handed  it  to  his 
son  to  read  it  for  him,  but  his  son  could  not.  The  man  then  folded  up 
the  letter  and  sent  it  to  the  attorney,  saying,  "  Never  mind  it,  my  son, 
the  lawyer  is  a  better  scholar  than  we  are."  I  have  conversed  with  a 
number  of  the  sages  who  formed  the  constitution,  and  they  could  never 
reconcile  the  conflicting  parts  of  those  two  articles,  either  to  my  concep- 
tion or  their  own  satisfaction. 

When  I  read  of  the  investure  of' the  legislature,  and  how  the  power 
invested  in  that  body  is  to  operate,  (treated  of  in  the  fore  part  of  the  third 
article,)  and  compare  it  with  the  last  clause  in  the  same  article,  I  am  in- 
voluntarily led  to  reflect  on  the  prayer  of  a  man,  who  sometimes  prayed  for 
the  Lord  to  reign,  and  at  other  times,  that  the  devil  might  triumph.  When 
he  was  asked,  why  he  prayed  both  ways,  he  answered,  he  did  not  know 
which  of  the  two  would  prevail,  and  therefore  chose  to  keep  friends  on 
both  sides. 

One  thing  is  certain,  that  a  number  of  distraints  have  been  made,  and 
many  lawsuits  commenced  for  ministerial  taxes  since  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution  ;  and  courts  have  given  interpretation  of  some  parts  of  the 
article,  that  common  sense  could  never  have  thought  of.  The  part  of  the 
article  alluded  to,  reads  thus  :  "  And  all  monies  paid  by  the  subject,  to  the 
support  of  public  worship,  and  of  the  public  teachers  aforesaid,  shall,  if 
he  require  it,  be  uniformly  applied  to  the  support  of  the  public  teacher  or 
teachers  of  his  own  religious  sect,"  etc.  The  personal  he,  refers  back 
to  a  governing  substantive  of  the  same  number ;  it  cannot,  therefore,  take 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  479 

teachers  for  an  antecedent,  for  that  is  plural,  and  the  following  proaoun 
would  be  they ;  it  must,  therefore,  refer  back  to  the  word  subject.  The 
sense  is,  then,  that  when  the  money  is  paid  by  a  subject,  to  the  support 
of  public  worship  and  public  teachers,  the  money  shall  be  given  to  the 
teacher,  that  the  subject  requires. 

This  exposition,  however,  is  generally  overruled  by  courts  of  law,  and 
the  personal  he,  is  interpreted  to  intend  the  teachers.  Hence,  when  a 
man  has  paid  his  ministerial  tax,  the  teacher  of  his  choice  must  bring 
suit  to  draw  the  money  out  of  the  treasury. 

What  shocking  work  is  all  this,  in  the  eyes  of  a  Bible  Christian,  and 
the  more  so,  as  it  is  done  under  the  cloak  of  befriending  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

Of  all  instruments  of  writing,  constitutions  of  government  should  be  the 
most  plain  and  free  from  ambiguity  •  and,  if  articles  of  religion  must  be 
crowded  into  frames  of  government,  they  should  be  so  simple  that  the  most 
illiterate  part  of  community  may  understand  them. 

For  heathen  to  persecute,  hang  and  burn  Christians,  is  horrid  barbarity  ; 
but,  for  one  Christian  sect  to  torture  another,  is  worse.  This,  however, 
always  has  been  the  case  where  Christianity  has  been  made  a  national 
characteristic,  and  religion  a  political  institute,  and,  (without  the  spirit 
of  prophecy,)  I  am  confident  it  ever  will  be. 

For  the  good  of  man,  therefore,  I  hope  that  in  the  contemplated  revis- 
ion of  the  constitution,  the  following  amendment  will  be  made  to  supply 
the  place  of  the  second  and  third  articles  in  the  declaration  of  rights. 

Amendment. — The  legislature  of  this  commonwealth  shall  have  no 
power  to  establish  any  kind  of  religion,  either  in  the  object  of  adoration, 
creed  or  faith,  forms  of  worship,  or  times  of  service ;  but  all  men  shall 
be  left  free  to  worship  their  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  con- 
sciences. 

No  man  shall  be  considered  a  member  of  any  religious  society,  or  any 
way  bound  to  support  the  worship  or  teachers  thereof,  until  he  has  volun- 
tarily joined  himself  therewith.  And,  if  he  sees  causes  to  leave  the  so- 
ciety which  he  has  joined,  by  lodging  a  written  cirtificate  with  the  clerk 
of  said  society,  of  his  intentions,  he  shall  not  be  holden  to  pay  anything 
for  the  support  of  that  society,  or  the  teacher  thereof,  which  shall  be  as- 
sessed after  the  date  of  his  cirtificate. 

No  man's  religious  opinions,  shall,  in  any  wise,  effect  his  civil  capacity  ; 
but  every  man  shall  be  encouraged  to  declare  his  sentiments,  and  by  ar- 
gument, support  them. 

No  religious  test  or  declaration  shall  ever  be  required  to  qualify  a  man 
to  fill  any  post  of  office  or  trust  in  the  commonwealth. 

If  any  man,  under  religious  pretence,  disturbs  the  peace,  or  commits 
any  overt  act,  he  shall  be  punished  by  law  for  his  transgression,  and  pitied 
for  his  heresy.  old  thumper. 


480  THE    WRITINGS    OP 


APPENDIX 

TO  A    PAMPHLET    WRITTEN  BY    REVEREND   JUSTUS   HULL,  CONTAINING  A  COM- 
MENT   ON    ROMANS    XI.,    16,    17,    PUBLISHED    1822. 


First.  The  Jews  circumcised  their  male  children  only,  but  the  Christians 
baptize  (rantize)  both  male  and  female. 

Second,  The  Jews  never  circumcised  a  child  under  eight  days  old.  In 
ordinary  cases,  no  other  day  would  answer.  A  weekly  sabbath  might  be 
profaned,  that  the  law  of  Moses  (respecting  circumcision)  might  not  be 
broken  :  but  the  Christians  baptize  their  childen  at  any  age.  If  they  are 
sick,  and  likely  to  die,  a  priest  is  called  to  baptize  them  before  they  are 
half  eight  days  old. 

Third.  Circumcision  was  never  a  priestly  rite  among  the  Jews,  but 
fathers,  mothers,  masters,  and  neighbors,  did  the  work  ;  but  infant  baptism 
is  supposed  to  belong  to  the  priests.  Gospel  baptism  is  certainly  to  be 
performed  by  those  who  are  sent  to  teach. 

Fourth.  Circumcision  was  performed  by  drawing  blood  from  the  subjects, 
but  infant  baptism  by  applying  water  to  them.  Gospel  baptism,  by  bury- 
ing the  candidate  in  water. 

Fifth.  Circumcision  left  a  mark  in  the  flesh,  but  baptism  leaves  none. 

Sixth.  Circumcision  was  not  performed  on  the  faith  of  the  parent,  but 
by  the  express  command  of  God  ;  but  infant  baptism  is  done  on  the  faith 
of  the  parent,  without  any  command  of  God. 

Seventh.  Circumcision  distinguished  the  church  from  the  world,  but  in- 
fant baptism  unites  them  together. 

Eighth.  All  that  were  circumcised  ate  of  the  passover,  but  baptized  in- 
fants do  not  eat  at  the  Lord's  table. 

Ninth.  If  native  innocency  entitles  them  to  baptism,  as  some  think, 
why  does  not  the  same  innocence  entitle  them  to  the  eucharist  ? 

Tenth.  If  infants  are  fit  for  heaven,  and,  therefore,  fit  for  baptism,  why 
not  fit  for  church-fellowship  and  communion. 

Eleventh.  If  children  are  innocent,  they  are  not  proper  subjects  for  bap- 
tism ;  for  baptism,  in  every  case,  but  that  of  Jesus,  presupposes  repentance, 
Christianity  being  a  religion  for  sinners,  and  not  for  holy  beings. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  481 

Twelfth.  But,  if  infants  are  sinful,  how  can  they  be  entitled  to  baptism 
before  they  repent  of  their  sins,  and  bring  forth  the  fruits  of  repentance  ? 
Thirteenth.  Whatever  circumcision,  under  the  law,  figured  out  in  gospel 
times,  it  was  something  to  be  done  without  the  hands  of  men:  "Being 
circumcised  with  the  circumcision  made  without  hands,"  says  Paul.  Now, 
as  all  kinds  of  water-baptism  are  performed  by  the  hands  of  men,  the 
conclusion  is  in  point,  that  baptism  is  not  the  antitype  for  circumcision. 

Fourteenth.  If  children,  by  being  baptized,  are  brought  within  the  cove- 
nanted mercies  of  God,  as  is  often  said,  the  covenant  is  either  conditional 
or  unconditional.  If  the  covenant  is  unconditional,  all  of  them  will  be 
saved,  for  God  never  fails;  but  if  the  covenant  is  conditional,  the  condi- 
tions  rest  either  with  the  parent  or  the  child.  If  with  the  parent,  it  stands 
thus  :  if  the  parent  does  his  duty,  the  child  will  be  saved.  This  grounds 
the  salvation  of  one  upon  the  obedience  of  another,  and  not  on  the  atoning 
blood  of  Christ.  And,  besides,  if  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job,  could  save  nei- 
ther son  nor  daughter  by  their  own  righteousness,  can  any  others  do  it  ? 
How  would  every  humble  man,  who  loves  the  souls  of  his  children,  shud- 
der, if  he  knew  that  the  salvation  of  them  depended  on  his  own  obedience. 
But  if  the  conditions  rest  with  the  baptized  child,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know 
what  duties  he  owes  to  God  or  man,  more  than  those  children  that  were 
never  baptized. 

Fifteenth.  The  circumcised  Jew,  though  he  knew  not  when  he  was  cir- 
cumcised, yet  knew  that  he  was  circumcised,  by  the  mark  in  his  flesh,  and 
therefore  had  not  to  depend  on  what  others  told  him ;  but  the  baptized  in- 
fant has  no  mark,  and  has  to  rest  his  faith  on  human  testimony. 

Sixteenth.  Gospel  baptism  is  said  to  be  "  the  answer  of  a  good  con- 
science," but  what  conscience  a  young  infant  can  have,  about  that  which 
he  knows  nothing  of,  I  cannot  tell. 

Seventeenth.  Is  there  an  error  in  Christendom,  which  has  prevailed  as 
extensively  as  infant  baptism,  and  yet  admits  of  so  feeble  support  ? 

Eighteenth.  If  God  made  that  covenant  of  grace  with  Abraham,  which 
secures  the  salvation  of  souls,  it  follows  of  course,  that  all  who  died  before 
the  covenant  was  made,  are  lost. 

Nineteenth.  When  a  minister  dips  his  hand  in  water,  and  sprinkles  the 
face  of  a  child,  would  there  be  a  greater  correspondence  between  his  words 
and  his  actions,  to  say,  "  I  baptize  my  hand,"  than  to  say,  "  I  baptize  this 
child  1" 

Twentieth.  Should  an  angel  descend  from  heaven  and  address  a  man 
as  follows  :  "  Some  baptize  infants  without  their  consent,  or  knowledge,  by 
sprinkling  water  in  their  faces.  Others  baptize  adults  on  a  confession  of 
their  repentance  for  sin,  and  their  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  by  burying  their 
bodies  in  water.  Now,  which  of  these  modes  is  according  to  the  will  of 
Christ  ?  The  salvation  of  your  soul  depends  upon  a  right  judgment.  Judge 

61 


482  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

right,  and  you  shall  live — judge  wrong,  and  you  shall  be  damned."  Should 
a  man  be  thus  addressed,  with  the  Bible  in  his  hand,  what  answer  would 
he  make  ?  Or  would  it  be  in  this  case,  as  in  many  others,  that  men  think 
more  of  will  and  wealth  than  they  do  of  the  salvation  of  their  souls ! 

Twenty -first.  When  a  heathen  forsook  his  idols,  and  was  proselyted  to 
the  Jewish  religion,  all  his  males  were  to  be  circumcised,  before  he  could 
eat  the  passover:  but  is  there  any  account  in  rabbinical  or  Christian  his- 
tory, that  the  Jewish  priests  ever  baptized  the  proselytes  with  water  at 
their  admission  ?  If  there  is,  the  important  question  follows,  what  orders 
to  do  it  had  they  from  their  great  law-giver  ? 

Twenty. second.  That  John  the  Baptist  was  of  the  priestly  line,  is  cer- 
tain, but  that  he  was  consecrated,  or  officiated  as  a  Jewish  priest,  is  denied 
with  almost  the  same  certainty.  He  was  as  great  a  stranger  to  killing  sa- 
crifices, burning  incense,  lighting  lamps,  etc.,  as  the  Jewish  priests  were  to 
preaching  repentance  and  baptizing  believing  penitents  in  Jordan,  and  other 
waters. 

Twenty-third.  None  but  Aaron,  and  his  sons,  could  be  priests  in  the  Jew- 
ish church.  It  was  miraculously  decided  by  the  budding  of  Aaron's  rod. 
King  Uzziah  was  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  for  assuming  the  priest's  of- 
fice, to  burn  incense,  he  was  smitten  with  leprosy.  Jesus  Christ  was  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah,  of  which  Moses  spake  nothing  concerning  the  priest- 
hood. Now,  if  the  Christian  church  is  the  same  as  the  Jewish,  how  could 
Christ  be  the  great  High  Priest  forever,  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec  ? 
On  assuming  the  office,  would  he  not  Imvc  been  smitten,  like  Uzziah  ? 

Twenty -fourth.  The  Grecian  church  baptize  their  children  in  fonts.  The 
Latin  church  imitate  them,  with  the  addition  of  chrism,  (an  unction  made 
of  oil  and  balsam,)  which  the  bishop  consecrated  at  Easton,  and  sells  to 
the  parish  clergy  for  the  year.  The  church  of  England  enjoins  dipping, 
unless  the  priest  is  informed  that  the  child  is  unable  to  bear  it,  and  then 
sprinkling  is  to  suffice. 

The  various  sects  of  Protestant  pedo-Baptists,  sprinkle  their  children 
for  baptism,  without  chrism  or  god-fathers.  Some  do  it  to  wash  away  ori- 
ginal sin,  and  others  do  it  because  they  are  sinless.  Some  will  baptize 
none  but  the  children  of  church  members,  others  baptize  all  that  are  pre- 
sented. Some  ground  their  right  on  the  Abrahamic  covenant  of  circum- 
cision, and  others  on  the  household  baptisms  of  the  New  Testament.  Some 
do  it  because  they  are  in  covenant  with  God,  and  others  to  bring  them  into 
covenant  with  him,  etc.  The  Baptists,  unlike  all  others,  baptize  those, 
and  only  those,  who  make  a  credible  profession  for  themselves,  that  they 
are  believing  penitents,  and  these  they  baptize  by  burying  their  bodies  in 
water,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

There  is  something  so  harmless  in  water,  that  were  it  not  for  other  cau- 
ses, there  would  have  been  no  strife  in  the  world  about  baptism. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELANDi  48,3 

Those  who  adopt  the  sentiments  of  the  Baptists,  have  been  complained 
of,  in  all  countries,  as  dead  weights  in  the  church.  The  truth  is,  the  Bap- 
tists  are  such  Bibleists,  that  they  are  always  opposed  to  monarchy  in  state, 
and  hierarchy  in  church,  while  infant  baptism,  by  uniting  church  and  world 
together,  tends  to  promote  both.     This  makes  the  strife. 


484  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


WHICH  HAS  DONE  THE  MOST  MISCHIEF  IN  THE  WORLD, 
THE  KINGS-EVIL  OR  PRIEST-CRAFT? 


By  the  Kings-Evil  is  not  intended  the  necessary  rules  which  men  adopt 
by  their  prudence,  in  the  hours  of  reason,  to  control  the  unruly  passions 
of  themselves  and  others,  which  sometimes  break  out  like  an  overwhelming 
torrent.  No :  such  rule  or  government,  whether  administered  by  kings  or 
any  others,  is  a  blessing  to  mankind  ;  attended,  however,  with  some  evil, 
like  every  other  blessing  below  the  sun.  But  by  the  Kings-Evil  is  meant 
the  lust  of  arbitrary  power — the  unjust  strides  to  gain  it — the  disguise  to 
retain  it,  and  the  cruelty  inflicted  by  it. 

By  Priest-Craft,  no  contempt  is  designed  to  be  cast  upon  any  of  the 
Lord's  priest's,  from  Melchizedeck  to  Zecharias,  nor  ^upon  any  of  the 
ministers  of  Christ,  either  those  who  have  been  remarkably  endowed  with 
power  from  on  high,  to  work  miracles,  &c.  or  those  of  ordinary  endow- 
ments,  who  have  been  governed  by  supreme  love  to  the  Saviour,  and  be- 
nevolence to  mankind.  These,  to  the  world,  have  been  like  the  stars  of 
night.  But  by  priest-craft  is  intended,  the  rushing  into  the  sacred  work 
for  the  sake  of  ease,  wealth,  honor  and  ecclesiastical  dignity.  Whether 
they  plead  lineal  succession  or  divine  impulse,  their  course  is  directed  for 
self-advantage.  By  good  words  and  fair  speeches,  they  deceive  the  sim- 
ple ;  and  by  solemn  threatening  of  fines,  gibbets,  or  the  flames  of  hell,  to 
those  who  do  not  adhere  to  their  institutes,  they  drive  the  people  from  the 
ground  of  reason  and  common  sense,  and  establish  their  own  importance 
beyond  the  reach  of  investigation.  These  remarks  are  intended  for  the 
priests  of  Pagan,  Mahomedan  and  Christian  countries,  different  indeed  in 
their  creeds,  but  uniform  in  their  exertions,  each  class  pleading  the  super- 
excellence  of  their  religion  ;  and  alike  compassing  sea  and  land  by  their 
missionaries,  to  proselyte  others  to  their  faith. 

The  question  now  returns,  "  which  has  done  the  most  mischief  in  the 
world,  the  Kings-Evil  or  Priest-Craft  V 

The  first  man,  Nimrod,  who  was  affected  with  the  Kings-Evil  to  a  dan- 
gerous degree,  was  an  impious  wretch,  who  cruelly  hunted  down  men  in 
slaughter,  and  made  sport  of  it  as  if  they  were  beasts.  After  the  disease 
broke  out,  it  ran  like  a  raging  plague,  and  kings  became  as  plenty  as  the 
locusts  in  Egypt ;  who  sported  themselves  in  cutting  off" the  thumbs  and  great 
toes  of  each  other.     Indeed,  among  ten  of  the  favored  tribes,  was  a  line  of 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  485 

kings  ;  and  the  character  which  raised  many  of  them  to  the  throne,  was 
murdering  their  predecessors.  History  has  detailed  the  destructive  effects 
of  this  malignant  disease  in  the  world,  for  about  four  thousand  years. 
What  destruction  of  property  !  what  torrents  of  blood !  In  the  late  con- 
test in  Europe,  between  Bonaparte  and  the  Hereditaries,  it  is  said  that 
more  than  one  million  of  lives  were  sacrificed. 

Strong  symptoms  of  this  disease  are  found  in  representative  Republics 
as  well  as  in  Monarchies.  "  Pray  hold  the  ladder  that  I  may  climb  the 
tree,"  says  the  ambitious  Democrat ;  and  when  he  has  ascended,  he  kicks 
the  ladder  down  that  no  others  may  climb  but  himself.  Out  of  office  he 
talks  like  a  Whig,  but  in  office  he  plays  the  tyrant.  This  predominant 
love  of  arbitrary  power,  has  been  the  bane  and  ruin  of  many  flourishing 
Republics.     A  plural  tyrant  is  as  mischievous  as  an  individual  despot. 

To  consider  Priest-Craft  in  all  its  ramifications,  would  be  a  herculean 
task,  that  would  make  Olympus  sweat.  The  game  which  it  plays  with 
power  and  deceit  is  all  that  will  here  be  attended  to.  In  ancient  times,  the 
servants  of  the  priests,  like  modern  constables,  used  coercion,  and  said, 
"  Thou  shalt  give  me  now ;  and  if  not,  I  will  take  it  by  force."  But  their 
sin  was  great  before  the  Lord.  In  later  days,  the  public  teachers  of  piety, 
religion  and  morality,  cried,  "  Peace,"  (be  all  united  in  our  support :  let 
there  be  no  division,  partyism,  or  bigotry  among  you,)  "  and  he  that  put 
not  into  their  mouths  they  declared  war  against."  These  same  teachers 
prophesied  for  reward  and  divined  for  money. 

On  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  "  three  shepherds  (scribes,  priests, 
and  prophets,)  were  cut  oflT  in  one  month ;"  since  which  time,  the  minis, 
ters  of  the  gospel  have  never  been  called  priests,  in  the  New  Testament, 
in  distinction  from  all  the  saints  ;  but  as  words  are  but  air,  and  bear  the 
meaning  which  the  speakers  attach  to  them,  let  them  be  called  priests. 

It  is  the  boast  of  Christianity,  that  in  an  enlightened  period  of  time,  (so 
far  as  it  respects  science  and  state  policy,)  it  should  be  promulgated ;  and 
that  without  the  aid  of  law,  sword  or  college  ;  but  contrary  wise  in  opposi- 
tion to  all  of  them  ;  by  simply  appealing  to  the  reason  and  judgments  of 
men,  it  should  gain  such  conviction  among  every  class  of  citizens,  that  in 
three  hundred  years  it  should  overturn  an  empire,  which  claimed  universal 
sway. 

Excepting  imperfections  and  imposters,  priests  were  then  servants  of 
the  people,  and  not  lords  over  God's  heritage.  They  had  a  missionary 
spirit  and  practiced  upon  it,  without  missionary  societies  and  missionary 
funds.  They  labored  to  collect  free-will  offerings,  which  they  themselves 
carried  to  the  poor ;  but  did  not  oppress  the  poor  to  fatten  themselves. 
They  trusted  to  Providence  for  their  food  and  raiment,  laboring  and  work- 
ing with  their  own  hands,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  town  votes  and  sub- 
scription bonds  for  their  living.     They  did  not  esteem  the  civil  law,  the 


486  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

very  sinews  of  the  gospel,  but  the  sinner's  gospel.  They  never  appealed  to 
the  laws  to  establish  their  holy  days  ;  confirm  their  creeds  of  faith  ;  or 
punish  any  man  that  did  not  observe  their  days  of  worship,  or  pay  the 
preacher  of  the  parish.  In  short,  they  behaved  as  if  they  understood  the 
will  of  their  Master,  that  his  kingdom  was  not  of  this  world.  That  legal 
rewards  should  never  be  given  for  religious  services  ;  and  that  civil  in- 
capacities and  legal  penalties  should  never  be  inflicted  on  men  for  religious 
heterodoxy,  or  evils  simply  moral. 

But  after  the  founding  of  the  Christian  college,  in  Alexandria,  and  the 
mechanical  form  which  Christianity  assumed,  Constantinus  Magnus  es- 
tablished it  as  the  religion  of  the  Empire,  and  made  all  others  pay  obeisance 
to  that  sheaf.  What  a  melancholy  reverse  has  followed  !  Churches  in- 
vested with  corporate  power  by  the  Acts  of  Legislatures,  and  not  by  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Ministers  supported  by  the  laws  of  men,  contrary 
to  the  laws  of  Christ.  And  all  this  brought  about  by  the  craftiness  of 
priests  who  profess  to  be  the  followers  of  Christ,  and  the  imitators  of  the 
apostles ;  who  estimate  the  excellency  of  their  religion  by  its  popularity, 
splendor  and  dignity.  The  living  Jesus  was  but  meanly  clad  with  swad- 
dling bands,  with  straw  in  a  manger  for  his  bed ;  but  the  dead  Christ  was 
wrapped  in  fine  linen,  and  laid  in  a  magnificent  tomb. 

The  strife  for  power  and  pre-eminence  was  long  and  violent  among  the 
priests,  till  at  length  the  Bishop  of  Rome  prevailed  :  and  there  have  been 
one  hundred  and  eighty  popes  in  succession,  from  A.  D.  six  hundred  and 
six,  until  the  present  time.  That  popes,  with  their  triple  crowns,  standing 
armies,  thundering  bulls,  high  claims  and  bloody  cruelty ;  together  with 
their  legions  of  priests  to  support  the  papal  throne  by  signs  and  lying 
wonders,  are  inverted  followers  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus,  and  his 
humble  apostles,  all  protestants  attest. 

In  the  tenth  century,  an  opinion  prevailed  all  over  Christendom,  that 
with  the  close  of  that  century,  the  world  would  be  burnt  up ;  which  the 
crafty  priests  worked  to  their  own  advantage.  Near  the  close  of  the  cen- 
tury, men  would  give  first  all  their  money,  and  then  all  their  land  to  the 
priests  for  a  single  prayer.  At  length  the  century  closed  ;  the  world  still 
continued :  but  the  money  and  land  were  in  the  hands  of  the  priests. 

Soon  after  this  a  priest,  called  Peter  the  Hermit,  crept  out  of  his  cell, 
and  with  a  crucifix  in  his  hand,  ran  to  the  prinoes  of  Europe,  and  inflamed 
them  with  holy  ardor  to  raise  their  armies,  and  go  and  take  Jerusalem  and 
the  holy  land  out  of  the  hands  of  infidels.  This  memorable  frenzy  of 
crusade,  lasted  more  than  a  century ;  and  some  say  as  many  as  two  mil- 
lions of  lives  were  sacrificed  in  the  religious  farce. 

In  protestant  countries,  where  the  civil  arm  triumphs  over  the  ecclesias- 
tical, the  Kings-Evil  rages  among  kings  and  prelates,  who  in  the  disease, 
like  Procrustus  of  old,  forge  their  iron  bedsteads,  (creeds  of  faith,)  and 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  487 

Stretch  or  lop  off  all  that  are  too  long  or  too  short  for  their  measure.  He, 
who  in  the  preface  of  the  English  Bibles  is  compared  to  "  the  Sun  in  its 
strength,"  claimed  infallibility  as  much  as  the  Roman  Pontiff.  He  as- 
cended the  Star-Chamber  and  preached,  "  That  to  call  in  question  the  in- 
fallibility of  the  king,  was  to  wade  into  the  weakness  of  princes."  His  in- 
fallible tyranny,  however,  drove  our  forefathers  from  the  bosom  of  their 
country,  into  the  wilds  of  America.  The  same  high  claim  cost  his  son 
Charles  his  crown  and  the  head  that  wore  it. 

As  it  respects  the  bearings  on  society,  all  the  difference  that  exists  be- 
tween a  papal  church,  with  a  pope  at  the  head,  and  a  prelaiical  church, 
with  a  king  or  legislature  at  the  head,  lies  in  this,  viz :  the  first  is  infalli- 
ble, and  the  last  is  always  right. 

The  first  settlers  in  New  England  had  been  oppressed  by  the  prelatic 
church  in  England,  and  fled  to  Holland ;  but  not  finding  things  among  the 
Dutch  to  please  them,  Mr.  Robinson's  Congregation  came  to  Plymouth, 
and  set  up  their  government  and  religion,  in  sixteen  hundred  and  twenty. 
But  all  the  art  of  their  priests  could  not  bring  them  into  the  measure  of 
supporting  the  preachers  by  legal  tax,  until  Governor  Bradford  was  dead, 
which  was  more  than  thirty  years  afterwards.  Those  who  settled  at 
Boston,  adopted  the  measure  sooner.  Priest  Cotton,  with  his  amazing  in- 
fluence, led  the  General  Court  to  place  Lord  Majority  in  the  pontifical 
chair  in  each  town,  and  assume  to  itself  the  right  of  judging  of  the  ortho- 
doxy and  tendency  of  every  man's  doctrine.  This  high  claim  of  power 
soon  banished  Roger  Williams — persecuted  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  Co.,  and 
hung  several  Quakers.  This  beast,  though  diverse  from  the  beast  of  Rome 
and  that  of  Great  Britain,  has  been  wondered  at  and  followed  by  a  majority 
of  Massachusetts,  until  this  time  ;  "  who  is  like  unto  this  beast  ?  who  is 
able  to  make  war  with  it  ?" 

The  late  Convention,  called  to  revise  the  Constitution,  still  retain  the 
same  principle.  Strange,  indeed,  that  Massachusetts,  all  alone,  in  opposition 
to  all  the  other  states,  should  still  view  religion  a  principle  of  state  policy 
— the  church  a  creature  of  state,  and  ministers  in  the  light  of  state  pen- 
sioners !  That  the  legislature  should  have  the  power  to  clothe  the  majority 
of  each  town  or  parish  with  authority  to  compel  the  people,  by  a  legal  tax, 
to  support  the  religious  teachers  among  them.  What  a  pity  !  When  will 
men  realize  that  a  Constitution  of  civil  Government,  is  a  charter  oi powers 
bestowed,  and  of  rights  retained;  and  that  private  judgment  and  religious 
opinions  are  inalienable  in  their  nature,  like  sight  and  hearing,  and  cannot 
be  surrendered  to  society.  Consequently  it  must  be  impious  usurpation 
for  ecclesiastics  or  civilians  to  legislate  about  religion.  Things  should  be 
so  fixed  in  government,  that  neither  a  tempting  bait,  to  exempt  from 
burdens  and  reward  for  services  on  one  hand;  nor  any  civil  incapacities 
or  proscriptions  on  the  other,  may  either  flatter  or  deter  men  in  the  work 


488  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

of  the  ministry.  The  first  would  draw  into  the  ranks  of  the  ministry  in- 
dolent  and  avaricious  men,  who  would  follow  for  the  loaves ;  the  last  would 
cast  an  unequal  and  cruel  burden,  on  those  who  feel  a  woe  if  they  preach 
not  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

Admit  of  the  principle  that  religious  opinions  are  objects  of  legislation, 
or  any  wise  subject  to  the  control  of  jurisprudence,  and  there  remains  no 
effectual  barrier  in  the  hands  of  the  people  against  legislative  oppression. 
The  disposition  of  the  legislature  is  all  the  defence  that  remains ;  and  this 
disposition  is  as  variable  and  changeable  as  the  moon.  The  freedom  here 
contended  for,  is  not  founded  on  the  toleration  or  benevolence  of  those  in 
authority,  but  in  nature,  inalienahle  right,  of  which  individuals  cannot  be 
deprived,  but  by  impious  tyranny.  I  call  it  impious ;  for  a  man  cannot 
give  greater  evidence  that  he  is  ignorant  of  the  precepts  and  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity, than  when  he  resorts  to  legal  coercion  to  compel  others  to  perform 
what  he  himself  believes  to  be  religious  duties.  If  a  man  works  ill  to  his 
neighbor,  punish  him  according  to  bis  crime  :  whether  he  plead  religious 
impulse  or  devilish  instigation,  the  fact  alone  is  to  be  attended  to.  But 
where  conscience  begins,  empire  ceases. 

This  religious  liberty  is  one  item  among  others  that  has  given  the  states 
of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  such  an  amazing  ascendency  over  Mas- 
sachusetls.  Foreigners,  with  their  arts  and  wealth,  bend  their  course  to 
those  climes  where  they  can  enjoy  their  religion  without  legislative  chains  ; 
nor  can  all  the  pharisaic  boast  of  the  conscience-slave-holding  state  divert 
them  from  their  choice. 

The  pretence  for  a  legislative  interference  in  religious  affairs,  is  thus 
stated. 

1st.  Christianity  is  the  best  religion  on  earth,  and  is  essential  to  good 
society. 

2d.  All  men  ought  to  support  the  best  good  for  society. 

3d.  As  many  men  will  not  contribute  voluntarily,  they  ought  to  be  com- 
pelled by  law. 

Was  I  capable  of  analyzing  and  elucidating  this  pretence,  with  the  wis- 
dom of  a  statesman,  the  politeness  of  a  gentleman,  and  the  skill  of  a  logi- 
cian, my  strictures  would  appear  to  better  advantage.  With  such  talents 
as  I  have,  however,  I  will  make  a  few  remarks  ;  keeping  in  mind  the  words 
of  a  popular  author,  "  If  the  truth  is  not  as  plain  as  the  nose  on  the  face, 
but  few  men  will  poke  long  in  the  dark  to  find  it." 

That  Christianity  is  the  best  religion  on  earth,  has  my  unqualified  as- 
sent, and  I  will  add,  that  it  is  the  only  religion  that  ever  was  on  earth  that 
brinfs  pardon  to  the  guilty,  and  brings  a  sure  prospect  beyond  the  grave. 
Granting  this,  a  question  arises,  whether  it  is  not  possible  for  the  best 
things  to  be  perverted  to  the  worst  of  purposes  ?  The  faith  of  Rome  was 
once  spoken  of  throughout  the  whole  world,  but  when  Christianity  became 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  489 

the  national  characteristic  of  the  empire,  and  was  modulated  as  a  political 
institute,  it  became  an  engine  of  cruelty.  The  inquisition  in  Spain,  the 
horrid  murders  in  South  America,  with  the  rivers  of  blood  that  have  flowed 
in  Asia,  Africa  and  Europe,  all  done  under  the  mask  of  Christianity,  an- 
swer the  question  in  the  affirmative. 

That  Christianity  is  essential  to  good  government,  requires  some  ani- 
madversion. The  nations  of  the  earth  from  the  eighteenth  century,  A.  M. 
down,  had  recourse  to  civil  government,  and  many  famous  law-givers  among 
them,  such  as  Solon,  Lycurgus,  &c.  In  this  condition  the  world  was, 
when  Christianity  was  introduced,  and  whatsoever  was  true,  virtuous,  lovely 
and  of  good  report,  was  selected  and  enjoined  by  the  precepts  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  the  important  doctrine  of  remission  of  sins  by  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb,  and  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  (which  heathen  philosophy 
and  state  policy  knew  nothing  of,)  were  revealed.  Moral  precepts  of  right, 
whether  they  are  found  in  the  golden  verses  of  Pythagoras,  the  maxims  of 
Socrates,  the  sayings  of  Seneca,  or  in  the  Bible,  are  essential  to  the  peace 
and  good  order  of  society.  But  to  suppose  that  Christianity  must  put  on  a 
legal  robe,  and  dictate  either  by  a  pope,  a  king,  a  prelate,  a  kirk  or  a  ma- 
jor-vote, as  essential  to  good  government,  is  far,  very  far,  from  being  true. 

The  New  Testament  is  written  muUum  in  parvo ;  the  whole  of  it  can  be 
distinctly  pronounced  in  fourteen  hours.  It  is  an  easy  matter,  therefore, 
to  test  the  following  questions. 

Did  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ever  call  in  the  aid  of  civil  rulers  to  defend 
his  doctrine,  force  an  attendance  on  his  ministry,  and  support  the  twelve 
and  the  seventy  whom  he  sent  out  to  preach  ?  Did  he  ever  ordain  that  his 
followers  should  be  formed  into  bodies  politic,  and  have  legal  authority  to 
assess  and  distrain  to  support  the  gospel  ?  Did  he  ever  intimate  that  colle- 
ges should  be  endowed  with  funds,  to  prepare  pious  youth  for  the  ministry, 
or  prescribe  any  other  measure,  saving  this,  "  Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest,  that  he  would  thrust  forth  laborers  into  the  harvest  ?"  Did  he  ever 
institute  that  one  day  in  every  seven  should  be  religiously  observed  by  his 
followers,  and  that  those  wiio  would  not  observe  the  day,  should  be  arrested 
by  a  publican  and  fined  by  a  magistrate  ?  Did  he  leave  any  orders,  that 
parishes,  in  their  ecclesiastico  political  capacity,  should  contract  with  a 
preacher  for  life,  and  give  him  a  sum  per  annum,  and  that  this  sum  should 
be  levied  upon  all,  according  to  poll  and  property  ?  He  certainly  ordained 
that  those  who  preach  the  gospel,  should  live  of  it;  but  is  the  duty  of  com- 
municating binding  on  the  disciples  in  their  social  compact,  or  on  them  as 
individuals  ? 

Granting  Christianity  all  its  merit,  (which,  as  it  respects  the  salvation  of 
of  men,  is  incalculable,)  still  the  question  returns,  "  ought  all  men  be  com- 
pelled by  law,  to  support  it  by  tax." 

62 


490  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

The  New  Testament  is  the  code  of  laws  which  Zion's  king  has  given 
to  his  subjects;  to  which  nothing  is  to  be  added,  and  from  which  nothing 
is  to  be  taken  away.  In  that  code,  there  is  no  account  that  Jesus  or  the 
apostles  ever  appealed  to  civil  law,  to  aid  them  in  their  ministry,  or  ever 
desired  it.  Nor  is  there  any  precept  given,  that  when  Christianity  should 
become  more  general  in  the  nations,  then  magistrates  should  interfere. 
They  asked  for  nothing  but  a  dispassionate  hearing  and  a  correspondent 
belief,  on  rational  evidence.  All  that  preachers,  in  right,  ask  for  from  gov- 
ernment, is  to  be  protected  as  citizens,  and  let  alone  as  religionists. 

It  is  not  only  a  supposable  case,  but  a  case  that  exists  in  fact,  that  in 
many  parts  of  the  world.  Pagans,  Jews,  Turks  and  Christians,  all  have 
the  bounds  of  their  habitation  fixed  within  the  limits  of  one  government. 
These  several  sects  unite  and  form  one  body  politic  ;  for  mutual  advantage 
and  defence,  each  sect  pays  its  part  of  the  civil  list,  and  all  arm  equally 
alike  for  mutual  defence.  In  such  a  case,  what  reason  can  be  offered, 
why  the  three  last  should  all  be  compelled  to  support  the  temple  and  wor- 
ship of  Jupiter?  or  why  the  other  sects  should  be  forced  to  be  circum- 
cised and  abstain  from  swine's  flesh,  etc.  ?  or  that  all  the  rest  should  sub- 
scribe to  the  alcoran  and  worship  the  great  prophet?  Every  Christian 
would  say,  "  the  demand  is  unreasonable  and  cruel."  If  the  Christians 
should  gain  the  ascendency  and  tax  all  the  other  sects,  to  support  the  religion 
of  Christ,  would  not  the  other  sects  have  equal  cause  to  plead  injustice  and 
cruelty  ?  and  would  not  the  religion  which  they  profess  to  admire,  meet 
them  in  the  face,  and  cry,  "  Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto 
you,  do  ye  even  the  same  unto  them  ?" 

In  the  United  States,  the  above  case  has  but  small  bearings,  where  the 
number  of  Pagans,  Jews,  and  Mahometans  is  so  small ;  but,  there  are 
thousands  of  Deists,  who  cannot  be  convinced  of  any  revelation  from  God 
to  man,  except  that  of  nature  ;  and  a  thousand  thousand  who  cannot  con- 
scientiously join  with  any  religious  society,  from  an  honest  conviction  in 
their  own  judgments,  that  they  themselves  are  not  fit  for  Christian  fellow- 
ship ;  or  that  the  religious  societies  among  whom  they  live,  are  not  sound 
in  faith.  Now,  what  is  to  be  done  with  all  these  ?  shall  Christians  com- 
pel the  Deists  to  support  that  which  they  believe  to  be  delusion  ?  As  well 
might  they  call  for  fire  to  come  down  from  heaven  and  consume  ihem, 
because  thoy  do  not  receive  Christ!  It  is  a  horrid  work  for  infidels  to 
persecute  Christians,  but,  for  Christians  to  oppress  and  persecute  those 
who  own  themselves  unbelievers,  has  no  excuse.  Men  of  common  hon- 
esty, have  judgments,  though  they  may  be  void  of  the  holy  unction  ;  and 
in  their  best  judgments,  thousands  of  them  conclude,  that  while  they  are 
destitute  of  the  spiritual  anointing,  it  would  be  a  presumptuous  crime  for 
them  to  join  a  religious  society,  which  is  composed  of  living  stones. 
Others  t  »cre  are  who  entertain  a  hope  for  themselves  that  their  sins  are 


ELDER    JOnN    LELAND.  491 

pardoned ;  but  with  the  sects  of  religionists,  among  whom  they  live,  they 
cannot  in  conscience  unite.  In  such  cases,  ought  the  ruling  party  to  com- 
pel such  honest  souls  to  act  the  hypocrite,  or  support  that  order  of  worship, 
in  which  they  have  no  faith  ?  If  it  should  be  suggested,  that  such  men 
make  their  pleas  only  to  save  their  money,  and  act  hypocritically,  (which 
no  doubt  is  the  case  with  some,)  the  answer  is,  that  their  hypocrisy  ori- 
ginates from  the  compelling  power,  which  always  has  a  tendency  to  cre- 
ate hypocrites,  and  distress  honest  men.  But,  pray,  who  has  given  the 
ruling  sect  a  patent  right  to  all  the  hypocrites,  and  all  honest  individuals  ? 
It  is  enough  for  societies  to  tax  their  own  members,  who  have  voluntarily 
joined  them  and  wish  to  be  taxed ;  but,  for  them  to  send  a  press-gang  of 
assessors  and  constables,  and  press  all  within  their  limits  to  enter  their  ser- 
vice or  be  put  in  irons,  may  be  justified  on  the  principles  of  sovereign 
tyranny,  but  it  is  certainly  anti-Christian. 

If  all  men  ought  to  be  taxed  to  support  religion,  v/hy  are  the  priests 
themselves  exempted  ?  Paul  enforced  his  precepts  by  his  example.  "  I 
have  coveted  no  man's  silver  or  gold,  or  apparel.  Yea,  ye  yourselves 
know  that  these  hands  have  ministered  unto  my  necessities,  and  to  theno 
that  were  with  me.  I  have  showed  you  all  things,  how  that  so  laboring, 
ye  ought  to  support  the  weak,  and  to  remember  the  words  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  how  he  said,  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  receive."  These  words 
were  directed  by  the  apostle  to  the  Elders  of  Ephesus.  And  why  priests 
should  be  exempted  from  civil  taxes  and  military  cuty — and  why  they 
should  lay  grievous  burdens,  hard  to  be  borne,  on  the  shoulders  of  others, 
and  not  touch  them  with  the  tip  of  one  of  their  fingers,  I  know  not. 

The  most  popular  argument,  used  by  the  priests  and  company,  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, to  justify  legislative  interference  and  a  compulsive  power  in  re- 
ligious taxation  is,  "  that  religion  and  education  are  placed  on  the  same 
fooling  in  government ;  and,  therefere,  as  all  men  of  interest  ought  to 
support  education,  for  the  good  of  the  commenwealth,  so,  likewise,  all 
ought  to  be  compelled  to  support  the  priests.  That,  as  ignorance  and 
barbarism  will  prevail,  if  education  is  not  supported,  so  superstition 
«nd  heresy  will  abound,  unless  legal  provision  is  made  for  the  priests." 

If  this  is  a  correct  principle — -an  axiom  in  politics,  it  is  as  necessary 
among  Pagans  and  Mahometans  as  in  Christian  countries.  If  there  should 
be  ever  so  respectable  a  minority  of  Christians  among  the  Hindoos  or 
Turks,  according  to  this  principle,  they  must  all  unite  with  heathen  and 
musselmen,  to  support  the  priests  of  Jupiter,  and  missionaries  of  the  great 
prophet.  Where  this  takes  place,  and  the  Christians  complain  of  their 
burden,  would  they  like  to  hear  this  doctrine  from  the  ruling  party — 
"religion  and  education  are  placed  on  the  same  footing;  and,  as  you 
share  the  protection  of  government,  you  must  bear  the  burdens  with 
us,  to  support  both  for  the  good  of  society."  ?  The  question  answers 
itself. 


492  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Where  do  Christians  learn  the  lesson,  that  reh'gion  and  education  stand 
on  the  same  footing  ?  The  first  originates  in  heaven,  the  last  arises  among 
men.  The  first,  no  natural  man  can  receive  or  know — none  of  the  princes 
of  this  world  understand  it — there  is  a  way  which  no  bird  (common  man) 
knoweth  ;  the  vulture's  eye  (philosophical  research)  hath  not  seen  it;  the 
lion's  whelps  (princes  and  rulers  with  all  their  proficiency  in  policy)  have 
not  trodden  it ;  nor  the  fierce  lion  (the  warrior  with  all  his  military  skill) 
passed  by  it.  It  is  hidden  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  revealed  to 
babes.  What  is  more  common  than  for  men  of  the  greatest  science  to  be 
the  farthest  from  Christian  piety  ;  while  the  most  illiterate  are  filled  with 
the  spirit  ?  It  was  said,  by  some,  that  Jesus  never  learned — John  was  in 
the  deserts  until  he  began  his  ministry — many  of  the  apost^es  were  brought 
up  in  fishing-boats:  where  do  men  get  the  idea  that  religion  and  educa- 
tion, like  a  pair  of  columns,  stand  on  the  same  pedestal  ?  The  scheme  of 
uniting  believers  and  unbelievers  together  in  religious  society — of  having 
some  in  the  pales  of  the  church,  who  are  not  in  the  church — of  being  incor- 
porated by  law,  and  becoming  bodies  politic — of  levying  money  for  build- 
ing meeting-houses  and  paying  the  priests,  as  is  done  for  the  state  and 
county  tax,  etc.,  may  be  justfied  on  the  principle  of  enlarging  society 
and  getting  money  j  but  meets  with  no  support  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

It  should  never  be  forgotten,  that  there  is  no  object  of  legislation,  but 
what  natural  men,  as  such,  can  understand  and  legislate  upon  ;  but  the 
things  of  the  spirit,  which  belong  to  the  Messiah's  kingdom,  are  out  of 
the  reach  of  merely  wise  men,  and,  therefore,  do  not  come  within  the 
compass  of  legislation.  Every  attempt  of  a  legislature  to  interfere  about 
Christianity,  is  to  impeach  the  wisdom  of  Christ,  as  not  knowing  how,  or 
his  goodness,  in  not  giving  a  sufficient  code  to  his  subjects.  Those,  who 
are  in  reality  the  followers  of  Christ,  will  not — durst  not — and  know  they 
cannot  make  any  addition  to  the  code  which  Christ  has  given.  But  those 
who,  under  a  pretence  of  friendship  to  Christ,  as  spiritual  lords,  have  pre- 
sumed  to  dictate,  to  their  consummate  hypocrisy  have  added  complete  tyran- 
ny. Religion  and  education  do  not,  therefore,  stand  on  the  same  ground  ; 
for  education  is  an  article  which  natural  men  can  legislate  upon  with  un- 
derstanding. Whatever  may  be  said  of  those  governments  that  contend 
for  the  divine  right  of  kings — that  they  were  born  to  rule — that  they  are 
the  fountains  of  honor  and  power — that  rex  lex,  is  a  true  maxim,  and  that 
the  subjects  enjoy  their  privileges  as  favors  from  the  throne,  and  not  of 
native  right ;  yet,  surely,  in  the  United  States,  where  lex  rex  is  believed  in — 
where  it  is  understood  that  all  power  is  originally  in  the  people,  and,  by 
them,  given  to  their  agents,  there  can  be  no  plea  for  a  legislative  inter- 
ference in  religious  concerns  ;  for  the  many  units  in  a  government  cannot 
invest  their  legislature  with  any  power  which  they  themselves  do  not  pes- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  493 

sess  in  small  constituent  parts.  If  each  individual  has  this  power  and 
right  to  dictate  and  compel  his  neighbor  what  God  to  adore — what  homage 
to  pay — what  times  to  pay  his  homage,  and  how  much  to  contribute,  then, 
by  adding  all  these  little  items  of  rightful  power  together,  the  whole  body 
of  the  people  may  invest  their  legislature  with  power  to  interfere,  but  not 
without. 

If  the  Almighty  had  appointed  legislatures  for  it,  and  they  would  take 
the  responsibility  upon  themselves  to  answer  for  all  the  people  at  the 
judgment  day,  it  would  be  reasonable  that  they  should  have  the  control  of 
them  in  this  life.  But  this  is  not  the  case :  every  man  must  give  an  ac- 
count for  himself;  surely  then  he  ought  to  be  left  free  to  act  for  himself. 
Legislatures,  judges  and  jurors,  in  their  official  capacities,  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  souls  or  consciences  of  others,  or  eternity. 

The  introduction  of  pure  Christianity  into  a  nation,  is  an  immense 
blessing,  so  long  as  it  operates  in  its  native  channel ;  which  is  to  make 
known  the  good  will  of  God  to  men,  through  a  Mediator,  and  teach  them 
to  do  justly,  love  mercy,  and  walk  humbly  before  God.  But,  wherever  it 
has  been  made  the  characteristic  of  a  whole  nation,  and  treated  as  a  prin- 
ciple of  state  policy,  it  has  been  the  worst  hag  above  hell.  Heathens  and 
Turks  shudder  at  the  perfidy,  fraud,  cruelty  and  thirst  for  blood,  which 
prevail  in  Christian  nations.  Hence,  the  appearance  of  Christian  mission- 
aries, in  barbarous  nations,  is  dreaded.  Those  nations  look  upon  them  as 
the  precursors  of  war.  And  stubborn  fact  proves  that  colonization,  war 
and  extermination  have  followed  them  in  many  instances.  What  a  pity 
that  the  only  religion  on  earth,  worth  having,  should  be  perverted,  by 
priest-craft,  to  a  trade  of  emolument — an  article  of  merchandise — a  science 
of  the  schools — a  sanctuary  for  crimes — a  pretence  for  extermination — a 
claim  for  power,  and  a  speculation  for  money.  Christianity  must,  neces- 
sarily, be  the  best  thing  on  earth  ;  otherwise,  it  could  never  have  been  a 
covert  for  the  worst  abominations. 

Notwithstanding  a  compulsive  power  exists  in  the  constitution  of  gov- 
ernment, and  laws  of  Massachusetts,  to  force  people  to  pay  the  priests,  yet 
the  principle  has  been  rebutted  with  so  much  address,  that  it  is  greatly 
weaicened.  The  spirit  of  so  respectable  a  minority  rises  so  high  against 
it,  that  the  majority  hesitate  to  use  it  on  every  occasion.  Recourse  is 
therefore  had  to  the  formation  of  societies — charitable  appeals,  etc.,  to  raise 
funds  to  make  preachers — support  them  that  are  made — and  furnish  the 
missionaries  with  money  to  carry  the  gospel  to  remote  regions.  In  these 
exertions  a  great  degree  of  philanthropy,  or  a  great  degree  of  craft  is 
manifested.  The  images  of  the  gods  of  India  are  literally  held  to  view, 
and  the  immolations  of  the  Hindoos  are  painted  out  in  all  the  horrors  of 
language.  Children  are  exhorted  to  cast  in  their  mites,  with  encourage- 
ments that  every  cent  may  save  a  soul,  and  young  men  are  solicited  to  la- 


494 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


bor  a  part  of  their  time  to  supply  the  ministerial  treasury.  Restraints  on 
drink  and  superfluities  are  recommended,  and  every  conceivable  measure 
pointed  out,  (except  the  unpopular  metliod  of  ministers  wailing  uniil  they 
are  endued  with  the  spirit — taking  neither  purse  nor  scrip  with  tliem  whea 
they  go — being  willing  to  die  daily  that  others  may  live — to  labor,  work- 
ing with  their  own  hands  to  supply  their  necessities,  etc.,)  as  if  the  salva- 
tion of  the  world  depended  upon  a  priestfund  as  much  as  it  did  on  the 
promise  made  to  Abraham.     Good  God  !  are  these  thy  ways  ? 

To  honor  the  Lord  with  our  substance — to  contribute  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor  and  widows — to  administer  to  the  saints,  and  communicate  all 
good  things  to  those  who  teach  the  word,  are  sacrifices  with  which  the 
Lord  is  well  pleased.  But  to  create  large  funds  in  advance,  for  the  de- 
clared purpose  of  educating  young  men  for  the  ministry,  and  supporting 
missionaries,  lays  a  temptation  before  them  which  may  be  too  strong  for 
many  to  withstand,  that  are  not  inwaixily  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the 
work  of  the  ministry. 

When  Jesus  was  on  earth,  he  called  unto  him  "  whom  he  would,"  and 
sent  them  forth  to  preach,  nor  is  there  any  good  reason  to  believe  that  the 
same  Jesus  does  not  now  use  the  same  method  :  if  so,  it  is  not  for  parents, 
friends,  churches,  presbyteries,  or  bishops  to  designate  the  candidates.  If 
certain  grades  of  education,  beyond  what  men  in  common  possess,  are 
more  necessary  now  than  at  the  first  times  of  the  gospel,  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest  can  thrust  such  forth.  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  find  any  com- 
mand or  precedent,  in  the  New  Testament,  for  the  churches  to  be  at  ex- 
pense for  the  preparatory  stages  of  the  preachers.  No,  nor  indeed  any 
preparatory  stages  at  all,  until  it  pleases  God  to  separate  them  from  their 
mother's  womb,  und  call  them  by  his  grace  to  preach,  without  conferring 
with  flesh  and  blood. 

The  subject  of  producing  preachers,  is  treated  by  many  as  a  mathemat- 
ical question.  "  There  are  so  many  vacant  parishes — so  many  old  preach- 
ers  will  die  in  a  year.  These  vacancies  must  be  supplied,  and  so  many 
must  annually  be  raised  for  foreign  and  domestic  missions.  And  as  preach- 
ers  cannot  be  raised  without  money,  money  must  be  collected  in  every  de- 
visable way,  or  souls  will  perish  for  lack  of  knowledge."  If  my  concep- 
tions are  just,  St.  Paul  would  treat  such  mathematical  and  mechanical  stuff* 
with  an  indignant  smile;  and  well  he  might,  for  he,  himself,  labored  abun- 
dantly, and  travelled  from  Jerusalem  round  about  to  lllyricum,  fully  preach- 
ing the  gospel,  without  such  parade  of  reasoning. 

The  exemptions  which  students  receive,  from  military  duty  and  civil 
taxes,  while  in  the  stages  of  preparation,  together  with  the  prospect  of  a 
support  through  life,  are  strong  temptations  to  many,  who  are  no  great 
friends  to  sun  burnt  faces  and  hard  hands.  This  suggestion  will  not  ap. 
pear  invidious,  when  many  of  them  confess,  that  their  motive  is  to  get  an 
easy  and  genteel  living. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  495 

The  missionary  plan,  formed  with  great  ingenuity,  is  now  in  operation, 
and  will  soon  test  its  own  merit.  Like  the  great  Amazon,  it  receives  its 
tributary  streams  of  thousands  of  auxiliary  societies,  and  draws  revenue 
from  every  spring.  Whether  this  great  exertion  is  the  travail  of  Zion,  to 
be  delivered  from  Babylon,  and  usher  in  the  latter-day  glory,  or  whether  it 
is  only  a  piece  of  ostentatious  pomposity,  and  will  finally  burst  like  a  bub- 
ble,  as  the  crusade  and  armada  did,  is  yet  uncertain.  To  me  it  appears 
more  like  religious  parade  than  humble  piety.  The  predominant  spirit 
seems  to  speak,  "come,  see  my  zeal  for  the  Lord  of  Hosts."  It  opens  a 
door  for  writers  to  paint  fables  and  exaggerate  facts.  It  is  a  lucrative 
business  for  printers,  and  a  large  field  for  preachers,  who  cannot  find  em- 
ployment at  home. 

I  close  with  an  anecdote,  between  James  Manning,  president  of  Brown 
University,  and  Sam  Niles,  an  Indian  preacher,  in  Charlestown,  Rhode 
Island.  Mr.  Manning  paid  Niles  a  visit,  and  addressed  him  thus  :  "  How 
do  you  do  brother  Niles  ?"  To  whom  Sam  replied,  "  Ah,  who  are  you  V 
Mr.  Manning  replied,  "I  am  James  Manning,  a  preacher  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ."  "  Ah,"  said  Sam,  "  do  you  preach  for  Jesus  Christ  or  old 
ten  .?"* 

*  When  dollars  passed  at  forty-five  shillings,  the  currency  was  called  old  ten. 


496  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


EXTRACT  OF  A  LETTER  FROM  J.  L.  TO  HIS  INQUISITIVE 

FRIEND. 


The  Unitarians  will  not  believe  that  one  is  three  and  three  are  one, 
when  the  terms  are  applied  to  God  ;  but  who  can  deny  the  truth  of  the 
saying,  when  applied  to  man  ? 

That  man  has  a  rational  soul,  capable  of  reasoning  logically  upon  moral 
subjects,  (which  none  of  the  brutes  can  do,)  is  pretty  generally  believed. 
That  he  has  a  spirit  which  animates  his  matter,  (which  can  be  extinguish, 
ed,)  no  one  disputes.  And  that  he  has  an  organical  body  is  self-evident. 
Soul,  spirit,  and  body  :  these  three  make  one  man,  and  one  man  possesses 
all  three. 

Some,  however,  deny  the  triple  nature  of  man,  and  say  he  is  only  du- 
plicate— matter  and  spirit.  In  this  light,  two  are  one  and  one  is  two. 
Why  will  then  the  Socinians  deny  that  two  can  be  united  in  one,  in  Christ 
Jesus.  If  he  is  not  God  essential,  and  man  real,  what  or  who  is  he  ?  Does 
it  require  a  faith  more  marvellous,  to  believe  that  he  was  Jehovah-Jesus, 
than  it  does  to  believe  that  he  was  born  of  a  virgin,  without  an  earthly 
father  ? 

I  take  it  then  for  granted,  that  I  am  a  trinity ;  possessing  soul,  spirit 
and  body.  B'Jt  what  my  soul  is — of  what  form,  size,  and  complexion,  I 
know  not.  My  spirit  is  equally  invisible  and  undescribable.  My  body,  it 
is  true,  is  tangible  ;  but  so  curiously  wrought — so  wonderfully  made,  that 
I  should  be  worse  than  a  madman,  to  deny  that  the  author  of  my  existence 
was  infinitely  wise  and  powerful. 

And  dost  thou  set  thine  eyes  upon  such  a  one,  and  inquire  after  my 
health !     *     *     * 

What  a  wonderful  phenomena  is  sleep.  Our  senses  all  locked  up — un- 
conscious of  our  own  existence,  in  a  death-like  posture  we  remain.  Anon, 
our  senses  all  resume  their  former  functions  with  fresh  vigor,  and  past 
events  and  pursuits  flow  into  our  minds. 

Is  the  death  of  the  body  and  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  attended 
with  wonders  more  unaccountable  than  this?  Yet  Hymeneas  and  Phile- 
tus,  and  many  besides,  experience  the  last  every  night  and  morning,  and 
boldly  deny  the  possibility  of  the  first. 

I  cannot  please  myself  better,  nor  entertain  you  with  anything  more  in- 
teresting,  than  to  quote  some  observations  on  this  subject,  made  by  the 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  497 

ingenious  Dr.  Rush,  in  conversation.  Said  he,  '-Sir,  I  can  prove  that  the 
dead  never  will  and  never  can  be  raised.  Philosophy  and  the  laws  of  na- 
ture forbid  it — and  yet  they  will  be.  So,  likewise,  I  can  prove  that  crea- 
tion never  could  have  taken  place  :  all  that  we  know  of  the  laws  of  nature 
and  the  reason  of  things,  declare  it  impossible — and  yet  it  did  take  place. 
I  mention  these  things,  sir,  to  show  the  incompetency  of  the  wisdom  of 
man,  to  comprehend  the  works  of  him  who  is  infinite."     *     *     * 

Some  men  seem  to  gain  considerable  advantage  from  the  loss  of  memory. 
If  they  have  promised  to  pay  a  sum,  or  remit  a  charge,  and  it  does  not 
suit  them  afterwards  to  comply — or,  if  they  have  told  the  age  of  a  horse, 
or  quality  of  a  cow,  which  is  not  true — or,  if  they  have  defamed  another 
person,  &c.,  when  those  who  are  injured  call  for  an  explanation,  their 
reply  will  be,  "we  have  no  remembrance  of  saying  the  things  which  are 
tacked  upon  us."  If  their  declaration  is  true,  one  would  think  that  a  poor 
memory  makes  an  easy  conscience.     *     *     * 

When  I  read  in  a  Constitution,  that  all  power  is  originally  in  the  people ; 
and  that  it  is,  by  them,  vested  in  the  several  magistrates,  whether  legisla- 
tive, executive,  or  judicial ;  and  that  all  these  magistrates,  are  at  all  times 
accountable  to  the  people  ;  and  then  turn  my  thoughts  to  the  organization 
of  the  judicial  department,  and  see  how  the  judges  are  made  without  the 
voice  of  the  people — at  no  time  accountable  to  the  people — that  the  power 
which  made  them,  cannot  without  aid  dismiss  them  ;  and  that  their  re- 
sponsibility is  so  remote  from  the  people,  that  a  riddance  of  them  is  almost 
impossible,  my  judgment  says  their  is  a  contradiction  between  the  de- 
claration and  organization  :  and  a  judiciary  despotism  is  likely  to  be  our  ruin. 

So,  likewise,  when  I  read  in  a  catechism,  that  baptism  is  not  to  be  ad- 
ministered to  any  who  are  out  of  the  visible  church,  till  they  profess  their 
faith  in  Christ — connected  with  the  exception — but  the  infants  of  those 
that  believe  are  to  be  baptized  ;  my  judgment  determines,  that  the  ex- 
ception radically  defeats  the  principle. 

When  a  missionary  solicitor  exerts  all  his  powers  to  frighten,  flatter  and 
deceive  the  people,  and  works  so  effectually  upon  the  passions  of  a  Chris- 
tian congregation,  as  to  sell  them  an  Indian  god,  for  money  to  support 
missionaries,  (which  has  been  the  case,)  my  judgment  tells  me  that  the 
congregation  thus  gulled,  have  exchanged  Gods  with  the  Hindoos,  and 
given  their  money  to  boot. 


SHORT  REFLECTIONS. 

Immense  exertions  have  been  made  to  find  oul  perpetual  motion.     That 
a  mass  of  dull  matter,  governed  by  gravitation,  should  have  a  principle 

63 


498  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

within  to  move  itself,  is  strange  ;  but  that  it  should  have  energy  enough  to 
move  another  mass  of  equal  siize,  or  superior  bulk,  is  more  surprising.  It 
is  possible,  however,  that  such  a  principle  exists  in  matter,  for  many  things 
have  been  found  out,  that  once  were  supposed  impossible ;  but  if  il  does 
exist,  and  is  ever  found  out,  it  will  put  a  new  face  upon  the  world.  AM 
kinds  of  machinery  will  then  be  in  operation,  without  wind,  water,  fire  or 
steam. 

That  nature  has  fixed  an  universal  standard  for  weights  and  measures, 
is  very  doubtful :  for  different  nations  establish  different  standards;  and 
each  nation  establishes  its  standard  upon  an  undefined  standard. 

It  will  remind  a  man  of  an  article  in  Alcoran  ;  that  the  world  stands 
upon  a  great  ox — the  ox  stands  upon  a  great  stone — the  stone  rests  upon 
the  shoulders  of  an  angel — and  the  angel  stands  upon  God  knows  what. 

In  Great  Britain,  the  half-bushel  must  contain  one  thousand  and  eighty- 
rine  cubical  inches;  which  requires  a  round  vessel  fourteen  inches  in  di- 
ameter,  and  in  the  clear,  seven  inches  and  one-fourteenth  of  an  inch  deep. 
In  Massachusetts,  the  half-bushel  must  contain  sixteen  Winchester  quarts  ; 
which  is  intended  to  accord  with  the  British  standard  of  a  half-bushel.  But 
what  is  the  length  of  an  inch?  Do  all  rules  agree?  if  they  disagree, 
which  of  them  is  the  perfect  standard  ?  We  are  told  that  an  inch,  is  the 
length  of  three  barley  grains  ;  but  how  would  a  child  hiss  at  this  last  re- 
sort for  a  standard,  when  he  sees  the  unequal  lengths  of  the  grains.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  all  kinds  of  standards  for  measures  and  weights. 

And  yet,  where  the  first  settlers  of  a  place  fix  their  weights  and  mea- 
sures, their  posterity  imitate — and  by  comparison,  can  detect  a  cheat — and 
all  the  purposes  of  commerce  are  accomplished,  without  any  material 
injury.     *     *     * 

After  the  Lord  Jesus  arose  from  the  dead,  he  gave  orders  to  the  apos- 
tles to  teach  and  baptize  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost. 
That  he  meant  to  be  understood,  and  that  the  apostles  did  understand  him, 
can  hardly  be  questioned.  After  this  commission,  there  are  three  or  four 
accounts  of  the  name  used  in  baptism.  Acts  viii.  IG.  They  were  baptized 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Acts  x.  48.  And  he  commanded  them  to 
he  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Acts  xix.  5.  They  were  baptized  in 
the  NAME  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Acts  xi.  38.  Be  baptized  every  one  of  you 
in  the  NAME  of  Jesus  Christ. 

In  neither  of  these  places  do  we  find  the  words  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Ghost  used.  If,  therefore.  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  were  not  all  found 
in  the  name  of  ihe  Lord — the  name  of  the.  Lord  Jesus — the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ ;  the  apostles  did  not  understand  their  commission  and  act 
accordingly,  or  I  do  not  understand  them. 

It  is  become  common  for  pious  men  to  .say,  that  "  God  gave  his  son  out 
of  his  bosom  to  die  and  save  men."     The  sentence  is  used  to  show  the  in- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  499 

finite  benevolence  of  Jehovah  :  but  are  the  expressions  proper  ?  They 
are  not  scriptural.  John  says,  "  He  that  is  (not  was,)  in  the  bosom  of 
the  father  hath  declared  him."  Christ  was  then  in  the  bosom  of  the  father, 
when  here  on  earth  ;  and  I  ask,  when  was  he  out  of  the  bosom  of  his 
father  ?  It  is  also  said,  that  the  son  of  man  was  in  heaven,  when  he  was 
on  earth.  But  how  he  could  be  in  heaven — in  the  bosom  of  the  father, 
while  a  sufferer  on  earth,  if  l»e  was  a  creature  only,  I  cannot  tell. 

It  has  also  become  habitual  for  men  to  say,  "  there  is  virtue  enough 
in  one  drop  of  Christ's  blood,  to  save  a  world."  That  the  blood  of  Jesus 
cleanses  from  all  sin,  and  speaks  better  things  than  the  blood  of  Able,  is 
certain.  But  if  one  drop  of  his  blood  was  sufficient  to  make  an  atonement, 
why  did  he  go  through  all  the  pain  of  shedding  the  whole  of  it  ?  Is  it  not 
more  likely,  that  all  his  blood  was  required  to  make  reconciliation  ? 


THE  THIRD  EPISTLE  OF  JOHN. 

DIOTREPHES    AND    DEMETRIUS. 


JoKN,  the  beloved  disciple,  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  Ecclesiastical  his- 
tory  says  that  he  outlived  all  the  apostles,  and  saw  many  antiChrists  arise 
before  his  death.  Cerenthus  and  others,  advocated  the  doctrine  that  Jesus 
was  the  only  Saviour,  but  was  not  Jehovah.  This  occasioned  John  to 
write  so  pointedly,  in  his  gospel  and  epistles  on  the  divinity  of  Christ,  thai 
he  was  the  true  God  and  eternal  life. 

The  little  epistle  before  us,  (which  contains  only  fourteen  verses — in 
which  are  included  two  hundred  and  ninety-five  words — composed  by  one 
thousand  two  hundred  and  fo-rty-nine  letters,)  is  directed  to  Gains,  who 
was  a  man  of  wealth,  and  faithfully  lodged  the  brethren  and  strangers ; 
and  especially  those  missionaries  who  went  forth,  taking  nothing  of  the 
Gentiles.  But  in  the  church  that  John  speaks  of,  was  one  Diotrephes,  a 
man  of  ambition,  who,  by  his  address,  had  gained  considerable  importance 
among  them,  who  did  not  cordially  receive  a  former  letter,  written  by 
John  to  the  church  ;  but  prated  against  John  and  those  in  connexion  with 
him,  with  malicious  words ;  and  was  so  fond  of  pre-eminence,  that  those 
who  would  not  come  into  his  views,  he  would  cast  out  of  the  church,  and 
lord  it  over  the  rest.  But  a  man  of  a  very  different  character  was  in  the 
church,  by  the  name  of  Demetrius,  who  was  upright  among  men  and  pious 
towards  God  ;  who,  by  manifestation  of  the  truth,  commended  himself  to 
every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God.  He  had  good  report  of  all 
men — of  the  truth  itself — and  of  the  true  record  of  John,  and  those  with 


500  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

him,  who  steadfastly  adhered  to  the  apostolic  doctrine,  against  the  innova- 
tion that  was  corrupting  the  church.  Such  men  as  Gaius  and  Demetrius, 
are  blessings  to  a  church  in  any  age ;  and  if  Diotrepheses  creep  in  un- 
awares, it  is  no  more  than  was  the  case  in  the  days  of  John. 

The  epistle  has  not  the  name  of  Jesus  nor  Christ  in  it  j  but  internally  it 
breathes  forth  the  language  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  501 


ADDRESS 

DELIVERED  AT   THE    REQUEST  OF    THE    REPUBLICAN  COMMITTEE  OF  ARRANGE- 

MENTS,    AT   PITTSFIELD,    ON    THE    ANNIVERSARY    OF    AMERICAN 

INDEPENDENCE,  JULY  4,   1824. 


Gentlemen  :  To-day  we  have  assembled  to  celebrate  the  day  of  our 
political  birth.  After  travailing  in  birth  for  a  short  space,  enduring  the 
spasnns  of  Lexington,  Bunker's  Hill,  etc.,  this  day  forty-eight  years,  three 
millions  of  people  were  born  in  a  day — born,  somewhat  like  Ezekiel's  in- 
fant, exposed  in  the  field,  without  the  pity  of  any — but  proof  against  dan- 
ger, with  a  "  Death  or  Victory"  in  their  hearts,  as  well  as  on  their  caps, 
they  rushed  upon  the  foe,  and  studied  nothing  but  to  conquer. 

The  little  band  of  three  millions,  doubled,  by  births  and  emigration,  in 
twenty-four  years,  became  six  millions,  and  again,  in  forty-eight  years, 
they  have  become  twelve  millions.  Although  our  strength  is  now  like  that 
of  a  giant  or  unicorn,  let  him  that  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall.  Ye  who 
are  old,  and  have  known  what  wonders  have  been  wrought  in  behalf  of 
these  states,  it  is  presumed,  will,  with  wonder  and  gratitude,  reflect  on  the 
events  that  took  place  between  the  battle  of  Lexington,  and  the  surrender 
of  Cornwallis,  at  Yorktown.  During  the  seven  years  contest  between  the 
claims  of  monarchs,  and  the  rights  of  man,  the  United  States  sustained 
many  disasters,  great  destruction  of  property,  and  much  loss  of  blood,  but 
in  the  final  event,  they  gained  the  prize  for  which  they  fought.  Had  they 
failed  in  their  enterprise,  instead  of  assembling  this  day  with  delight,  in 
the  midst  of  a  country  abounding  with  unrivaled  prosperity,  we  should 
have  been  doomed  to  the  degradation  of  devoted  Ireland,  to  lift  up  our  eyes 
in  torment,  and  see  our  haughty  oppressors  afar  off,  rioting  in  the  fruits  of 
our  labor. 

Experience  has  taught  the  world,  that  it  requires  as  great  wisdom  and 
valor  to  make  a  victory  prosperous,  as  it  does  to  gain  it.  The  want  of 
efficacy  in  the  confederation,  left  the  states  in  a  languid  condition  :  to  reme- 
dy which  evil,  the  sages  of  the  states  assembled  in  convention,  and  framed 
a  Constitution  of  government,  which,  being  submitted  to,  and  ratified  by 
the  people,  became  the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  Under  this  government 
the  states  have  existed  and  flourished  thirty-five  years.  The  first  enemies 
of  the  government  have  become  friendly  to  it,  and  its  friends,  who  feared 
it  could  not  stand  the  shock  of  war,  are  now  confirmed  in  its  energy.    Under 


\ 


502  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

this  government,  the  annual  revenue  has  risen  from  three  millions  of  dol- 
lars, to  more  than  seven  limes  three  millions. 

Notwithstanding  the  acknowledgment  of  our  independence  by  Great 
Britain,  in  the  treaty  of  1783,  yet  that  government  sought  to  make  the 
United  States  subservient  to  her  interest,  by  art  and  commercial  deprada- 
tion,  without  a  formal  declaration  of  war.  Outrage,  followed  by  insult, 
continued  until  our  pacific  government  declared  war.  This  war  continued 
thirty  months,  attended  with  many  disasters,  and  great  feats  of  valor,  both 
by  sea  and  land.  Our  navy  fought  itself  into  immortal  honor,  and  our 
land  forces  at  the  west,  and  at  the  south,  proved  themselves  Americans. 
Never,  since  the  age  of  miracles  ceased,  was  a  victory  more  splendid  than 
that  of  New  Orleans.  The  commander  at  the  south,  among  the  savage 
tribes  and  British  forces,  has  immortalized  his  name  as  Washington  the 
second.  While  history  endures,  the  eighth  of  January  will  be  noticed  as 
the  day  on  which  the  British  thousands  fell  before  the  Americans,  at  New 
Orleans,  with  the  loss  of  but  seven  men. 

When  war  was  declared,  in  l?r2,  Congress  stated  their  complaints  in 
their  manifesto  :  and,  notwithstanding,  none  of  those  complaints  were 
acknowledged  or  remedied  in  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  yet  the  contest  had 
every  effect  of  the  most  prosperous  war.  The  physical  strength,  and  the 
republican  government  of  the  United  States  were  tested,  and  Great  Britain 
found  that  it  was  dangerous  to  meddle  with  edge  tools.  If  that  govern, 
ment  should,  however,  grow  haughty  and  insolent  again,  let  them  send 
their  legions  here,  where  they  will  find  as  ready  a  market  for  them  as  they 
have  heretofore. 

As  the  Colonies  were  settled  principally  from  Great  Britain,  and  governed 
by  laws,  either  made  there,  or  borrowed  from  them,  it  has  been  a  task  of 
no  small  magnitude  to  revise  those  laws.  As  the  laws  of  Great  Britain 
originated  in  the  feudal  system,  or  in  an  age  still  more  barbarous,  they 
were  no  ways  congenial  to  the  circumstances,  interest  and  views  of  Ameri- 
cans, Some  of  the  most  sanguinary  laws  have  been  repealed,  and  a  great 
reformation  has  been  made  in  meeting  out  punishments  proportionate  to 
crimes.  Much  has  been  done,  and  much  remains  to  be  done.  Laws  and 
public  opinion  must  correspond,  or  disaffection  and  fraud  will  follow. 

The  question  which  now  occupies  the  enquiring  public,  is,  "  whether  im- 
prisonment for  debt  shall  be  abolished  or  continued."  In  ancient  times, 
if  a  man  died  insolvent,  the  creditor  sold  the  debtor's  children  to  get  hi» 
due.  At  a  later  date,  the  debtor,  while  living,  was  sold  with  his  wife  and 
children,  and  all  that  he  had,  to  make  payment.  Later  still,  the  debtor 
was  cut  into  pound  pieces,  and  distributed  among  his  creditors.  Our  laws 
are  not  so  severe,  but  the  question  before  the  public  is,  whether  a  man,  who 
is  become  insolvent,  on  giving  up  all  that  he  possesses,  on  oath,  shall  be 
exonerated,  and  capable  of  holding  his  future  earnings  free  from  attach- 


!  ELDER    JOHN    LELANO.  503 

ment.  Much  is  said  on  bolli  sides.  By  the  advocates  for  imprisonment 
it  is  contended,  that  it  is  impossible  to  make  a  law  for  the  relief  of  honest, 
unfortunate  sufferers,  but  what  fraudulent  villains  will  avail  themselves  of 
its  provisions.  That  villains  will  perjure  to  cover  their  property — that  the 
shame  and  pain  of  a  prison  will  deter  men  from  contracting  incautious 
debts,  or  spur  them  up  to  discharge  them,  etc. 

By  those  on  the  other  side,  it  is  pleaded,  that  the  prison  is  no  place  for 
the  debtor  to  make  money ;  that  the  creditor,  in  seven  cases  out  of  ten, 
loses  additional  cost  with  his  debt;  that  the  debtor's  family  must  be  sup- 
ported by  the  public,  while  his  time  and  labor  are  lost ;  that  in  many  cases 
men  are  reduced  to  poverty  by  sickness — by  the  elements  of  fire,  wind, 
and  water,  or  by  the  fraud  or  depredations  of  others,  over  which  they  have 
no  control  ;  that  to  cast  such  men  into  prison  for  their  misfortune,  with 
the  worst  of  criminals,  is  morally  wrong  ;  that  it  is  an  axiom  of  truth,  that 
the  guilty,  and  the  guilty  only,  should  be  punished;  that  if  no  humane  law 
is  to  be  made  to  relieve  the  miserable,  because  it  can  be  abused  by  the 
knavish,  then  there  is  an  end  to  all  legislative  interference  to  meliorate  the 
state  of  man.  That  the  unfortunate  debtor  may  address  the  legislature  in 
old  fashioned  language  :  "  To  him  that  is  afflicted,  pity  should  be  shown. 
Have  pity  upon  me — have  pity  upon  me,  O  ye  my  friends  !  for  the  hand 
of  adversity  has  touched  me." 

In  some  of  the  states,  imprisonment  for  debt  is  abolished.  The  subject 
has  been  before  the  Senate  of  the  Uniied  States  :  what  the  final  event  will 
be,  is  not  known. 

Perhaps  no  devisable  plan  would  answer  so  good  purpose  in  this  case,  as 
to  exclude  all  compulsive  power  to  recover  debts,  from  the  civil  code,  and 
leave  every  man  to  stand  or  fall  by  his  moral  conduct.  Should  such  a  rule 
be  adopted,  it  must  be  prospective  alone,  and  not  retrospective.  The  power 
of  education  is  great ;  by  it  the  Spartan  youth  lost  all  the  soft  vices  of  re- 
fined nations,  and  conceived  themselves  born  for  the  public.  Let  it  be 
known  among  us,  that  if  a  man  fails  in  his  word  or  contract,  his  character 
is  gone  forever,  and  he  will  consider  his  punctuality  his  life — his  all.  The 
Tunkers  make  no  use  of  law  to  recover  debts,  yet  they  live  in  peace  and 
safety. 

I  have  somewhere  had  a  hint  that  the  Turks  use  no  compulsion  to  recover 
debts,  the  truth  of  which  I  am  not  certain  of;  but  their  honesty  is  become 
proverbial.  They  circulate  their  pieces  of  gold  in  little  bags,  tied  up  and 
marked,  which  pass  current  without  being  opened  and  numbered,  having 
no  suspicion  that  any  one  has  opened  the  bag  and  filched  any  of  its  con- 
tents. 

Accuse  a  Turk  of  any  trick,  he  replies,  "  What,  do  you  think  that  I  will 
lie  and  cheat  like  a  Christian  ?" 

Should  this  plan  ever  lake  effect,  it  would  give  immense  relief  to  the 


504  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

gentlemen  of  the  bar,  who,  instead  of  being  obliged  to  travel  through 
storms  and  tempests,  purely  to  aid  their  injured  clients  in  recovering  their 
just  debts,  would  sit  peaceably  by  iheir  firesides,  enjoying  all  the  sweets  of 
domestic  life. 

It  is  possible,  that  in  some  future  period,  government  will  seethe  impol- 
icy and  usurpation  of  fixing  the  standard  of  usury,  sanctioned  by  penalty. 
If  it  is  legitimate  to  force  one  man,  who  is  the  lender,  to  take  but  a  cer- 
tain per  cent,  for  the  use  of  his  money,  the  borrower  should  be  equally 
compelled  to  make  no  more  profit  by  it  than  the  per  cent  which  he  gives. 
Government  has  just  as  good  right  to  prescribe  what  a  man  shall  have  for 
his  labor — for  his  flocks — for  his  land,  etc.,  as  it  has  to  dictate  what  price 
he  shall  receive  for  his  money.  Hjw  a  usury  law  can  be  reconciled  to  the 
declaration,  "  that  no  law  shall  be  made  to  impair  the  obligation  of  con- 
tracts," I  cannot  see.  In  all  free  governments,  men  will  contract  as  they 
please,  and  any  law,  made  to  control  them  in  their  bargains,  is  usuipasive, 
for  the  right  of  free  contract  is  never  surrendered  by  individuals.  Why 
should  legislators  lay  a  burden  on  the  people,  which  they  will  not  touch 
with  a  tip  of  one  of  their  fingers  ?  They  borrow  money  at  a  per  cent 
which  is  agreed  to  in  the  contract,  sometimes  at  two,  and  sometimes  at 
eight  per  cent,  without  any  fixed  standard  :  and  where  do  they  get  the 
right  to  do  so,  unless  the  right  is  in  the  people,  from  whom  they  receive 
all  their  power?  If  the  people  have  this  right,  let  them  enjoy  it.  In  every 
instrument,  or  verbal  agreement,  let  the  per  cent  be  agreed  upon,  as  part 
of  the  bargain,  and  what  evil  could  ensue  ? 

By  reading  the  declaration  of  rights,  that  "all  judicial  officers  are  the 
agents  of  the  people,  and  at  all  times  accountable  to  them,"  one  would  be 
ready  to  conclude  that  the  organization  of  the  judiciary  needed  some 
amendment;  for,  at  present,  the  judges  are  at  no  time  accountable  to  the 
people.  The  legislative  arm  of  government  has  a  small  check  on  the  ju- 
diciary, but  the  people  have  none.  The  peoj)Ie  are  not  asked  once  in  seven 
years,  nor  once  in  a  century,  who  they  will  have  to  judge  their  causes. 
To  say  that  the  people  are  not  competent  to  select  the  best  men,  is  a  libel 
on  all  [)opular  governments.  If  they  have  not  wisdom  enough  to  choose 
those  who  are  best,  they  must  be  equally  unfit  to  choose  others  to  do  the 
work  for  them.  I  am  aware  that  I  am  now  treading  on  very  unpopular 
ground,  for  the  independence  of  the  judiciary  is  the  order  of  the  day,  and 
toast  of  the  country.  Yes,  the  independence  of  the  judges — high  sala- 
ries,  and  the  amalgamation  of  all  parties  and  opinions,  is  the  leghorn,  crape, 
and  plaid  of  the  times,  without  a  profession  of  which  a  man  cannot  appear 
in  style,  but  must  be  numbered  amang  the  vulgar  clowns.  Good  heavens! 
what  a  change ! 

In  old  fashioned  times  it  was  thought  impracticable  to  weld  cold  iron 
and  hot  together,  but  iho^e  days  are  past.     In  this  day  of  improvement 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND..  505 

anti  patent  rights,  the  gordian- knot  is  cut;  the  philosop.her's  stone  is  found. 
Now,  Whig  and  Tory — the  convention  that  framed  the  United  Slates  con- 
stitution, iind  the  Hartford  Convention — the  rights  of  men  and  the  chums 
of  monarchy  are  all  one  !  This  connection  of  discordant  ingredients  I'e- 
minds  me  of  the  Frenchman's  punch :  he  put  water  into  it,  to  make  it 
weak — rum  to  make  it  strong — sugar  to  make  it  sweet — and  limes  to 
make  it  sour.  The  mixture  was  very  palatable  to  his  taste,  and  the  only 
misfortune  was,  it  punched  his  senses  out  of  his  head.  If  this  remarkable 
amalgamation  should  gain  its  designed  object,  to  flatter  Congress  to  assume 
the  payment  of  that  -debt,  which  was  created  in  thii  state  with  party  views, 
to  run  down  the  administration  and  supplant  it,  it  would  not  be  the  great- 
•est  wonder  that  has  happened  in  the  world,  since  the  year  one,  if  the  toes 
•of  the  image,  which  are  partly  of  iron  and  partly  of  clay,  should  break  in 
pieces.  The  subject  crowds  into  my  mind  a  circumstance  which  took 
.place  in  Ireland.  A  Friar. was  admonishing  a  man  and  his  wife  for  conten- 
tion, and  reminded  them  that  they  two  were  one.  "  By  St.  Patrick,"  said 
Paddy,  "  if  you  were  to  come  to  our  door  at  some  times,  you  would  think 
that  we  were  twenty." 

If  these  observations  proceed  from  mean  suspicion,  let  them  be  exploded 
by  every  one  4  for  that  base  temper  of  mind,  like  a  crow  after  carrion,  is 
always  hunting  after  faults  :  it  pleases  not  God,  and  is  contrary  to  all  men  ; 
it  reprobates  every  man  and  every  measure.  It  makes  no  allowance  for 
the  embarrassments  that  frequently  assail  the  government,  when  out  of 
two  or  more  evils,  the  administration  is  compelled  to  choose  one  of  them  : 
and  if  it  has  some  claim  to  merit,  for  its  ingenuity  in  exposing  the  evils 
of  monarchy,  hierarchy,  and  rotten  laws,  and  pulling  down  what  is  bad; 
yet  it  has  no  faculty  in  building  up  that  which  is  good.  But  manly  jeal- 
ousy is  a  noble  virtue,  absolutely  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  liberty. 
Without  this,  aspiring  men,  who  love  themselves  too  well  to  love  others 
enough,  will  climb  the  tree  of  pre-eminence,  and  when  they  have  gained  a 
lofty  seat,  kick  the  ladder  down,  that  no  others  may  rise.  We  live  in  a 
world  where  men,  when  out  of  office,  talk  like  whigs,  but  in  office,  they  act 
the  tyrant. 

Notwithstanding  there  are  some  defects  yet  existing  in  our  institutions 
and  laws,  yet  the  lines  are  fallen  to  us  in  pleasant  places  :  we  have  a  goodly- 
heritage.  Compare  the  United  States  with  most  of  the  nations,  and  we 
enjoy  a  paradise.  Yes,  our  extensive  country,  reaching  from  Yellow  Stone 
to  Passamaquaddy,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  never — containing  all  the  soils, 
climes,  lakes  and  rivers  necessary  for  life,  we  are  a  world  within  ourselves, 
and  by  attention  to  agriculture,  manufactures  and  inland  commerce,  under 
the  fostering  hand  of  government,  and  smiles  of  Divine  Providence,  we 
need  not  go  abroad  for  joy.  And  with  a  million  of  well  trained  militia  we 
have  not  much  to  fear,  by  land,  while  our  navy  guards  us  from  unfriendly 
visitors.  64 


506  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

It  was,  however,  a  maxim  with  Ccesar,  "  That  nothing  was  done,  while 
anything  remained  undone."  One  thing,  at  least,  remains  undone  in  this 
commonwealth,  viz.,  to  place  religion  on  its  proper  footing.  Before  the 
revolution,  many  of  the  colonies  had  religious  establishments  among  them. 
Rhode  Island,  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  had  none.  Dur- 
ing the  war,  or  since  its  close,  all  the  old  states  have  altered  their  consti- 
tutions, and  revised  their  laws,  to  place  religion  where  it  ought  to  be,  ex- 
cept Massachusetts.  All  the  new  states,  that  have  been  formed  since  the 
revolution,  have  left  religion  to  stand  on  its  own  merit.  How  strange  it 
is,  that  Massachusetts  should  boast  of  its  singular  wisdom  and  piety,  for 
holding  fast  that,  which  the  other  states  justly  reproach  it  for.  I  was  io 
hopes,  when  the  patent-office  was  demolished  at  Washington,  that  no  one 
society,  in  any  town  of  Massachusetts,  would  get  a  patent  with  the  exclusive 
right  to  all  the  new-born — profane  and  strangers,  within  its  limits.  This, 
however,  is  the  case.  The  convention  that  revised  the  constitution  have 
confirmed  the  old  firm  of  law  and  religion — church  and  state — hypocrisy 
and  cruelty.  It  is  true,  that  all  religious  societies  may  screen  themselves 
from  the  lash  of  any  other,  if  they  will  avail  themselves  of  the  weapon 
(corporate  power)  that  does  all  the  mischief;  but  no  provision  is  made  for 
individuals.  Children,  the  irreligious  and  emigrants,  are  all  claimed  by 
one  society.  The  language  of  it  is  this  :  "  You  shall  join  religious  socie- 
ty or  be  whipped  ;  and,  when  you  join,  you  shall  pay  your  quota  of  cents  ; 
for,  no  penny,  no  paler  nosier.''^ 

Instead  of  the  second  and  third  articles  of  our  declaration  of  rights,  if 
something  like  the  following  was  inserted,  it  would  be  highly  gratifying  to 
one  at  least — I  believe  to  many  thousands. 

"  The  legislature  have  no  right,  and  shall  assume  no  power,  to  establish 
any  religion — force  any  man  to  support  any — give  one  religious  sect  any 
preference  to  another — proscribe  any  man  for  heresy — appoint  any  holy- 
days  for  worship — compel  any  man  to  attend  public  worship,  or  cease  from 
labor — give  any  legal  reward  for  religious  services,  or  require  any  reli- 
gious test  to  qualify  for  office." 

This  proposed  amendment  may  be  viewed  in  the  light  of  licentiousness, 
by  some,  and,  as  bordering  on  blasphemy,  by  others ;  the  substance  of 
it,  however,  is  adopted  in  all  the  states,  except  Massachusetts,  and  enjoyed 
ia  the  city  of  Boston,  in  distinction  from  other  towns  in  the  commonwealth. 

Almost  two  centuries  past,  Roger  Williams  was  ejected  from  Salem, 
and  banished  from  Massachusetts,  for  contending  for  the  same  doctrine — 
that  rulers,  in  their  official  capacity,  had  nothing  to  do  with  religion.  The 
contrary  opinion  prevailed  in  the  colony — that  legislatures  had  a  divine 
right  to  prescribe  religion  for  the  people;  and,  that  magistrates  had  the 
same  right  to  judge  of  doctrines  and  their  tendencies.  This  claim  occa- 
sioned the  Baptists  to  be  whipped,  the  Quakers  to  be  hanged,  and  the 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  507 

witches  to  be  gibbeted.  Admit  of  the  principle,  that  religious  opinions 
are  objects  of  civil  government,  or  in  any  way  under  its  control,  and  the 
broad  stair  is  laid  in  the  case  that  leads  to  the  inquisition.  Admit  of  the 
principle,  and  the  rights  of  the  people  rest  upon  the  good  will  of  the  legis- 
lature, and  the  benevolence  of  towns ;  whereas,  they  ought  to  rest  upon  a 
footing,  out  of  the  reach  of  the  ill  will  of  the  legislature,  and  the  malevo- 
lence of  towns.  Though  the  tree  may  be  hewn  down,  yet,  the  just  liberty 
of  the  people  is  not  secure,  while  the  stump  is  preserved  with  a  band  of 
iron  and  brass. 

That  the  stain  on  our  revolution — the  reproach  of  this  commonwealth, 
and  perplexity  of  thousands,  may  be  removed,  it  is  ardently  wished  that 
the  root  of  bitterness  many  be  erased  from  our  constitution,  and  that  all 
laws  which  have  proceeded  therefrom  may  be  repealed. 

I  close,  by  observing  that  here  is  an  arm  seventy  years  old,  which,  as 
long  as  it  can  rise  to  heaven  in  prayer,  or  wield  a  pen  on  earth,  shall  never 
be  inactive,  when  the  religious  rights  of  men  are  in  jeopardy.  Was  there 
a  vital  fibre  in  my  heart,  that  did  not  plead  for  rational  religious  liberty, 
i  would  chase  the  felon  from  his  den,  and  roast  him  in  the  flames. 


508  THB   WRITINGS   OF 


FORM  OF  A  CHARGE  TO  A.  CANDIDATE  AT  HIS 
ORDINATION. 


That  part  of  the  solemnities  of  the  day  which  is  assigned  to  me,  is  to 
exhibit  the  charge  of  God  to  the  ministers  of  his  word.  Notwithstanding 
there  is  no  account  in  the  New  Testament,  that  the  apostles,  elders  or 
brethren,  ever  repeated  a  formal  charge  to  a  candidate  at  the  time  of  his 
ordination  to  the  ministry,  yet  the  charge  is  found  in  the  scriptures,  and 
there  can  never  be  a  better  time  to  rehearse  it,  than  at  the  hour  of  ordina- 
tion. Therefore,  in  the  name  of  Christ  Jesus,  before  an  august  assembly 
of  angels,  by  the  appointment  of  this  council,  and  in  the  fellowship  of  this 
church,  I  charge  you  to  take  heed  to  your  spirit.  Moses  erred  for  want  of 
this.  For  want  of  this,  James  ond  John  souglit  to  bring  fire  from  heaven 
to  destroy  the  Samaritans.  Remember,  the  servant  of  the  Lord  must  not 
strive,  but  be  gentle  unto  all  men;  patient,  in  meekness  instructing  those 
that  oppose.  Be  thou,  therefore,  an  example  to  the  flock,  in  spirit,  in  faith, 
and  in  charity.  I  charge  you  to  take  heed  to  your  conversation.  Let 
3'our  conversation  be  with  grace,  seasoned  with  salt,  as  becomes  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ,  that  it  may  minister  edification  to  those  that  hear.  When 
conversing  on  religious  subjects,  use  not  craftiness,  nor  handle  tlw3  word  of 
God  deceitfully,  but  use  great  plainness  of  speech.  Understand  yourself, 
and  seek  to  make  others  understand  you.  When  conversing  about  tem- 
poral things,  for  necessary  uses,  always  speak  the  truth.  Let  not  the  love  , 
of  gain,  or  of  fame,  direct  your  t<ingue  from  plain  truth.  Let  not  the  fear 
of  loss,  or  of  reproach,  cause  you  to  dissemble.  Though  truth  may  faint  in 
the  streets  for  awhile,  yet  it  is  great,  and  will  finally  prevail.  It  is  difBcult 
to  describe  a  more  hateful  character  than  the  man  who  pretends  to  have  a 
great  concern  for  the  truth  of  God,  and  none  for  the  truth  o(  his  oicmoord. 
I  charge  you  to  study  to  show  yourself  approved  of  God.  Search,  the  scrip- 
tures, give  attendance  to  reading,  let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly. 
The  scriptures  will  make  you  wise  unto  salvation,  and  furnish  you  with  mat- 
ter both  to  feed  the  lambs  and  sheep  of  Jesus,  and  stop  the  mouths  of  gain- 
say ers. 

I  charge  you   to   take    heed  to  yourself  in    all  your  relationsof  life,  as  ■ 
child,  husband,  father,  neighbor,  citizen  and  Christian,  Let  your  light  shine- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  509 

SO  bright,  that  none  can  justly  accuse,  but  contFarywise,  seeing  your  good 
works,  may  glorify  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven.     If  you  live  after  the 
flesh  in  commcHi  life,  when  you  a  re  in  the  pulpit,  the  people  will  say,  "it 
is  a  pity  he  should  ever  come  out,''  and  whenever  you  are  out  of  the  pul- 
pit,  they  will  say,  "it  is  a  pity  that  he  should  ever  go  in."     Always  re- 
member, that  actions  speak  louder  than  words.  Precepts  without  examples,, 
in  a  preacher,  have  a  poor  effect. 
I  charge  you  to  take  heed  to  your  doctrine.  In  doctrine,  be  uncorrupt,  sound- 
in  the  faith.     The  gospel  of  salvation  is  summarily  comprehended  in  these- 
words,  "  ruin  and  recovery."  The  human  family  are  ruined  by  sin,  all  have- 
sinned,  all  are  included  in  unbelief.  There  is  none  that  doeth  good,  they  are 
all  out  of  the  way.     They  are  at  enmity  with  God,  in  alliance  with  Satan,, 
under  the  dominion  of  sin.   These  are  the  characters,  my  brother,  to  whom, 
you  are  sent.     And  thou,  O  son  of  man,  cause  them  to  know  their  abomi- 
nations.    Labor  to  convince  them  of  the  error  of  their  way.     Point  out 
their  sins,  not  merely  aa  misfortunes,  but  as  acts  of  wilful  rebellion  against 
the  God  of  love.  Discover  to  them  the  danger  ihey  are  in,  of  dying  in  their 
sins,  and  never  going  where  Christ  is.     Tell  them,  that  God  calls  men  ev- 
ery where  to  repent.  Justify  repentance  towards  God,  and  assure  them  that 
unless  they  repent,. they  will  all  perish.  Set  forth  the  purity  of  God's  holy, 
law,  which  is  the  eternal  rule    of  right,  w-hich    from  the  relations  that  ex^ 
ist  between  God  and  man,  and. between  man  and  mao,  will  be  binding  as 
long  as'the  perfections  of  God,  and  the  faculties  of  man  continue.  For  with^ 
out  a  knowledge  of  the  law,  men  will  quiet  themselves  in  a  life  of  sin.  But 
when  you-  find  any  who  are  pricked  in  the  heart,  crying  out  "  I  am  un. 
done,"" and  asking  the  important  question,  "  what  shall  I  do  to  be  saved," 
then  fly  like  the  prophetic  seraphim,  with  the  living  coal  of  gospel  promise^ 
saying  to  the  self-condemned,  heart-sick  sinner,  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Je- 
sus Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."     Represent  Christianity  as  the  reli- 
gion for  sinners.     Hold  forth  the  Saviour  as  able,  and  willing  to  save  aril 
that  come  unto  him.     Point  out  the  Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world.  Describe  him- as  coming  into  the  world  to  seek  and  save  that 
which  was  lost.     Proclaim  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  as  the  price  paid  to  re- 
deem sinners,  and  the  efficacy  of  his  grace  to  cleanse  from  the  pollution  of 
sin.  Repeat  the  gracious  calls  of  Jesus  to  heavy  laden  sinners,  "  Come  un- 
to me,  and  I-will  give  you  rest" — "  Him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  na 
wise  cast  out."     When  a nj/-  appear  to  have  obtained  pardon- by  believing, 
in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  give  reasonable  evidence  of  it,  if  any  such  first  pro- 
pose it,  saying,  "  Lo,  here  is  water,  what  doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized  ?" 
then  go  down  with  such  a  one  into  the  water,  baptize  him,  and  then  come 
up  out  of  the  water.  But  if  any  give  satisfactory  evidence  that  they  are  truo 
believers  in  Jesus,  and  gladly  receive  the  word,  if  any  such  do  not  propose 
it  themselves,  preach  to  them. like  Ananius,  "  And  now,  why  tarriest  th  ou 


510  THE    WETTINGS    OF 

arise,  and  be  baptized."     Or  like  Peter,  command  them  to  be  baptized  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord. 

I  charge  you  to  preach  the  word.  How  great  soever  your  reading  may 
have  been,  or  what  proficienay  soever  you  may  have  made  in  the  sciences^ 
these  are  but  feeble  aids  for  the  pulpit.  The  knowledge  of  God's  word  is 
the  one  thing  needful  for  the  preacher,  and  this  word,  he  must  preach  with- 
out perversion.  Nothing  must  be  laid  down  as  doctrine,  nothing  enjoined 
as  a  rule  of  life,  but  what  has  a  "thus  saith  the  Lord,"  for  its  support. 
Some  preachers  have  more  acceptable  talents  than  others,  some  are  so  cir- 
cumstanced that  they  can  devote  more  of  their  time  to  the  work  of  the 
sanctuary  than  others ;  but  as  God  has  furnished  you  with  gifts,  and  Prov- 
idence opens  the  way,  I  charge  you  to  preach  the  word,  in  season  and  out 
of  season.  Take  heed  to  the  ministry  that  thou  hast  received  of  the  Lord, 
that  thou  fulfil  it.  Neglect  not  the  gift  that  is  in  thee,  nor  be  disobedient 
to  the  heavenly  vision.  Should  you  be  successful  in  turning  many  to  right- 
eousness, it  will  be  a  crown  of  rejoicing  in  this  life,  and  in  the  day  of  the 
Lord.  But  still,  the  promise  is  not  made  to  the  successful,  but  to  the  faith- 
ful. Noah,  a  preacher  of  righteousness,  was  not  successful :  all  his 
hearers  but  seven  were  destroyed ;  but  he  was  faithful,  and  became  heir 
of  the  righteousness  which  is  by  faith.  I  charge  you,  therefore,  to  be 
faithful  unto  death,  that  you  may  receive  a  crown  of  life.  Warn  the  un- 
ruly, and  feed  the  flock  of  God  around  you  in  every  place  where  God 
shall  cast  your  lot;  not  through  constraint,  but  willingly;  not  for  filthy 
lucre,  but  of  a  ready  mind.  And  when  the  chief  shepherd  shall  appear, 
you   shall   receive  a  crown  of  rigliteousness  that  fadeth  not  away. 

My  brother,  always  remember,  that  it  is  sinners  you  have  to  address  : 
if,  therefore,  you  are  maltreated,  it  need  not  surprise  you.  Among  other 
sins,  covetousness  bears  a  prominent  part.  Should  you,  therefore,  in  the 
discharge  of  your  trust,  sacrifice  time  and  interest  to  clear  your  conscience, 
and  receive  little  or  no  reward,  you  need  not  from  that  conclude  that  your 
trials  are  singular,  for  thousands  have  experienced  the  same.  Nominal 
Christianity  is  fashionable,  and  many  enter  the  ministry  professedly  as  a 
source  of  emolument,  who  prophesy  for  reward,  and  divine  for  money. 
Such  will  cry  for  peace,  and  he  that  putteth  not  into  their  hand,  they  pur- 
pose war  against  him.  But  thou,  O  man  of  God,  flee  these  things,  and  en- 
dure hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.  How  many  ministers  of 
J^sus  have  had  yearning  of  soul  for  their  fellow  creatures,  and  a  heavy 
wo  on  their  hearts  if  they  did  not  preach,  but  their  limited  resources,  and 
large  families  would  prevent  their  constant  exertions.  In  this  particular, 
they  have  been  like  the  colt  tied  where  two  ways  met.  It  is  recorded  of 
the  primitive  preachers,  that  they  continued  in  prayer,  gave  themselves  to 
prayer,  and  the  ministry  of  the  word.  Christians  have  much  to  pray  for 
and  much  to  pray  against ;  but  the  ministers  of  the  word  have  more.  Their 


EL.DBR    JOHN    LELAND.  511 

own  flesh  anointings,  ministerial  accomplishments,  and  success  in  their  la- 
bors, loudly  call  for  constant  and  fervent  prayer.  They  know  ihey  can  do 
nothing  to  purpose  of  themselves,  that  all  their  springs  are  in  God,  that  if 
they  plant  and  water  with  the  utmost  diligence,  all  will  fail  if  God  does 
not  give  the  increase.  It  is  a  rich  saying,  that  a  preacher  should  go  from 
his  knees  to  the  pulpit,  and  from  the  pulpit  to  his  knees.  To  which  1  would 
add,  he  should  keep  upon  his  knees  in  the  pulpit.  He  who  preaches  by  the 
influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  will  pray  the  most  fervently  while  he  is  preach- 
ing the  most  powerfully,  and  each  exercise  will  aid  the  other. 

I  cannot  close  the  charge  better,  than  by  rehearsing  the  charge  which 
Jesus  gave  the  apostles  at  the  time  when  he  left  them :  "  Go  teach  all  na- 
tions, baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you,  and  lo !  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world."     How  important  the  charge,  how  rich  the  promise. 


The  following  was  written  on  the  back  of  a  letter  from  a  gentleman,  re- 
questing  him  to  reply  to  Mr.  Campbell's  essay  on  Forgiveness  of  Sins 
through  immersion. 

Should  I  begin  on  the  controversy  between  A.  Campbell  and  others,  I 
know  not  where  it  would  end.  His  creed  is,  that  he  will  have  no  creed 
but  the  New  Testament ;  why  then,  has  he  undertaken  to  alter  his  creed 
by  a  new  translation  ?  Which  of  the  translations  is  his  creed,  and  why 
loes  he  write  for  others  to  read  and  believe  ?  His  creed,  no  creed,  he 
would  have  others  adopt,  and  why  ?  Is  it  unreasonable  for  us  to  adopt  a 
creed,  which  precludes  us  from  having  a  written  creed  hereafter? 


Extracts  from  a  manuscript  read  in  connexion  with  a  sermon  preached 
on  his  seventieth  birth-day,  May  14,  1 824. 

I  am  this  day  three-score  and  ten  years  old.  It  cannot  be  said  of  me, 
as  it  was  of  Moses,  when  he  was  much  older,  "  his  eye  is  not  dim,  nor 
his  natural  force  abated."  Nor  can  I  say  of  myself,  as  Caleb  did  when 
he  was  fifteen  years  older  than  I  am,  "  I  am  as  strong  this  day  as  I  was 
forty-five  years  ago,  for  war,  both  to  go  out,  and  to  come  in."  The  words 
of  the  patriarch  Jacob,  are  more  appropriate  to  my  case  :  "Few  and  evil 
have  the  days  of  the  years  of  my  pilgrimnge  been."  At  present,  I  breath 
twenty-four  times  each  minute,  and  my  pulses  vibrate  three  times  as  often. 
Taking  this  for  data,  I  have,  in  seventy  years,  breathed  almost  nine  hun- 


51^  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

dred  million  times,  and  my  pulses  beat  more  than  twenty-five  hundred 
millioM  limes.  These  involuntary  motions  are  perpetual  in  life;  but 
perpetual  motion  of  lifeless  matter  has  not  been  found  out,  and  I  pre- 
sume  never  will  be. 

In  seventy  years,  or  twenty-five  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-seven 
'days,  if  we  eat  three  times  each  day,  and  estimate  each  meal  at  three 
cents,  the  cost  of  food  for  seventy  years,  is  more  than  two  thousand  three 
hundred  dollars;  and  if  our  clothing  costs  thirty  dollars  each  year,  the 
septennarian  bill  will  be  two  thousand  one  hundred  dollars.  At  this  rate,  the 
food  and  clothing  of  a  man  for  seventy  years  will  amount  to  almost  four 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars. 

If  we  consider  that  life,  breath,  pulsation,  food  and  raiment,  yea,  every 
good  and  perfect  gift  dc;scends  from  above,  it  will  naturally  inspire  our 
hearts  with  gratitude  and  reverence  to  the  giver. 

It  is  now  fifty  years  since  I  began  to  preach  ;  but  now  the  half-century 
past  seems  like  a  dream  that  is  fled,  or  like  a  tale  that  is  told.  Nearly 
fifteen  years  of  the  forepart  of  my  ministry,  were  spent  in  Virginia  ;  seven 
hundred  persons  I  have  baptized  while  resident  in  that  state.  The  years 
1779  '80  '67,  and  '83,  were  the  most  successful.  In  the  last  mentioned 
year  I  baptized  precisely  three  hundred.  In  1792,  I  removed  into  what 
is  now  Cheshire.  When  I  came  here,  there  was  a  large  and  flourishing 
church  administered  to  by  Elder  Werden,  called  New  Providence  grant. 
There  was  likewise  a  church  calld  the  church  of  six  principles,  (making 
layin"  on  of  hands  a  term  of  communion.)  The  church  which  I  joined, 
and  whereof  I  am  now  a  member,  had  dissented  from  the  six  principle 
church,  and  contained  about  seventy  members.  For  the  first  seven  years 
that  I  preached  among  them,  there  were  some  small  revivings,  insomuch 
that  about  seventy  were  added.  In  the  fall  and  winter  of  1799  and  1800 
such  a  heavenly  shower  descended,  that  more  than  two  hundred  were 
added  in  six  months.  Two  partial  revivals  have  since  that  time  taken 
place  in  Cheshire,  (besides  some  scattering  drops,)  one  in  the  year  1811, 
the  other  in  1823.  I  have  baptized  three  hundred  and  thirty  three  in 
Chesliire  and  its  environs ;  more  than  fifty  of  them  are  dead,  and  above 
one  hundred  and  sixty  have  removed  from  the  place.  Fifteen  or  twenty 
have  dissented  from  the  church,  and  a  number  have  been  excluded  ;  about 
sixty  remain. 

The  once  famous  church  in  Grant,  by  removals  and  deaths,  is  almost 
extinct.  The  church  of  six  principles,  from  the  same  causes,  is  no  more, 
and  the  church  whereof  1  am  a  member,  contains  but  a  handful. 

In  the  summer  of  1823,  a  Methodist  church  was  constituted  in  the  town, 
containing  about  thirty,  and  in  the  beginning  of  1824,  a  small  Baptist 
church  was  likewise  formed.     From  this  picture  of  Cheshire,  it  is  evident 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  513 

that  religion  is  not  as  predominant  as  it  was  thirty-two  years  past. 
Within  that  period,  however,  two  decent  meeting-houses  have  been  built 
and  paid  for,  without  corporate  powers  or  town  vote.  Whether  the  church 
of  which  I  am  a  member,  will  finally  run  down,  as  two  others  have  done, 
in  the  town,  and  the  Methodist,  and  the  newly  formed  Baptist  church  re- 
main and  flourish,  time  alone  will  explain.* 

It  is  a  matter  of  consolation,  that  although  local  congregated  churches 
may  crumble  to  pieces  and  be  no  more,  yet  the  one  church  of  Christ,  in- 
cluding all  those  who  fear  God  and  work  righteousness,  will  stand  firm, 
in  spite  of  all  the  powers  of  darkness. 

My  imperfect  labors  have  not  been  confined  to  this  town,  but  my  travels 
have  been  considerable.  In  Conway,  Pownal,  Adams,  Hancock,  and 
other  places,  I  have  baptized  more  than  three  hundred.  The  whole  num- 
ber that  I  have  baplized,  is  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty-two. 
Some  of  them  have  been  men  of  wealth,  men  of  rank,  and  ladies  of  qual- 
ity ;  but  the  chief  of  them  have  been  in  the  middle  and  lower  grades  of 
life,  ten  or  twelve  of  them  have  engaged  to  preach. 

My  missionary  travels  have  been  extensive  enough  to  girdle  the  globe 
three  times ;  but  I  was  never  sent  out,  nor  supported  by  a  missionary 
society.  I  have  had  the  honor,  (if  honor  it  may  be  called,)  of  preaching 
to  two  or  three  presidents  of  the  United  States,  either  while  in,  or  when 
out  of  office ;  to  a  number  of  governors,  one  Indian  king,  etc. ;  but  the 
poorer  sort  of  people  have  been  the  most  constant  attendants  on  my  min- 
istry. My  success  has  been  small,  compared  with  that  of  many  others ; 
but,  considering  my  birth,  education,  rusticity  of  manners,  and  above  all, 
the  languor  of  soul,  I  have  more  cause  to  wonder  why  God  ever  succeed- 
ed my  labors  at  all,  than  that  he  blessed  them  no  more. 

There  is  a  common  saying,  that  fortune  assists  the  brave,  and  confers 
honors  upon  young  men.  To  this  maxim,  there  are  but  few  exceptions. 
It  is  rare  for  an  old  man,  who  has  filled  a  public  character  to  retain  all 
his  popularity  in  his  old  age.  All  the  imperfections  of  his  life,  together 
with  the  errors  of  his  ancestors  and  offspring,  will  be  thought  of  by  his 
friends,  and  reported  and  exaggerated  by  his  enemies.  Happy  the  old 
man  who  can  make  the  solemn  appeal  of  Samuel,  and  be  answered  as  he 
was.  "  And  now  I  am  old  and  gray  headed,  and  I  have  walked  before 
you  from  my  childhood  to  this  day.  Behold,  here  I  am  ;  witness  against 
me  before  the  Lord,  and  before  his  anointed,  whose  ox  have  I  taken  ?  or 
whom  have  I  defrauded  ?  whom  have  I  oppressed  ?  or  of  whose  hand  have 
I  received  any  bribe  to  blind  my  eyes  therewith  ?  and  I  will  restore  it  unto 

•  The  two  Baptist  churches  here  epaken  of,  united  into  one,  in  the  year  1834. 

65 


514  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

j'ou."  And  they  said,  "  Thou  hast  not  defrauded,  neither  hast  thou  taken 
aught  of  any  man's  hand." 

How  fickle  are  friends  !  How  whiffling  is  friendship !  I  have  had  many 
friends  in  my  life,  who,  seemingly,  would  have  plucked  out  their  own  eyes 
and  given  them  to  me,  and  yet,  afterward,  (either  through  my  misconduct 
or  their  own,)  they  have  become  my  enemies.  In  this  case,  I  have  fixed 
it  in  my  mind,  never  to  forget  the  favors  I  received  of  them  while  we  were 
friends,  and  never  to  betray  the  confidence  they  placed  in  me  in  the  days 
of  our  friendship.  To  forget  ninety. nine  favors,  because  the  hundredth  is 
"withholden,  appears  barbarous  and  ungrateful. 

When  I  first  began  to  preach,  I  formed  an  idea  how  a  preacher  should 
be  adorned  with  piety  of  heart,  meekness  of  mind,  purity  of  life,  and  fervor 
of  spirit,  and  looked  forward  with  much  desire,  and  some  expectation  of 
acquiring  that  sacred  standing  ;  but  have  never  yet  attained  it.  And,  strange 
to  relate,  though  I  have  been  foiled  fifty  years,  yet  my  emulation  is  in  no 
wise  abated.  Sometimes,  I  have  felt  that  desire  for  the  salvation  of  others, 
that  no  labor  appeared  too  painful,  no  sacrifice  too  great  to  make,  if,  by 
any  means,  I  might  save  some  ;  at  other  times,  and,  indeed,  a  great  part 
of  my  time,  salvation  seems  a  matter  of  too  much  indiflTerence.  I  have  often 
been  beset  with  a  vain  desire  that  God's  stream  might  turn  my  own  mill ; 
that  the  blessing  of  God,  that  has  at  any  time  attended  my  ministry,  might 
redound  to  my  own  religious  honor.  And,  when  I  have  been  beset  with 
this  proud  spirit,  I  have  felt  much  more  elated  when  souls  were  converted 
tinder  my  ministrations,  than  when  they  were  brought  in  under  the  labors 
of  others.     The  Lord  pardon  my  pride,  and  root  it  from  my  heart. 

In  the  antediluvian  period,  men  lived  to  a  great  age.  Of  the  twenty- 
•seven  personal  names  given  in  the  history  before  the  flood,  (a  line  of  ono 
thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty-six  years,)  six  of  them  lived  to  be  more  than 
nine  hundred  years  old.  But  in  the  lime  of  the  Mosaic  economy,  when 
the  judges  ruled,  and  through  the  Jewish  Theocracy,  the  lives  of  men 
•were  greatly  shortened.  Isaiah,  Hosea  and  Daniel,  however,  lived  and 
flourished  as  prophets,  at  least,  eighty  years ;  and  the  last  two,  it  is  highly 
probable,  officiated  as  prophets  for  a  hundred  years  or  more. 

When  the  babe  Jesus  was  brought  to  the  temple,  to  be  presented  to  the 
Lord,  there  was  one  Anna,  a  prophetess,  who  was  more  than  a  hundred 
years  old,  and  retained  soundness  of  intellect  and  the  spirit  of  prophecy. 
I  am  acquainted  with  a  Baptist  preacher  (Thomas  Scamons)  who  is  one 
hundred  and  two  years  old.  Francisco  died  two  years  ago,  aged  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  years.  My  health  and  strength  are  as  good  as  can  be 
expected,  considering  the  many  sicknesses,  afflictions  and  fatigues  that  I 
have  endured  ;  but  I  know  not  the  time  of  my  departure.  It  is  a  happy 
event  when  men  do  not  outlive  their  usefulness.    My  mental  powers  were 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  515 

never  great.     How  far  ihey  have  depreciated,  must  be  tested   by  those 
whose  judgments  are  sound,  and  whose  minds  are  free  from  prejudice. 

To  gain  correct  ideas  of  the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  man,  and  to 
disseminate  the  same  to  others,  has  been  an  object  of  no  small  solicitude 
with  me  for  forty  years.  How  far  I  have  succeeded  in  the  attempt,  is  not 
for  me  to  determine. 

For  the  first  seven  years  of  my  ministry,  I  was  greatly  embarrassed 
when  old  and  famous  preachers  attended  ;  and  all  my  reasoning  on  the 
greatness  of  God,  and  .the  v/eakness  of  man,  would  not  prevent  it ;  but,  by 
little  and  little,  it  subsided,  and,  for  forty  years,  they  have  neither  stood  in 
my  way,  nor  have  I  been  greatly  tempted  to  call  them  fathers  or  masters. 
This  freedom  of  mind  has  been  a  great  favor  to  me  ;  for,  in  the  course  of 
my  ministry,  I  have  preached  to  nine  hundred  Baptist  ministers,  and  how 
many  of  other  denominations,  I  know  not.  I  will  here  add,  that  the  great 
veneration  I  once  had  for  the  early  fathers  of  the  church,  (so  called,)  and 
for  late  reformers,  is  extinguished.  Their  biography  assures  me  that  they 
were  not  perfect — their  writings  and  institutes  declare  that  they  were  not 
infallibly  inspired.  Beyond  them  all,  I  look  to  the  New  Testament 
teachers  for  my  creed  and  patterns.  In  this  supplement,  I  am  aware 
there  is  much  egotism — the  foible  of  age.  When  the  mind  grows  inert, 
and  collects  nothing  new,  it  will  be  pouring  upon  the  past.  If  the  circum- 
stances of  the  day  do  not  apologise  for  the  foible,  an  attempt  will  be  made 
to  turn  it  to  some  use. 

The  Hebrew  law-giver,  Moses,  in  his  meekness,  generally  wrote  in  the 
third  person,  as  Julius  Csesar  afterwards.  But  David,  the  man  after  God's 
own  heart,  is  full  of  egotism.  The  pronoun  JT  is  found  more  than  seven 
hundred  and  eighty  times  in  Psalms — more  than  one  hundred  and  forty 
times  in  that  singular  piece  of  composition,  the  one  hundred  and  nineteenth 
Psalm. 

The  learned,  the.  good,  the  wise,  the  inspired  Paul,  uses  the  pronoun  up- 
wards of  thirty  times  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Romans — s\%  times  in  one 
verse.  "  For  that  which  I  do,"  etc.  How  strange  it  is,  that  any  should 
contend  that  Paul,  in  this  chapter,  is  representing  an  unregenerate  man. 
How  can  an  ungodly  man  say,  I  delight  in  the  law. of  God  after  the  inward 
man  ? 

Of  the  nine  hundred  and  seventy-two  Baptist  preachers  whom  I  have 
known,  more  than  three  hundred  are  dead.  North  of  the  latitude  of  Phi- 
ladelphia, there  are  about  sixty  still  livin.g,  who  are  older  than  myself.  In 
the  southern  states,  my  information  is  not  sufficient  to  judge  how  many  of 
the  aged  are  still  living.  I  now  stand,  looking  out  for  the  messenger,  the 
great  teacher,  death.  My  prayer,  to-day,  is  that  I  may  die  with  an  hon- 
est, humble  heart.     If  it  would  be  arrogant  in  me  to  wish  to  r<;semble  Ste- 


516  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

phen  in  my  death — to  have  the  Saviour  in  clear  view  ;  yet,  let  me  humbly 
hope  that  Jesus  will  whisper  in  my  ear,  as  he  spoke  to  the  dying  thief — 
"  To-day  shall  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise,"  and  send  his  angels  to  carry 
me  to  Abraham's  bosom  ;  and  may  my  soul,  and  my  imperfect  services, 
be  esteemed  and  accepted  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb, 


ELDER  JOUN  LELAND. 


517 


PART  OF  A  SPEECH, 


DELIVERED    AT    SUFFIELD,   CONNECTICUT,    ON    THE    FIRST    JUBILEE    OF    THE 

UNITED    STATES. 


1.  Nothing  is  more  true  than  that  "  man  continues  not  in  one  stay  : — 
the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away."  The  agricultural,  mechanical, 
scientific,  political  and  external — religious  pursuits  of  men,  are  as  con- 
stantly cnanging  as  the  fashions  of  dress  or  the  modes  of  speech.  And 
the  measures  and  manners,  which  border  upon  perfection,  in  the  view  of 
one  generation,  are  highly  censured,  or  totally  condemned  by  the  succeed- 
ing generation.     *     *     * 

Indeed  the  whole  world  has  been  like  the  troubled  sea,  which  cannot 
rest.  Nations  have  swallowed  up  nations,  and  kingdoms  have  devoured 
kingdoms,  while  the  great  mass  of  the  people  gain  nothing  but  a  change  of 
masters.  Had  one  short  precept  been  attended  to,  "  Whatsoever  ye 
would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  the  same  unto  others  ;" 
all  this  distress,  slaughter  and  blood,  would  have  been  prevented.  But,  as 
virtue  is  its  own  reward,  so  vice  is  its  own  tormentor. 

In  this  ungovernable  passion  for  conquest,  plunder  and  pre-eminence, 
some  have  risen  to  the  glory  of  Solomon,  the  splendor  of  Ahasuerus,  or 
the  majesty  of  Nebuchadnezzar ;  while  millions  have  been  reduced  to  a 
state  as  abject  as  the  hovel-tub  of  Diogenes,  or  the  more  painful  condition 
of  banishment  and  perpetual  slavery.  Not  only  so ',  but  the  same  indi- 
viduals,  who  have  been  the  idols  of  the  people,  and  worshipped  as  gods  for 
a  space,  have  afterwards  been  obnoxious,  stripped  of  all,  and  slaughtered 
like  beasts.  "  How  art  thou  fallen  from  heaven,  O  Lucifer,  son  of  the 
morning!"  was  the  exclamation  over  one  of  them. 

2.  The  emigration  of  our  ancestors  from  Europe  to  the  wilds  of  Ameri- 
ca, in  the  year  sixteen  hundred  and  twenty,  the  hardships  which  they  en. 
countered,  the  wars  with  the  savages  which  they  endured,  the  banishing  of 
Quakers,  whipping  of  Baptists,  and  hanging  of  witches  ;  with  the  advances 
they  made  in  agricult-n-e  and  the  arts  for  one  hundred  and  forty  years,  I 
have  to  learn  entirely  from  history ;  but  as  mine  eyes  have  seen  more  than 
seventy  autumnal  suns,  I  have  had  opportunity  of  witnessing  many  events 
and  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  this  country,  for  more  than  fifty 
years. 

The  tales  of  cruelty  and  wo,  which  attended  the  French  and  Indian 


518  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

war,  which  raged  in  and  about  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty,  sunk  deep  into 
my  heart ;  nor  has  the  impression  been  entirely  eradicated  as  yet :  the 
names  Indian  and  Canada,  are  always  inharmonious  in  mine  ears. 

This  war  between  Great  Britain  and  France,  closed  in  seventeen 
hundred  and  sixty-three,  by  a  treaty  of  peace:  but  peace  between  Britain 
and  these  Provinces,  was  soon  interrupted.  The  claims  of  Britain  that 
she  had  a  right  to  tax  these  Colonies,  without  the  consent  of  colonial  re- 
presentatives, the  stamp  act,  the  three-penny  act  on  tea,  the  Boston  Port 
Bill,  stationing  their  troops  in  Boston,  and  killing  some  of  the  citizens  of 
the  town,  were  viewed  by  the  provincials  as  tyrannical  measures.  While 
the  remonstrances  and  petitions  of  the  provincials  were  considered,  in  the 
British  Parliament,  as  the  effects  of  a  restless,  mutinous  spirit,  which  must 
be  awed  into  submission. 

While  this  oral  and  paper  controversy  was  progressing,  some  of  the 
first  orators  that  were  ever  on  earth,  rose  up  in  the  Provinces,  to  plead  the 
rights  of  the  people.  Of  these,  Patrick  Henry  and  James  Otis,  seemed  tQ 
be  foremost. 

At  length  a  British  army  was  landed  in  Boston,  and  soon  began  the 
horrid  work  of  fire  and  blood.  At  Lexington,  the  vein  was  opened  that 
was  not  staunched  for  seven  years.  The  Rubicon  was  now  passed,  and 
the  provincials  found  that  they  must  gain  that  by  force,  which  they  could 
not  gain  by  remonstrance.  The  alarm  became  general :  all  the  provinces 
felt  interested  ;  and  by  articles  of  confederation,  united  together  in  Con- 
gress, they  made  the  cause  one. 

The  events  of  the  revolutionary  war,  both  in  the  field  of  battle  and  in 
the  cabir>et,  need  not  to  be  related  :  they  are  yet  in  the  memory  of  the 
aged,  and  in  the  books  of  the  youth. 

At  the  commencement  cf  the  war,  independence  was  not  talked  of,  if 
thought  of;  all  that  was  aimed  at,  was  a  redress  of  grievances ;  but  one 
thing  led  on  to  another,  until  independence  was  declared;  which  was 
finally  acknowledged  by  Great  Britain,  in  tlie  treaty  of  seventeen  hundred 
and  eighty-three. 

3.  The  United  Slates,  having  gained  their  main  object,  sounded  the 
-Jubilee  trumpet,  Washington  and  Liberty.  The  army  was  disbanded, 
and  every  man  to  his  tent,  O  Israel !  But  to  pay  the  expense  of  the  war, 
and  govern  the  states,  in  their  general  concerns,  was  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  confederation.  A  new  modification  of  our  political  institutions  was 
imperiously  called  for.  For  this  purpose  a  convention,  composed  of 
delegates  from  the  several  states,  assembled  in  Philadelphia,  in  seventeen 
hundred  and  eighty-seven,  and  after  three  months  consultation,  with  closed 
doors,  produced  the  Constitution  of  Government  for  the  United  Slates, 
which  was  partly  confederate  and  partly  consolidate,  in  the  Senate  it 
.■was  confederate,  tlie  small  states  having  an  equal  number  with  the  large 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  519 

ones.  In  the  House  of  Representatives  it  was  consolidate,  the  people  at 
large  being  represented  according  to  their  numbers.  The  first  attempt  to 
choose  a  President  was  nearly  consolidate,  the  last  resort  was  confederate. 
The  senatorial  branch  of  the  legislature  was  the  executive  council. 

When  this  Constitution  was  submitted  to  the  people  for  their  adoption 
or  rejection,  it  called  forth  all  the  talent  and  close  study  of  the  nation.  I 
presume  there  never  was  a  time  when  there  was  greater  exertion  made  to 
harmonize  the  liberty  of  the  citizen,  with  the  energy  of  government. 

That  individuals,  in  entering  into  a  social  compact,  must  surrender  some 
of  their  natural  rights,  for  the  preservation  of  the  rest,  was  confessed  by 
all ;  but  to  what  extent  the  sacrifice  must  be  made,  was  the  question  of  de- 
bate. In  this  case  the  surrender  of  individuals  and  also  of  slate  authori- 
ties, were  both  included.  After  the  Constitution  had  passed  the  ordeal  of 
State  conventions,  it  was  finally  ratified,  with  the  expressions  of  strong 
desire,  that  some  salutary  amendments  might  be  made  to  it,  to  prevent  the 
abuse  of  power. 

The  first  Congress,  under  this  constitution,  assembled  in  March,  seven- 
teen hundred  and  eighty-nine,  and  on  the  last  of  April  following,  George 
Washington,  being  elected  President,  appeared  at  Congress  and  was  in- 
augurated. 

4.  The  first  Congress  had  a  laborious  task.  To  open  the  channels  of 
revenue,  fix  the  tariff,  establish  the  judiciary,  organize  the  government, 
provide  for  the  payment  of  the  debt  and  the  defence  of  the  nation,  were 
objects  of  no  minor  exertions ;  but  as  arduous  as  the  task  was.  Congress 
did  not  forget  the  request  of  the  people.  A  number  of  salutary  amend- 
ments  were  proposed  by  Congress,  which  being  ratified  by  the  state  legis- 
latures, eased  the  minds  of  thousands,  who  before  had  fears.  The  Federal- 
ists,  who  had  voted  for  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  in  its  first  form,  and 
the  anti- Federalists,  who  had  voted  against  its  adoption,  now  became  united, 
and  for  a  little  space,  the  wheels  rolled  easily. 

The  encroachments  on  our  trade,  by  European  powers,  particularly 
Great  Britain,  became  insupportable.  Some  in  Congress  were  for  war ; 
others  for  commercial  restrictions ;  but  the  greater  part  with  the  Presi- 
dent, preferred  negociation.  Accordingly,  Chief  Justice  Jay  was  appoint- 
ed plenipotentiary  for  the  purpose.  The  nomination  of  Mr.  Jay  was  con- 
firmed by  the  Senate ;  but  many  questioned  the  constitutionality,  of  ap- 
pointing a  judicial  oflncer  to  manage  executive  business  ;  and  as  it  was 
understood  that  he  did  not  resign  the  office  of  judge,  but  drew  his  judicial 
salary,  in  addition  to  his  nine  thousand  dollars  per  annum  as  envoy,  it  be- 
came somewhat  clamorous. 

When  the  treaty  which  he  negociated  became  public,  it  was  tested  by 
public  opinion  and  by  Congress.  The  treaty  of  seventeen  hundred  and 
eighty-three,  made  provision  for  a  restoration  of  property,  (slaves,)  on  the 


520  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

side  of  Britain  ;  and  on  the  other  side,  that  Congress  should  not  prevent 
the  subjects  of  Great  Britain,  from  recovering  their  bona  fide  debts  of  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  &c.  At  this  time,  the  old  confederate  Con- 
gress had  no  power  to  compel ;  all  which  they  could  do,  was  to  recommend. 
Accordingly  Congress  recommended  it  to  the  state  governments,  t/nd  that 
was  the  end  of  it :  no  one  was  compelled  to  pay,  nor  was  a  slave  restored. 
These  neglects,  by  the  different  parties,  were  played  off  one  against  the 
other.  But  in  Jay's  treaty,  (so  called,)  when  Congress  had  become  au- 
thoritative, provision  was  made  for  the  payment  of  all  debts  due  to  British 
subjects  ;  but  the  restoration  of  slaves  was  not  mentioned  in  a  solitary  in- 
stance. The  value  of  thirty  thousand  slaves  was  therefore  lost  in  the 
treaty.  This  was  bitterly  censured  by  the  people  in  the  slave-holding 
states.  In  Congress,  the  President,  with  two-thirds  of  the  Senate,  without 
a  single  vote  over,  ratified  the  treaty  :  but  the  House  of  Representatives, 
in  the  first  instance,  refused  to  raise  the  money  to  carry  the  treaty  into 
effect.  At  this  crisis,  great  alarm  was  spread  in  the  states,  and  petitions 
were  sent  on  to  Congress,  praying  that  the  necessary  sums  might  be  raised, 
which  finally  was  done.  This  confirmed  the  hostility  of  the  Federalists 
and  Republicans,  which  had  been  rising  for  some  time,  so  strongly,  that 
for  twenty  years  the  pulpits  rang  and  the  presses  groaned  with  anathemas 
against  each  other. 

5.  When  Washington  left  the  presidential  chair,  the  parties  tried 
their  strength  for  a  successor,  which  ended  in  the  triumph  of  the  Federal- 
ists, by  a  small  majority,  and  Mr.  i\dams  became  President.  During  his 
administration,  a  number  of  laws  were  passed  that  inflamed  the  people  to 
a  raifc,  among  which,  the  alien  act — the  sedition  act — the  stamp  act — the 
direct  tax — the  standing  army,  and  the  eight  per  cent  loan,  were  the  most 
obnoxious.  And,  as  the  public  debt  was  increasing  nearly  one  million  of 
dollars  annually,  the  murmurs  of  the  people  were  loud. 

At  the  next  presidential  term,  the  two  parties  exerted  all  their  strength, 
as  before,  but  the  result  was  different.  The  Republicans  were  victorious, 
and  Mr.  Jefferson  was  promoted  to  the  presidential  chair.  Under  iiis  ad- 
ministration,  the  obnoxious  laws  either  died  by  their  own  limitation,  or 
were  repealed — unnecessary  expenses  were  retrenched,  and  exertions  made 
to  sink  the  national  debt.  The  purchase  of  Louisiana — the  diminution  of 
the  debt,  above  thirty  millions — and  the  embargo,  will  keep  in  memory 
the  presidency  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 

At  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  Federalists  received  a  deadly 
wound,  which  was  never  healed,  although  the  beast  struggled  for  life,  and 
kicked  at  every  measure  of  the  administration  of  government  until  it  died. 

After  Mr.  Jefferson  had  presided  eight  years,  like  Washington,  he  de- 
clined the  election  for  another  term,  and  Mr.  Madison  became  his  succes- 
sor.    The  capture  of  our  ships  by  British  cruizers  became  insufferable. 


BLDER    JOHN    LELAND.  521 

Reinoiislrances  were  answered  by  insult.  Between  war  and  subnfiission 
there  was  no  alternative.  Solemn  was  the  crisis.  The  constitution  was 
made  in  peace,  for  peace,  and  many  'ears  existed  whether  it  would  stand 
the  shock  of  war.  Self-preservation,  and  national  independence  turned  the 
scale,  and  war  was  chosen  by  Congress  rather  tlian  submission. 

Mr.  Madison  had  the  painful  task  of  proclaiming  war,  with  the  most 
powerful  nation  on  earth,  against  all  the  buz  of  federalism,  to  test  the 
strength  of  tlie  constitution. 

During  the  thirty  months  of  this  war,  the  Federalists  cast  every  block 
in  the  way — triumphed  in  our  disasters — and  appointed  a  convciilion  to 
sap  the  government  or  supplant  the  administration. 

At  length  the  war  terminated  in  a  treaty  of  peace,  negociated  at  Ghent. 
The  constitution  endured  the  shock  ;  the  administration  retained  the  cor>. 
fidence  of  the  people  ;  the  physical  strength  of  the  United  States  was  tested 
and  found  to  be  unshaken  ;  the  war-party  became  all  victorious  :  Mr.  Mad- 
ison proclaimed  the  peace,  and  Federalism  gave  up  the  ghost. 

6.  Mr.  Jefferson  had  called  buck  tlie  government,  and  the  people, 
from  their  wanderings,  into  the  path  of  Republicanism.  Mr.  Madison  had 
borne  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day,  through  the  war.  The  opposition 
party  had  ceased  their  murmurings,  and  Mr.  Monroe  succeeded  to  the 
chair  of  state,  to  sit  on  a  downy  cushion,  where  he  remained  eight  years. 
For  twenty  years  before  his  inauguration,  it  was  as  hard  for  the  chief  ma- 
gistrate to  do  right,  as  it  has  been  since  for  him  to  do  wrong. 

Mr.  Monroe  recommended  tiie  pension  act,  to  reward  the  soldiers  of  the 
revolutionary  war,  wlio  were  living  and  poor,  which  will  make  his  admin- 
istration to  be  remembered  as  long  as  the  pensioners  are  living. 

When  the  tenth  term  for  electing  a  President  came,  there  were  four  can- 
didates voted  fur:  Jackson,  Adams,  Crawford  and  Clay.  Jackson  had  fif- 
teen more  votes  than  either  of  the  rest,  from  the  electoral  colleges,  but  not 
a  majority  of  the  whole.  From  the  three  highest  a  selection  was  then  to 
be  made,  by  the  states,  assembled  in  Congress.  Mr.  Clay  had  not  votes 
enough  to  bring  him  into  the  House,  The  weight  of  his  friends  must,  there- 
fore, be  flung  into  the  scale  of  the  others.  At  the  first  balloting,  Mr.  Adams 
received  the  votes  of  thirteen  states,  and  was  proclaimed  president. 

An  instance  once  took  place  in  Massachusetts,  as  follows  :  two  men  wished 
to  send  a  representative  to  Congress,  and  agreed  to  support  him.  They 
first  held  a  caucus  with  one  man  only,  besides  themselves,  and  agreed  to 
be  governed  by  majority,  and  be  pledged  to  support  the  candidate  who 
should  have  the  most  voles.  The  two  outvoted  the  other,  and  now  threo 
became  pledged.  The  three  then  held  a  caucus  consisting  of  (ive,  and 
proceeded  as  before,  and  the  result  was,  that  five  became  pledged.  After 
this  manner  they  pursued  their  object  until  a  large  convention  nominated 
the  candidate  and  succeeded  in  his  election, 

66 


522  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Mr.  Kremer,  a  member  of  Congress,  informed  his  constituents,  that  a 
like  game  was  played  in  Washington,  with  Mr.  Clay  at  the  head  of  the 
game,  who  was  to  be  secretary  of  state,  if  he  succeeded  in  the  promotion 
of  Mr.  Adams  to  the  presidential  chair.  Whether  Mr.  Kremer  was  a 
prophet,  or  only  a  good  guesser,  it  matters  not,  his  prognosticks  have  beea 
realized. 

In  all  elective  governments  there  should  be  a  fair  expression  of  the  will 
of  the  people,  without  awe  or  deception ;  and  he  who  seeks  to  carry  his 
point,  at  the  expense  of  the  will  of  a  majority,  is  a  tyrant:  and  if  he  does 
it  by  intrigue  he  is  a  knave.  The  man  who  has  no  reverence  for  the 
rights  of  others,  will  never  respect  their  interest. 

Mr.  Clay  was  rather  displeased  with  the  address  of  Kremer,  and  wrote 
an  address  to  his  constituents  in  Kentucky,  to  justify  himself,  and  crimin- 
ate Kremer,  Jackson,  Eaton,  Swartwout,  and  others,  in  which  he  reprobates 
dueling  in  bold  language.  But  notwithstanding  that,  on  the  eighth  of  April 
last,  he  appeared  at  Bladensburg,  armed  with  instruments  of  death,  to  fight 
the  American  Rasp,  whom  he  had  challenged  to  the  field.  Mr.  Randolph 
was  a  senator,  and  had  used  the  freedom  of  speech,  about  Mr.  Clay,  which 
the  constitution  admits  of.  The  constitution,  which  is  the  great  charter  of 
powers  granted,  and  of  rights  retained,  expressly  says,  that  senators  and 
representatives,  for  any  speech  or  debate  in  either  house,  shall  not  be  question- 
ed in  any  other  place.  In  this  instance,  however,  Mr.  Clay,  contrary  to  his 
own  avowed  sentiments,  and  in  direct  opposition  to  the  constitution,  first 
challenged,  and  then  fought  Mr.  Rindolph,  for  what  he  said  in  the  senate. 
Mr.  Clay  has  behaved  very  much  like  Mr.  Burr,  and  if  he  had  killed  the 
Rasp,  at  Bladensburgh,  we  should  consider  him  his  own  brother. 

What  will  become  of  the  United  States,  if  such  men  are  at  helm  ?  Who, 
that  is  a  friend  to  his  country,  will  support  them  ? 

7.  In  looking  forward,  we  know  not  what  events  will  take  place.  It 
is  now  called  a  day  of  good  feeling,  in  which  party  strife  and  religious 
bigotry  flee  away  before  the  dawn  of  correct  principles.  The  former 
contetions  that  have  been  between  monarchs  and  vassals — tyranny  and 
slavery — Whig  and  Tory — Federalists  and  Republicans,  is  now  turned  into 
union  and  friendship.  And  all  classes  of  Christians,  Papists  and  Protest- 
ants— Calvinists  and  Arminians — Trinitarians  and  Socinians,  have  all  he- 
come  one.  The  principles  of  civil  government — the  rights  of  man — lib- 
erty  of  conscience — creeds  of  faith  and  modes  of  worship,  which  men  have 
heretofore  been  so  tenacious  about,  and  for  which  they  have  pleaded  the 
injunction  of  conscience,  and  have  sufTcivd  spoliation  of  goods,  imprison, 
rtlent  and  torture,  before  they  would  rescind,  were  only  giddy  chimeras  of 
the  dark  ages  that  are  past !     Now  the  true  light  shines  ! 

If  the  same  spirit  of  amalgamation  and  good  feeling  continues  and  pro- 
gresses, we  shall  lament  every  reform  of  religion  that  has  taken  place  from 


BLUER    JOHN    LELAND.  523 

the  introduction  of  Christianity  to  the  present  time,  and  brand  all  reform- 
ers, the  apostles  not  excepted,  with  the  mark  of  ignorant,  illiberal  enthu- 
siasts, for  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  world.  And  all  those  men,  who  have 
sought  to  ameliorate  the  state  of  society,  by  destroying  absolute  tyranny, 
and  supporting  rational  liberty,  will  lose  their  names,  and  their  unprofitable 
works  will  be  forgotten.  At  any  rate,  the  spirit  of  the  times  will  lead  to 
an  acknowledgment  of  the  Massachusetts  claim  against  the  United  States — 
to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  Hartford  Convention  of  pure  spirits — make  up 
the  losses  of  Shay's  men — and  restore  to  the  old  Tories  their  confiscated 
estates.  In  this  view  of  the  subject,  let  the  host  of  missionaries,  who  are 
spreading  over  the  land,  not  only  from  the  mouth  of  Columbia  river  to 
Passamaquoddy,  but  from  Cape  Horn  to  Ultima  Thule,  proclaim  aloud  to 
the  people,  that  it  is  immaterial  what  god  they  worship,  and  how  they  wor- 
ship him — what  kind  of  government  they  establish,  despotism  or  freedom  j 
but  it  is  all  essential  to  possess  the  good  feelings  of  Americans,  for  with 
that  good  feeling,  if  a  duel  is  fought,  one  only  shoots  the  jacket  and  the 
other  the  air:  that  it  is  not  much  worse  than  immolation,  when  widows 
burn  on  the  pile  of  their  dead  husbands,  in  point  of  honor,  or  for  Empedo- 
cles  to  plunge  into  the  fiery  mouth  of  ^tna,  to  gain  the  reputation  of  a 
God. 

8.  But  I  ch^ck  my  roving  fancy.  Satan  is  not  yet  bound.  The  strong 
man  armed  keeps  his  palace.  Men  are  under  the  influence  of  pride, 
covetousness,  envy  and  ambition,  and  will  continue  to  do  as  they  have 
done.  The  sea  is  somewhat  calm,  but  let  the  sailors  be  awake,  looking 
out  for  the  breakers.  The  next  presidential  election  is  hastening  on.  The 
ins  will  be  artful  to  keep  in,  and  the  outs  will  be  clamorous  to  get  in. 
There  is  not  any  great  prospect  that  the  constitution  will  be  amended  before 
the  next  election  of  president.  If  not,  the  enquiry  is,  whether  Mr.  Adams 
will  so  generally  please  tlie  people,  that  there  will  be  no  opposition  to  his 
re-election,  or  whether  there  will  be  an  opposition  so  strong  that  the  de- 
cision must  be  made  by  the  states  in  Congress  ?  Should  the  last  take  place, 
it  behoves  the  people  to  remember,  that  it  is  the  twentieth  Congress  that 
will  decide  the  question,  and,  therefore,  in  choosing  the  representatives  for 
the  next  Congress,  they  will  be  choosing  electors  as  well  as  legislators. 
For  want  of  this,  in  the  last  choice  of  president,  several  of  the  states  gave 
one  voice  by  their  electors,  and  another  by  their  representatives.  And  by 
this  means.  General  Jackson,  who  had  fifteen  moreelectoral  votes  than  any 
other  candidate,  (equal  to  600,000  people,)  was  left  behind,  with  only  seven 
states  out  of  twenty  four. 

9.  Another  article  solicits  our  attention  at  this  time.  Religion  is 
become  the  most  fashionable  thing  among  us.  Moral  societies,  Sunday 
schools — tract  societies — Bible  societies — missionary  societies,  and  funds 

o  educate  and  make  preachers,  are  now  in  the  full  tide  of  operation.  For- 


624  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

merly  it  was  thought  not  impossible  to  "<liscern  between  those  who  feared 
God,  and  those  who  did  not.;"  but  these  many  societies,  including  all  classes 
and  characters  of  men,  uniting  in  the  same  effort,  carry  all  before  them, 
and  leave  no  dividing  line.  The  adversaries  of  Judali  and  Benjamin  unite 
with  Zerubbabel,  in  this  building,  and  he  who  contributes  the  most,  is  the 
most  extolled,  and  his  biograp'it;r  canonizes  him  for  it  after  he  is  dead.  In 
barbarous  times,  when  men  were  in  the  dark,  it  was  believed  that  the  suc- 
cess of  the  gospel  was  according  to  the  outpourings  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
but  in  this  age  of  light  and  improvement,  it  is  e.stimated  according  to  the 
pourings  out  of  the  purse.  Once,  a  man  could  not  follow  the  blessed  Je- 
sus without  bearing  his  cross,  and  being  hated  of  all  men  ;  but  a  profession 
of  Chrislianily  is  now  so  honorable,  that  without  it  men  are  despised  and 
calumniated.  It  has  been  thought,  that  the  carnal  mind  was  enmity  to 
God — that  those  who  were  not  for  Christ,  were  against  him.  That  follow- 
ing after  the  law  of  rigJit  ousness,  by  the  deeds  of  the  law,  to  obtain  life, 
was  climbing  up  some  other  way  than  what  God  had  appointed ;  but  now 
it  is  believed,  that  if  children  are  dedicated  to  God,  by  others,  and  know 
nothing  about  it  themselves — if  they  attend  Sunday  schools,  and  store  up 
many  verses  in  their  memories — :if  they  contribute  their  cents  for  the  con- 
version of  heathen,  and  the  distribution  of  the  Bible — if  they  attend  pub- 
lic worship  and  keep  the  ^oly  Sabbath,  though  all  these  things  are  done 
with  a  deceitful  heart  that  is  desperately  wicked,  they  will  move  God  to 
bestow  his  pardoning  love  upon  them — that  by  these  means,  those  who  are 
in  the  flesh  can  please  God, 

The  metaphysical,  long-winded  Mr.  Edward^,  observes,  "  That  he  had 
noticed  ihal  o/d  men  would  not  hear  new  notions  ;  but  to  prevent  the  evil 
of  supcrannuacy,  he  resolved  that,  should  he  ever  live  to  be  old,  he  would 
hear  all  that  could  be  said  in  favor  of  new  discoveries,  or  new  doctrines." 
In  accordance  therewith,  I  am  wailing  to  see  what  this  new  order  of  things 
will  produce. 

10.  It  is  now  half  a  century,  since  the  Independence  of  the  United 
States  was  declared.  In  this  half  century  the  territory  has  doubled  in  ex- 
tent, twice  doubled  in  inhabitants,  rising  from  three  to  twelve  miHions ; 
increased  in  wealth  beyond  description;  improved  in  arts,  inventions  and 
manufactures,  in  an  astonishing  manner,  listing  the  fire  and  wafer  into 
service,  to  aid  the  labor  of  the  earth  and  convey  its  produce  to  market,  &c. 

Should  the  world  stand  fifty  years  longer,  and  the  same  si)irit  of  enter- 
prise prt^vail,  under  the  same  smiles  of  Providence,  what  a  dazzling  spec- 
tacle the  United  Stales  will  be  to  the  world  ! 

This,  however,  is  more  ardently  to  be  wished  for,  than  reasonably  ex- 
pected. Some  foul  event  may  turn  up  and  becloud  the  American  sun. 
Famine,  pestilence,  dissension  and  war,  may  make  the  day  dark  with  night. 
Such  calamities  have  befallen  the  most  flouri'shing  kingdoms  and  republics 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  525 

that  were  ever  on  earth  ;  and  no  change  has  yet  taken  place  in  the  nature 
of  men,  to  assure  us  that  the  same  calamities  will  not  be  repeated. 

When  the  pubHc  mind  is  once  strongly  set,  it  generally  overleaps  the 
bounds  of  reason,  and  extremes  follow.  Many  of  the  new  inventions  are, 
and  will  be  of  great  advantage  to  society,  \\\n\e  others  will  fall  into  dis- 
repute. 

Perhaps  nothing  is  carried  to  a  greater  extreme  than  printing.  The 
freedom  of  the  press  is  the  great  bulwark  of  liberty,  and  the  best  channel 
of  communication  ;  and,  with  the  freedom  of  speech,  should  never  be  pro- 
hibiled.  It  may,  however,  become  licentious — it  may  grow  extravagant. 
The  human  mind  is  limited,  and  cannot  contain  but  a  certain  measure ; 
and  when  it  is  overcharged,  it  will  nauseate.  Without  time  for  cool  re- 
flection and  digestion,  abundance  of  reading  overcharges  the  mind  and 
obscures  the  perception.  All  rending  and  no  self-iiulion,  does  not  form 
the  most  illustrious  character.  The  knowledge  of  men,  and  the  experi- 
ment of  things,  are  necessary  to  form  a  man  for  usefulness. 

Once  there  was  a  time,  when  one  leaf  of  the  Bible  would  sell  for  a  load 
of  hay.  At  another  time,  transcriptions  of  the  Bible  were  so  rare,  and 
labiM*  60  low,  that  it  cost  the  wages  of  thirteen  years  to  purchase  a  copy ! 
These  were  hard  times  indeed.  It  is  now  quite  the  reverse.  Bibles  are 
abundant,  and  almost  forced  upon  people ;  but  it  is  a  serious  question 
whether  Biblical  knowledge  is  equal  to  what  it  was  fifty  years  ago.  The 
public  attention  seems  to  flutter  on  the  profusion  of  Bibles,  Tracts  and 
Magazines,  and  overlooks  those  things  which  are  "  hidden  from  the  wise 
and  prudent,  and  revealed  unto  babes,"  in  the  scriptures. 

In  the  compass  of  last  year,  it  is  said  that  twelve  hundred  physicians, 
six  hundred  lawyers,  and  five  hundred  preachers,  have  been  fitted  out  in 
the  United  States.  If  health,  security  of  property,  and  Christian  piety 
equally  increase,  the  blessing  will  be  great.  But  with  respect  to  preachers, 
I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  what  filing  out  means  :  for  I  have  never  yet  found 
anything  enjoined  on  churches,  individuals,  rulers  or  bishops,  by  Christ  or 
the  apostles,  to  procure  preachers,  except  one  ;  which  is,  "  Pray  ye  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  would  send  forth  laborers  into  the  harvest. 
*  *  *  *  *  * 

Religion  is  become  very  mechanical,  and  a  supply  of  preachers  is  treat- 
ed as  a  mathematical  question.  It  is  calculated  that  where  the  population 
IS  condensed,  one  preacher  to  a  thousand  hearers  is  sufficient  ;  but  where 
the  population  is  thin,  more  than  one  to  a  thousand  is  needed.  Perhaps 
one  preacher  for  every  five  hundred  would  suffice,  taking  all  parts  of  the 
country  together.  By  this  rule,  the  twelve  millions  of  inhabitants  within 
the  United  States,  call  for  twenty-four  thousand  preachers,  for  the  home 
department,  and  as  many  more  for  the  natives  of  the  woods,  Asia  and 
Africa,  as  can  be  possibly ^Wed  out. 


526  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

I  have  no  data  to  show  how  many  preachers  there  are,  in  the  severa! 
religious  denominations  within  the  United  States,  but  judge  the  number  is 
far  less  than  Iwenty-four  thousand.  And  as  it  is  presumed,  that  five 
hundred  annually  die,  there  is  a  loud  call  for  more  preachers,  even  for  the 
home  department.  And  that  many  may  run  to  and  fro  among  the  heathen, 
the  call  becomes  irresistible.  More  means  must  be  devised — more  money 
must  be  raised — more  theological  moulds  and  mills  must  be  established  to 
fit  out  pious  youth  for  the  arduous  task  of  preaching  a  little — drinking  cof- 
fee a  good  deal,  with  a  certain  salary  secured  to  them. 

The  illustrious  captive,  Daniel,  speaks  of  a  thousand  thousand  ministers, 
which  is  one  million  ;  and  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  which  is  one 
hundred  millions,  worshippers:  according  to  which  there  was  one  minister 
for  every  hundred.  But  John  adds  thousands  of  thousands  to  the  number 
given  by  Daniel,  and  leaves  it  indefinite :  we  may,  therefore,  suggest  that 
the  number  of  ministers  did  not  exceed  one  for  every  five  hundred 
worshippers. 

To  a  man,  who  reads  the  New  Testament,  and  the  history  of  the  church, 
down  to  the  establishing  of  a  Christian  college  in  Alexandria,  and  the  legal 
establishment  of  Christianity  in  the  Roman  Empire,  how  extremely  flat 
and  anti-Christian  the  above  calculations  will  appear. 

I  close  with  an  anecdote  respecting  the  first  settlement  of  Hartford,  in 
this  state.  The  first  settlers  of  the  town  lived  in  a  garrison,  to  secure 
themselves  from  the  Indians.  A  young  woman  went  out  of  the  fort  and 
was  entrapped  by  the  Indians,  who  hurried  her  to  their  canoe,  and  were 
carrying  her  off.  The  fort  was  soon  alarmed,  and  the  hunters  caught  their 
suns  and  ran  to  her  rescue,  with  old  Mr.  Hooker  at  their  heels.  When 
they  came  to  the  river,  the  Indians  steered  the  canoe  in  a  direction  that 
placed  the  young  woman  between  the  gunners  and  themselves.  The 
hunters  cried  out,  "  Mr.  Hooker,  what  shall  we  do?  In  a  minute  she  will 
be  out  of  our  reach."  The  godly  man  stretched  his  hands  and  heart  to- 
wards lieaven,  and  answered,  "  Take  good  sight,  and  heaven  direct  the 
halls.^'  They  did  so  ;  and  killed  both  the  Indians,  and  the  young  woman 
paddled  back  to  the  shore.  From  this  I  would  say  to  all  of  you,  and  to 
myself,  take  good  sight,  do  your  duty,  and  leave  events  to  God. 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  527 


At  home,  Feb.  8, 1828. 
My  good  Sister  : — It  has  been  fourteen  years  since  I  saw  you,  but  the 
distance  of  space  and  length  of  lime  have  in  no  degree  chilled  my  Chris- 
tian  regard  and  friendship  towards  you  and  others  in  Virginia. 

Was  I  at  your  house  in  Caroline,  or  you  here  at  my  mansion,  we  should 
be  full  of  chat,  in  telling  each  other  what  events  had  passed  for  the  last 
fourteen  years,  but  that  is  not  the  case ;  to  supply  the  lack  of  which,  I  shall 
with  my  pen  give  you  a  condensed  history  of  myself,  and  what  has  passed 
before  me.  Excepting  a  few  months  cessation  from  preaching  occasioned 
by  a  broken  leg,  I  have  been  unweariedly  trying  to  preach  Jesus,  but  have 
never  yet  risen  to  that  state  of  holy  zeal  and  evangelical  knowledge,  that 
I  have  been  longing  after  ;  but  such  as  I  had  I  have  been  giving  unto  the 
people.  There  have  been  a  number  of  revivals  of  religion  within  the  cir- 
cle of  my  ministration,  which  have  both  flattered  my  pride  and  humbled  my 
soul.  The  season  past  has  been  one  of  the  happy  parts  of  my  life.  Such 
brokenness  of  heart,  prayer  and  singing  have  been  among  the  people,  as  I 
have  rarely  seen  (never  exceeded)  in  my  life.  The  number  I  have  bap- 
tized in  this  rich  harvest  is  one  hundred  and  six,  and  I  yet  find  no 
more  inconvenience  in  baptizing  than  I  did  when  I  was  but  thirty-six  years 
old  ;  nor  can  I  discover  any  diminution  in  the  congregations  that  attend  my 
ministry.  I  have  had  a  number  of  attacks,  like  one  I  had  in  Goochland, 
which  ended  in  Louisa  at  the  time  when  brother  Rawlins  was  baptized  ; 
but  I  have  been  holden  up  with  a  litle  help,  and  refreshed  in  my  bondage 
until  now,  faint  yet  pursuing.  I  have  eighty-two  descendants  living.  A 
few  of  my  grand  children  have  died  at  their  respective  homes ;  but  I  have 
never  had  a  death  at  my  house.  Of  Abraham  it  is  said,  "  I  called  him 
alone,  and  blessed  him  and  increased  him." 

I  have  been  trying  to  get  ready  to  die.  I  have  written  a  short  history 
of  the  events  of  my  life,  and  although  it  contains  the  best  part  of  my  life, 
yet  when  1  look  over  the  manuscript,  it  is  but  a  ragged  thing.  I  have  also 
got  the  likeness  of  my  person  taken,  as  large  as  life  from  the  waist  up,  and 
others  say  it  is  a  good  portrait;  but  it  looks  like  a  crabbed  image  full  of 
juices,  so  that  boasting  is  every  way  excluded.  My  pecuniary  concerns  I 
have  settled,  so  that  my  executor  may  have  nothing  to  do,  and  likewise 
made  my  will,  which  is  but  a  light  affair.  So  far  I  am  ready  to  die  ;  but 
internal  readiness  is  another  thing.  I  have  as  strong  attachments  to  life  as 
I  had  in  the  year  1777,  when  at  your  father's  house  with  bro  h^r  Young.  I 
cannot  select  the  time  when,  nor  the  disease  by  which  I  should  choose  to  die. 


528  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

When  I  reflect  on  my  past  life,  a  thousand  things  occur  that  were  criminal 
or  very  imprudent.  1  had  no  fruit  in  those  things  of  which  I  am  now 
ashamed,  so  that  if  Christianity  was  not  a  religion/or  sinners,  to  meet  llieir 
wants  and  relieve  their  woes,  I  should  have  no  hope. 

Were  I  sure  that  I  had  acted  only  for  Christ,  my  soul  would  make  her 
boast  in  God  ;  but  there  is  so  much  corruption  in  me,  that  the  most 
that  I  can  hope  is,  that  there  has  been  some  good  thing  in  me.  amidst  so 
many  bad  ones.  There  is  a  solemn  day  approaching,  where  pleading  that 
we  have  eaten  and  drunken  in  the  presence  of  Christ,  prophesied,  cast  out 
devils,  and  done  many  wonderful  works  in  his  name,  will  not  avail,  and  if 
we  add  to  these  pleas,  that  we  have  given  our  bodies  to  be  burned,  and  our 
goods  to  feed  the  poor,  yet  without  charily  (the  unction  from  the  Holy 
one — the  waters  that  spring  up  to  eternal  li  e)  we  shall  Lc  di-^fstcemed. 
While  writing  on  this  solemn  subject,  I  feel  like  dropping  my  pen  and  cry- 
ing to  God,  with  all  the  powers  of  my  soul,  that  he  would  make  me  right, 
make  me  faithful  unto  death,  assist  me  to  fight  the  good  fight,  finish  my 
course,  kiep  the  faith,  and  receive  the  crown. 

IniernnI  religion  is  always  the  same^  and  always  will  be,  but  the  external 
modes  of  it,  change  like  the  fashions  of  dress.  S(j  many  religious  novelties, 
have  lately  sprung  up,  that  I  have  often  exclaimed,  "  They  have  taken 
away  my  Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  they  have  laid  him."  But  this  alarm 
has  been  quieted  by,  "  What  is  that  to  thee  ?  follow  thou  me."  In  all 
the  revivals  that  have  been  where  I  have  administered,  the  work  lias  ope. 
rated  as  it  did  in  Virginia  from  the  year  1784  until  1789. 

From  creation  to  the  flood  was  1656  years,  in  which  term  wc  may  have 
safely  calculated  that  many  millions  of  people  lived  ;  and  yet  no  more  than 
twenty-seven  personal  names  are  found  in  antediluvian  history.  There 
are  a  number  of  names  so  incorporated  into  the  history,  precf  pts,  and 
promises  of  the  scriptures,  that  they  must  necessarily  be  perpetuated  as 
lon<'  as  the  Bible  exists.  But  there  have  been  many  seven  thousands  that 
never  bowed  to  Baal,  whose  names  are  buried  in  oblivion.  Much  has  been 
done  and  much  is  doing  by  men  to  immortalize  their  names;  but  if  my 
name  is  written  in  Heaven,  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life,  not  to  be  blotted  out, 
if  I  have  a  room  in  God's  house,  among  the  living  in  Jerusalem,  I  shall  be 
made  for  eternity.  It  is  not  likely  a  century  hence  there  will  he  many,  if 
any  one,  who  will  ever  have  known  or  heard  any  thing  of  .lohn  Leiand. 

This  gives  me  no  uneasiness.  But  I  have  a  strong  solicitude  that  I  may 
live  and  die  in  a  manner  that  will  give  my  friends  in  general,  and  those 
whom  I  have  baptized  in  particular,  no  painful  sensations,  lo  think  that  they 
have  placid  confidence  in  an  unfaithful  man  who  did  not  hold  out  to  the  end. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  529 

I  am  very  much  checked  in  writing,  fearing  you  are  dead  ;  but  like  Co. 
lumbus  in  a  sea  storm,  I  will  throw  this  overboard,  in  hopes  that  if  you  are 
dead,  some  of  your  friends  will  find  it. 

You  see  how  large  a  letter  I  have  written  to  you  with  my  own  liand,  and 
being  such  a  one  as  John  the  aged,  I  hope  you  will  pardon  my  egotism  (the 
hobby  of  old  men)  and  all  other  defects,  and  believe  it  is  indicted  in  the 
spirit  of  friendship. 

JOHN  LELAND. 

Mbs.  Amey  Peatross. 


67 


630  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


EXTRACTS  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  A  FRIEND. 


My  Good  Friend: — In  your  last  letter,  you  ask,  what  part  and  suc- 
cess I  have  had  in  the  late  religious  excitement  in  several  towns  in  Berk- 
shire, and  borders  of  New  York  ?  The  friendship  that  exists  between 
us,  makes  it  a  pleasaRt  task  to  answer  the  question.  But,  first  of  all,  it 
is  necessary  for  you  to  know  the  sentiments  and  habits  of  the  people 
among  whom  I  have  hved  and  labored.  They  are  a  people  not  "  within 
the  covenanted  mercies  of  God  ;"  as  they  have  never  had  the  seal  of  the 
covenant  put  upon  tiieir  foreheads  by  the  moistened  hand  of  the  priest. 
And,  when  they  are  reproved  for  their  neglect,  they  fly  to  the  Bible,  and 
affirm  that  repentance  for  sin  and  faith  in  Christ,  are  prerequisites  of  bap- 
tism. That  th<;re  is  no  account  in  tlic  Bible  that  children  were  ever  bap- 
tised upon  tlie  faith  of  the  parents.  That  baptism  is  the  answer  of  a  good 
conscience,  and  tliat  new  born  infants  cannot  have  any  conscience  about 
it.  That  believers  should  be  buried  with  Christ  in  baptism.  That  when 
the  priest  dips  his  hand  in  water  and  holds  it  over,  or  lays  it  on  the  face, 
to  be  consistent,  he  should  say,  "  I  baptize  my  hand,"  etc.,  for  nothing 
else  ii  baptized.         *         *         *         *         *.*         *         *         * 

A  very  flagrant  slain  of  character  among  them,  is,  that  they  do  not  ad- 
mire the  missionary  scheme,  which  prevails  like  a  mighty  flood.  This 
ihey  compare  to  the  beast  that  all  the  world  wondered  after.  When  they 
are  reproved  for  their  covetuousness  and  coldness  about  the  salvation  of 
the  heathen,  they  reply  :  "  That  a  missionary  spirit  and  missionary  practice 
is  apostolical  ;  but  missionary  societies  and  missionary  funds  are  of  later 
date.  Tiiat  missions  established  on  divine  impression,  are  no  ways  re. 
lated  to  those  formed  by  human  calculation.  That  when  the  apostles  trav- 
eled from  Judea,  to  Gentile  regions,  they  collected  from  the  Gentiles,  and 
brought  the  alms  to  the  poor  saints  in  Judea ;  but  now  the  poor  saints  in 
Judea  are  taxed  to  aid  the  missionaries  where  they  go."         *         * 

Sabbath  scliools  arc  very  fashionable,  and  are  considered,  by  many,  as 
the  great  lock  link  which  unites  nature  and  grace  together;  but,  those 
amon"'  whom  I  live  and  labor  are  without  them  ;  and,  whenever  the  sub. 
j(  c  is  mentioned,  they  reply,  that  if  the  Sabbath  is  holy  time,  it  ought  not 
to  b;  profaned  by  acquiring  literature.  ***** 
But,  to  do  the  people  justice,  notwithstanding  their  tenets,  they  are 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  531 

very  forward  in  public  worship,  and  attend  with  the  utmost  civilit)',  with- 
out-giving law. maker  or  co'nscience-dictator,  any  praise  for  telling  thenrj 
who,  when,  where,  or  how  they  must  worship  or  adore. 

When  they  are  pressed  to  advance  their  hard  earnings  to  educate  pious 
young  men  for  the  ministry,  they  answer,  if  any  graders  of  collegiate  edu- 
cation are  essential  prerequisites  to  the  nnnistry,  why  does  not  God  call 
those  who  are  already  in  possession  of  these  prerequisites?  Is  it  reason- 
able  to  believe  that  a  wise  God  would  call  a  man  to  preach,  when  he  knows 
that  he  cannot  do  the  work  until  he  has  studied  hov/  to  decline  nouns  and 
conjugate  verbs  three  or  four  years?  They  frequently  say,  if  a  man  can- 
Bot  rise  to  usefulness,  by  internal  energy,  academical  puiish  cannot  make 
him  shine.  That  it  is  a  vain  thing  to  hold  up  a  man  to  whom  God  has 
given  no  legs.  They  moreover,  observe,  that  it  is  going  again  over  the 
ground,  which  has  been  very  pestiferous.  Christianity,  in  its  first  intro- 
duction, was  not  only  unaided  ty  law,  sword,  and  the  college,  but  wag 
opposed  by  all  of , them  ;  but,  after  the  Christians  had  gained  some  stand- 
ing  and  lost  some  of  their  first  love,  they  erected  a  College  at  Alexandria, 
to  recommend  Christianity  to  the  carnal  world.  This  project  effected  the 
intended  object,  and  soon  the  law  of  Christian  establishment  followed,  and 
the  sword  was  appealed  to,  to  enforce  the  law.  Here  poison  was  spread 
intolhe  churches  ;  for,  from  that  day  to  this,  in  the  greatest  part  of  Chris- 
tendom, Christianity  has  been  used  as  a  test  to  civil  office — a  step  to  hon- 
or— a  cloak  for  insincerity — and  a  stimulus  to  persecution.  The  people, 
furthermore,  pay  no  attention  to  the  Westminister  catechism,  or  Saybrook 
platform;  but,  have  the  courage  of  taking  the  Bible  first-handed,  for  their 
directory,  etc. 

"The  loose  habits,  and  strange  opinions  of  the  people,  are  not  the  great- 
est obstructions  which  I  have  had  to  encounter.  My  worst  enemies  have 
been  in  my  own  house.  Brilliancy  of  talent  I  never  possessed  when  I 
was  in  my  prime ;  now  advanced  in  life,  I  must  appear  to  greater  disad- 
vantage,; but,  languor  of  soul  is  what  most  besets  me.  A  consciousness 
that  I  do  not  realize  the  weight  of  those  eternal  truths  which  I  am  preach- 
ing to  others,  sinks  me  in  the  dust.  The  various  ctinning  arts — the  sleight 
of  hand — the  deceitful  working — the  promise  of  liberty — the  good  words 
and  fair  speeches,  and  perverse  things  that  are  said  to  deceive  the  hearts 
of  the  simple,  and  draw  disciples  after  them,  have  been  too  evident  among 
many  teachers  ;  yea,  they  would  exclude  from  their  fellowship  all  that 
oppose  them,  that  the  rest  might  effect  them.  Seeing  all  this,  and  much 
more,  and  fiitding  the  same  wicked  seeds  in  myself,  I  am  constrained  to 
say,  that  "  Ciiristianity  is  a  reUgion  for  sinners."  Yes,  the  author  of  it 
came  to  seek  and  save  that  wliich  was  lost — he  came  to  call  sinners  to 
repentance — he  receiveth  sinners — speaks  to  them  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and. heals  all  that  have  need  of  healing. 


532  TUE    WRITINGS    OF 

Among  the  people  of  my  ministration,  God  has  evidently  poured  out 
his  spirit  from  on  high,  and  turned  a  goodly  number  from  darkness  to 
light.  My  poor  heart  has  been  greatly  revived  in  hearing  the  young  dis- 
ciples relate  how  God  quickened  their  soids  by  his  grace — gave  them  to 
see  the  purity  and  extent  of  the  holy  law — the  imperfections  of  their  na- 
ture and  the  insufRiciency  of  their  prayers  and  exertions  to  relieve — that 
they  were  greatly  bowed  down  with  a  hard  heart  and  load  of  guilt — that 
Jesus  at  length  appeared  for  their  help,  and  said,  come  unto  me  and  I  will 
give  you  rest — that  they  resigned  all  to  his  sovereign  will,  and  heard  his 
■words,  thy  sins  are  fergiven  thee — that  they  have  enjoyed  great  comfort 
in  believing,  and  feel  resolved  to  serve  God  while  they  have  any  being, 
etc.  Of  this  class  of  people,  1  have  baptized  one  hundred  and  five  since 
the  25th  of  March  last ;  which,  added  to  those  whom  I  had  baptized  be- 
fore,  make  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty-seven.  Give  God  the 
glory  ;  as  for  this  man  (myself)  we  know  that  he  is  a  sinner. 

JOHN  LELAND. 

January  1st,  1828. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  533 


THOUGHTS. 


If  Jesus  is  the  first,  who  existed  before  him  ? 

If  he  is  the  Evelasting  Father,  when  did  he  begin  his  course  ? 

If  he  is  before  all  things — the  maker  of  all  things — and  by  him  all 
things  consist,  how  can  he  be  a  thing  ? 

If  he  is  the  true  God  and  Eternal  Life,  when  did  his  Godhead  and  life 
begin  ? 

If  his  goings  forth  were  from  everlasting,  when  was  he  not  going  forth  ? 

How  could  he  be  in  heaven  when  conversing  with  Nichodemus  on 
earth,  unless  he  was  omnipresent  ? 

If  he  is  God  over  all,  who  is  above  him  ? 

If  he  can  change  vile  bodies  by  his  own  wonder-working  power,  must 
he  not  be  omnipotent  ? 

If  Jesus  was  the  Lord  God  of  the  holy  prophets,  is  it  not  certain  that 
the  Jesus  of  the  New  Testament  was  the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  ? 

If  Jesus  was  not  God,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word,  how  could  he 
say  to  Philip — He  that  hath  seen  me,  hath  seen  the  Father  ? 

Would  Stephen,  when  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  his  dying  moment, 
have  prayed  to  him  to  receive  his  spirit,  if  he  had  not  been  assured  that 
he  was  Jehovah,  the  only  Saviour  ? 

If  the  Jesus  of  tlie  New  Testament  bore  all  the  names  and  titles — did 
all  the  works — obtained  the  same  testimonies,  and  received  the  same  ad- 
dresses and  ascriptions  of  praise,  of  the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament, 
why  not  receive  him  as  Emanuel,  God  with  us  ? 

Would  it  not  be  idolatry  to  pay  him  religious  worship  if  he  was  merely 
a  creature,  though  ever  so  great  and  highly  exalted? 

If  in  Jesus  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,  what  divine 
attribute  can  be  lacking  in  him  ? 

If  he  ruled  the  wind  and  sea — healed  all  kinds  of  diseases,  and  raised 
the  dead,  by  a  command  in  his  own  name,  and  not  by  praying  to  another, 
he  must  be  God. 

Can  the  many  hundreds  of  passages  in  the  Bible,  which  speak  of  Christ 
as  being  filial,  subordinate,  dependant,  under  the  law,  helpless  and  forlorn, 
destroy  the  force  of  evidence  that  is  given  of  his  independent  divinity  ? 
Do  not  all  those  passages  have  strong  bearings  on  the  human  nature, 
which  was  bound  to  obey,  and  subject  to  sufferings,  in  which  God  was 


534  THE    WUITINGS    OF 

manifested  in  the  flesh,  by  a  union  as  inconceivable  by  us  as  the  concep- 
tion  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  or  how  the  bones  grow  in  the  womb  ? 

There  are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven,  the  Faliier,  the  Word,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  these  three  are  one.  Tiiis  is  a  doctrine  of  revelation, 
for  a  conformation  of  which,  baptism  is  performed  in  tiie  name  of  the  Fa- 
ther, Son  and  Holy  Ghost:  but,  like  the  ark  of  the  Hebrews,  it  is  too  aw- 
ful to  be  pryed  into  by  curious  eyes.  When  eternity  can  be  fathomed, 
and  immensity  measured — when  creation  can  be  accounted  for,  and  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead  be  philosophized — when  the  hidden  mystery  of 
God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  and  the  guilty  sinner  being  pardoned  for  the 
sufferings  of  an  innocent  Saviour,  are  clearly  understood,  then,  and  not  till 
then,  will  limited  creatures  comprehend  the  incomprehensible  doctrine  of 
a  three-one  God.  If  the  works  of  God  are  past  finding  out,  surely  the  au- 
thor of  those  works  must  be  more  so. 

The  strange  and  unmeaning  creeds  that  have  been  formed  on  the  Trin- 
ity, with  the  punishments  that  have  been  inflicted  on  those  who  could  not 
believe  them,  have  astonished  the  mere  reasoner— sickened  the  grave  phi- 
losopher, and  saddened  the  pious  saint.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  when  the 
doctrine  is  denied,  or  despised,  wiih  a  view  to  destroy  the  dignity  and  glo- 
ry of  Christ,  it  merits  the  indignation  and  pity  of  all  the  humble  followers 
of  the  Lamb. 


EI.DEU  JOHN  LELAND.  535 


EXTRACTS  FROM  AN  ESSAY  ON  THE  SABBATH,  PUBLISH- 
ED  IN  1828,  ENTITLED  LELAND  AGAIN. 


The  common  definition  given  of  moral  law,  is,  "that  it  is  the  eternal 
rule  of  right ;  arising  from  the  relation  that  exists  between  men  and  their 
God,  and  between  man  and  man  ;  and  that  it  will  be  unalterably  binding, 
as  long  as  the  perfections  of  God  and  the  faculties  of  men  exist."  Very 
good.  In  a  law  there  are  three  essential  requisites,  viz  :  the  principle,  the 
details,  and  the  penally.  The  principle  of  this  law  is  remember  the  seventh 
day  and  keep  it  lioiy.  The  details  are,  thou  shall  do  no  work,  but  rest  with- 
in thy  gates  with  thy  children,  servants  and  beasts  :  thou  shall  neither  gather 
sticks,  kindle  afire,  or  think  thine  own  thoughts.  The  penally  is,  the  Sab- 
bath breaker  shall  surely  be  put  to  death,  if,  therefure.  the  observance  of 
the  seventh  day  is  of  moral  obligation,  the  day  cannot  be  changed — the 
exercises  altered,  nor  the  penalty  remitted.  If  the  fourth  commandment 
is  moral  law,  why  should  God,  by  an  absolute  precept,  direct  the  Jews  to 
break  it,  by  circumcising  their  children  on  the  Sabbath  ?  and  why  should 
he  instruct  the  priests,  on  the  day  of  atonement,  (which  sometimes  hap- 
pened  on  the  seventh  da}',  and  always  was  a  Sabbath,)  to  butcher,  burn, 
wash  and  profane  the  temple  on  that  day  ? 

It  is  sometimes  said,  that  when  Christ  was  on  earth,  being  Lord  of  the 
Sabbath,  he  new  modified  the  law  :  but  when  God,  who  cannot  lie,  can 
change  the  eternal  law  of  right,  (while  his  perfections  and  the  faculties  of 
men  endure,)  then  I  siiall  believe  \\vAi  perfect  good  can  be  made  belter. 

^  H<  4i  *  %  4: 

The  Sabbath  of  the  Israelites  was  not  appointed  a  day  for  social 
worship,  but  for  rest.  No  active  services  were  enjoined  on  them  on  the 
seventh  day,  but  what  they  were  to  perform  on  other  days ;  except  that 
on  the  seventh  day  they  were  to  offer  two  lambs  instead  of  but  one. 

The  reason  given  for  the  remembrance  of  the  seventh  day,  in  Ex.  xx. 
11,  is,  because  God  rested  from  the  labor  of  creation  on  that  day  and  hal- 
lowed it :  but  in  Deut.  v.  15,  where  Muses  is  rehearsing  and  explaining 
the  law,  the  reason  assigned  why  the  day  should  be  kept,  is,  that  they  were 
delivered  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt.  In  this  rehearsal  of  the  ten  com- 
mandments, he  says,  "  The  Lord  madc  not  this  covenant  loithour  fathers 
hut  with  us."  That  the  fourth  commandment  was  an  integral  part  of  this 
covenant,  will  not  be  denied,  but  it  was  not  made  with  the  fathers  who 
were  dead,  but  with  those  Israelites  who  were  then  living.  See  verse  third. 


536  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

In  Psalms  Ixxiv.  8,  synagogues  are  mentioned,  (the  only  place  in  the 
Old  Testament,)  but  if  the  text  was  written  by  David,  it  must  be  prophecy 
in  historic  style,  for  no  synagogues  or  temple  had  been  burnt  up  when 
David  lived:  the  prediction  seems  to  respect  the  calamitous  times  of  the 
Jews  by  the  Romans.  After  the  Jews  returned  from  Babylon,  they  filled 
their  country  with  synagogues,  and  assembled  in  them  on  every  Sabbath, 
to  read  Moses  and  the  prophets,  and  hear  the  expositions  of  the  scribes. 
For  this,  I  see  no  precept  given,  and  find  no  reproof  therefor.  It  seems 
to  have  been  o.  human,  prudenllal  affair;  like  the  building  of  meeting- 
houses by  Christians.  In  this  synagogue  worship,  the  Jews,  in  their 
scattered  condition,  were  busy,  when  the  Hebrew  Boy  was  born,  who 
was  to  give  law  to  the  world.     *     *     * 

In  approaching  the  New  Testament,  our  hearts  should  be  open  and  our 
thoughts  vigilant.  Here  a  greater  than  Moses,  with  an  unveiled  face,  is 
speaking  io  all.  Christianity  is  for  all  nations — to  be  preached  to  every 
creature  under  heaven,  and  sounded  in  all  the  world.  The  precepts  of  it> 
therefore,  must  be  such  as  can  operate  every  where,  and  not  be  limited  to 
any  little  section  of  the  earth. 

Has  the  blessed  Saviour,  or  his  inspired  apostles,  left  on  record  any 
command  for  all  men,  or  for  any  men,  to  fibserve  the  sevcnlh  day — the 
first  day,  or  any  day  in  every  week,  as  a  Christian  Sabbath  ?  deriving  its 
morality,  either  from  the  rest  of  God,  on  the  seventh  day,  or  from  the  law 
of  Moses  ;  but  varying  its  mode  of  exercise  to  suit  the  Christian  economy  ? 
If  so,  where  is  the  precept  to  be  found  ? 

In  the  New  Testament  there  is  a  marked  difference  between  the  Sab- 
balh  and  ihe  first  day  of  the  week;  and  (if  our  translation  is  admitted,)  one 
is  never  used  for  the  other. 

The  Sabbath  that  Jesus  slept  in  death,  the  disciples  rested  according  to 
the  commandment — but  on  the  frst  day  of  the  week,  some  were  running  to 
the  tomb,  others  were  travelling  to  Emmaus,  and  at  night  they  collected 
together,  and  shut  the  doors,  for  fear  of  the  Jews.  And  after  eight  days, 
not  after  six  or  seven,  but  after  eight  days  they  assembled  again.  If  the 
Saviour  had  appointed  a.  first  day  iveekly  Sabbath  for  his  disciples  to  ob- 
serve, they  certainly  had  not  understood  him.  Supposing  they  had  con- 
tinned  to  celebrate  every  ninth  day,  they  would  have  found  no  more  than 
forty  Sabbaths  in  a  year,  instead  of  fifty-two* 

Is  it  good  logic  ?  Is  it  honest,  to  draw  and  enforce  consequences  from 
premises  that  cannot  be  true  ?  If  the  pi'emises  be  true,  and  God  does 
command  all  men  every  whei-e,  to  keep  the  fii'st  day  of  each  week  in  unison 

*  If  we  admit  of  the  common  gloss,  that  "  the  Jews  spoke  in  that  manner,"  when 
speaking  of  a  whole  week,  as  we  now  do  in  saying,  "  Sunday  and  Sunday  make 
eight ;''  would  the  next  Sunday  make  sixteen  ?  This  way  of  reckoning  would  make  at 
most,  only  forty-five  Sundays  and  a  fraction  in  a  year. 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  537 

with  each  other,  under  the  penalty  of  certain  death ;  what  shall  we  think 
of  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  our  Maker  ? 

The  history  and  precepts  of  the  New  Testament,  with  a  bold  front  de- 
clare that  the  Christian  religion,  in  all  its  parts,  cannot  be  performed  with- 
out a  public  assemblage  :  days  must,  therefore,  be  appointed,  either  stated 
and  perpetual,  or  occasional  and  contingent :  and  these  days  must  be  ap- 
pointed by  God — by  magistrates,  or  by  a  mutual  agreement  of  those  who 
assemble  together.  Magistrates  made  no  Sabbatical  or  other  laws,  to 
direct  the  Christians  when  to  assemble,  before  Constantine.  The  Christian 
church  lived  three  hundred  years,  therefore,  in  her  purest  state,  without 
them  :  and  it  has  been  a  heavy  curse  to  the  Christian  saints,  that  any  such 
laws  were  ever  in  existence.  It  returns,  therefore,  that  either  God  or  the 
worshippers  themselves  must  fix  the  day,  for  the  solemnities  of  Christian 
worship.  The  Israelites  lived  condensed  in  a  small  section  of  the  earth ; 
and  God  appointed  for  them  the  seventh  day  Sabbath,  and  a  number  of 
feasts  and  days  beside ;  which,  in  their  located  situation,  they  could  all  of 
them  keep.  But  as  Christ's  subjects  are  in  every  kingdom  and  nation  un- 
der heaven,  (I  have  said,)  it  would  be  impossible  for  any  day  to  be  attend- 
ed to  by  all  of  them. 

The  three  passages  in  the  New  Testament,  that  ihejirst-day  worshippers 
place  the  greatest  reliance  upon,  are 

First.  Acts  xx.  7.  Where  a  narrative  is  given  that  Paul  and  Co.,  left 
Philippi  after  the  days  of  unleavened  bread,  and  came  to  Troas,  where  the 
disciples  came  together  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  to  break  bread ; 
unto  whom  Paul  preached  until  midnight,  and  talked  even  to  break  of  day. 
This  narrative  recognizes  the  days  of  unleavened  bread,  as  well  as  the  first 
day  of  the  week.  What  he  had  been  doing  at  the  feast  is  not  recorded  ; 
but  that  he  met  with  the  disciples  at  Troas,  who  came  together  on  that  day 
for  religious  purposes,  is  certain.  Paul's  visit  at  Troas  was  eight  days. 
That  he  was  busy  among  them  in  'preaching,  hardly  admits  of  a  doubt. 
The  disciples  got  general  information  that  he  was  there  ;  and  on  the  last 
day  of  his  visit,  which  was  the  first  day  of  the  week,  they  came  together. 
Whether  this  assembling  was  occasioned  by  Paul's  being  there,  or  whether 
it  was  a  stated  day  among  themselves,  on  which  they  agreed  to  meet,  I 
cannot  say.  In  those  days  some  of  the  Christians  esteemed  one  day  above 
another;  while  others  esteemed  every  day  alike,  which  would  not  have 
been  the  case,  if  Christ  had  given  a  commandment  for  his  followers  to  sanc- 
tify the  first  day  of  the  week,  in  distinction  from  all  other  days.  But  wheth- 
er it  was  an  occasional  or  stated  meeting,  it  was  a  voluntary  affair.  If, 
however,  the  history  of  this  interesting  meeting  is  an  imperious  command 
on  all  others  to  do  likewise,  it  follows,  of  course,  that  on  the  first  day  of 
every  week  the  disciples  must  come  together — preach  until  midnight— 

68 


638  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

break  bread  between  midnight  and  day-break,  and  converse  until  morning  ; 
for  if  any  part  of  it  is  preceptive,  the  whole  is. 

Second.  I  Cor.  viv.  1,  2.  Paul,  by  the  inspiration  of  Christ,  had  given 
order  to  the  churches  of  Galatia,  to  collect  for  the  saints  at  Jerusalem,  and 
here  he  gives  a  so  do  ye  to  the  church  of  Corinth.  "Upon  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as  God  hath  prospered 
him."  If  this  order  respects  the  time,  my  argument  fails  ;  but  if  it  has  its 
bearings,  not  on  the  time,  but  on  the  things  to  le  done,  the  argument  is  not 
shaken.  Docs  he  say  "I  ordered  the  Galatians,  and  I  order  you  to  keep 
the  first  day  of  the  week  ?"  Nothing  like  it :  I  have  just  confessed  too 
much,  for  in  looking  over  the  text  carefully,  I  see  no  order  for  them  to  as- 
semblc  on  the  day,  or  to  perform  any  social  acts  af  oral  service  ;  but  every 
one  of  them  was  to  be  weighing,  measuring,  prizing  and  casting  up  to  find 
out  how  much  the  Lord  had  prospered  him,  and  lay  by  him  in  store,  a  por- 
tion of  his  gains  for  the  suffering  saints  in  Judea.     *     *     * 

Third.  Rev.  i.  10.  I  was  in  the  spirit  on  the  Lord's  day.  We  often 
read  of  the  day  of  the  Lord  ;  but  no  where  of  the  Lord's  day,  except  in 
this  place.  That  there  was  one  day  in  the  year  called  Lord's  day,  and 
that  the  people  to  whom  John  wrote  understood  which  day  it  was,  leaves 
no  reasonable  doubt  ;  but  which  day  of  the  year  it  was,  is  not  easily  as- 
certained. Some  take  it  for  granted  that  it  was  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
and  consequently  call  the  first  day  in  every  week  the  Lord's  day :  for  this 
opinion  I  have  not  yet  seen  any  reasonable  evidence.  It  looks  more  like- 
ly that  Christmas  day  was  so  called,  which  was  kept  in  remembrance  of 
the  birth  of  Christ,  and  called  by  his  name.  But  there  are  some  reasons 
that  produce  a  belief  that  Easier  is  the  day  here  intended.  This  day  is 
spoken  of  in  Acts  xii.  4.  And  if  the  first  Christians  were  not  in  the  habit 
of  keeping  Easter  at  first,  they  very  soon  fell  into  the  usage.  The  first 
great  split  in  the  Christian  churches  was  concerning  Easter ;  not  whether 
it  should  be  kept,  for  in  this  they  were  all  agreed,  but  at  what  time  it  should 
be  celebrated  :  some  pleading  for  the  solar  year  and  others  for  the  lunar. 
All  the  proof,  therefore,  that  can  be  drawn  from  this  text,  is,  that  there 
was  one  day  in  a  week — in  a  month — in  a  year,  or  in  a  longer  term,  called 
Lord^s  day.  Here  it  may  be  noticed,  that,  including  the  Greek  and  Latin 
churches,  an  overwhelming  majority  of  Christians,  are  seven  times  more 
attached  to  the  observance  of  Christmas,  Easter,  Whitsunday,  &c.,  than 
they  are  to  keep  the  first  day  of  each  week :  while  a  minority  are  strong 
advocates  for  the  celebration  of  the  first  day,  and  esteem  the  majority  igno- 
rant and  superstitious  for  observing  days,  for  which  they  have  no  com- 
mand in  the  laws  of  Christ.  When  I  hear  this,  I  heartily  wish  that  the 
minority  would  point  out  a  thus  sailh  the  Lord  for  the  keeping  of  the  first 
day  of  every  week  as  a  Christian  Salbath.  This  I  am  waiting  for,  but 
never  expect  to  see  as  long  as  the  New  Testament  continues,  and  the  earth 
retains  its  present  shape. 


ELDER    JOim    LELAND,  539 

THe  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist  is  called  "  the  beginning  of  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ."  John  never  offered  sacrifices,  sprinkled  blood,  nor  burnt 
incense  like  a  Jewish  priest,  but  preached  repentance  for  sin,  and  faith  in 
the  Messiah,  who  stood  among  them.  So,  also,  Jesus  Christ  was  a  preach- 
er  of  the  gospel,  and  spake  as  man  never  spake  ;  but  the  ministration  of 
the  law  continued  until  the  death  of  Christ ;  after  which  sacrifices  lost  all 
their  efficacy.  There  appears  to  have  been  a  lapping  of  the  two  ministra- 
tions :  the  last  began  with  the  ministry  of  John  ;  and  the  first  ended  with 
the  death  Christ :  of  course,  Jesus  Christ  was  a  gospel  preacher  while  the 
first  testament  retained  its  force. 

Among  oi\\eY  perfect  qualities  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  his  example  for  gospel 
preachers  was  one.  He  found  the  men  of  the  world  where  they  were ; 
the  Jews  in  particular,  in  the  constant  habit  of  synagogue  worship;* and 
his  custom  was  to  enter  into  the  synagogue  every  Sabbath  day  ;  thus  avail- 
ing himself  of  their  customs,  for  opportunities  to  preach  unto  them,  and 
heal  all  that  had  need  of  healing.  The  old  Sabbath  was  yet  in  force ;  but 
it  was  not  an  article  which  he  enforced.  He  gave  no  information  that  the 
Sabbath  should  be  changed,  the  seventh  day^ov  the  Jirst ;  or  that  synagogue 
worship  was  ordained  by  God. 

With  this  view  of  the  subject,  I  have  constantly  attended  public  worship 
on  the  Jirst  day  of  the  week,  for  a  number  of  years.  When  I  travel  among 
or  live  amidst  those  who  conscientiously  keep  the  seventh  day,  it  pleases 
me  equally  well.  And  on  any  other  day  of  the  week,  public  worship  is 
alike  interesting.  Did  I  live  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  globe,  where  the 
day  begins  twelve  hours  before  it  does  in  this  longitude,  I  should  not  be 
galled  in  my  conscience  about  the  hour.  And  if  in  the  mo^it  northern 
island  that  is  peopled,  where  days  are  long — if  I  found  Christain  saints — 
we  should  harmonize  :  for  I  would  never  worship  a  day,  and  make  a 
Saviour  of  it ;  but  worship  the  Lord,  in  spirit  and  truth,  every  day  ;  and 
publicly  assemble  as  often  as  duty  called  and  opportunity  served. 

Among  us,  the  Jirst  day  of  every  week  is  attended  to,  by  a  majority  of 
the  people.  The  Jews  among  us,  and  those  Christians  who  prefer  the 
seventh  day  to  the  first,  (though  a  very  respectable  body,)  are  a  minority 
in  these  United  States.  If  this  day  is  clothed  with  a  legal  establishment 
to  enforce  its  observance,  it  loses  its  Christian  character  and  becomes  a 
tyrant  over  conscience.  Otherwise  it  is  harmless  in  nature,  and  may  be 
salutary  in  its  effects. 

The  subject  of  present  investigation  admits  of  great  improvement  for  the 
better.  Let  seven  contiguous  congregations  appoint  their  stated  worship 
on  the  seven  days  of  the  week  in  rotation.  This  v/ould  not  only  open  a 
*'^oor  for  them  to  mingle  together  and  assist  each  other.;  but  in  such  a 
course,  one  preacher  would  answer  all  the  good  purposes  that  seven  do  in 
the  present   mode  :  then  the  preachers,  like  the  apostles,  would  preach 


540  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

daily  and  not  weekly :  and  by  being  instant  in  the  work — having  their  ar- 
mor on  every  day,  they  would  abound  in  zeal,  and  give  a  clearer  light. 
Should  this  scheme  be  adopted,  it  would  put  to  silence  six-sevenths  of  the 
present  solicitations,  which  meet  us  in  every  gate  and  every  shape,  to  be- 
stow  our  hard  earnings,  to  educate  and  fit  out  preachers  for  destitute  con- 
gregations  and  waste  places.  Yes,  should  this  plan  take  effect,  the  saints 
would  content  themselves  with  the  only  rule  given  in  the  New  Testament 
to  raise  up  preachers,  which  is,  "  Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that 
Tie  icould  send  forth  laborers  into  the  harvest." 

Those  who  believe  that  Christianity  is  a  principle  of  state  policy — that 
the  state  should  be  divided  into  religious  districts,  and  that  each  district 
should  be  bound  to  have  a  preacher — that  the  preacher  must  pass  through 
the  expensive  stages  of  literature  and  divinity  to  be  eligible — and  that  his 
hearers  must  pay  the  back  rents  for  his  education,  as  well  as  his  yearly 
wages,  as  a  link  of  the  same  chain,  will  strongly  plead  for  a  day  to  be  set 
apart  by  law,  as  an  auction  day  in  each  week,  for  the  priest  to  vend  the 
production  of  his  toils  to  the  highest  bidders.  But  for  Christians  to  judge 
and  set  at  naught  a  brother,  who  differs  with  them  in  respect  of  observing 
a  day  or  not  observing  it,  when  every  one  is  to  be  fully  persuaded  in  his 
own  mind,  shows  a  great  lack  of  the  meekness  of  Christ,  Cruel  must 
that  censure  be,  for  one  Christian  to  condemn  another,  for  not  observing  a 
day  nowhere  enjoined  in  the  Christian  code.  If  such  a  command  is  to  be 
found  in  the  New  Testament,  let  the  text  be  designated,  and  I  will  take 
conviction. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  541 


ADDRESS 

DELIVERED   AT    PITTSFIELD,    JAN.  8,  1829. 


Fellow  citizens  : — On  the  request  of  your  committe,  I  arise  to  address 
you,  with  a  consciousness  of  the  want  of  talent,  and  with  depreciated  in- 
tellect. 

The  maker  and  governor  of  all  nations  is  omniscient.  He  knows  all 
things.  With  him  there  is  nothing  new.  The  past,  the  present,  and  the 
to-come,  with  us  are  all  in  his  eternal  now.  With  one  comprehensive 
glance,  he  takes  in  view  all  actions,  and  all  motives  which  produce  them ; 
but  the  case  of  men  is  very  different.  We  know  but  little.  Our  capa- 
cities  are  small  and  limited  ;  our  pursuit  after  knowledge  is  languid;  de- 
ceptions are  abundant ;  truth  lies  in  a  well,  we  have  to  dig  deep  and  draw 
long  to  get  it.  "  How  dark  !  how  intricate  the  road  that  leads  to  intellect- 
ual light !"  Some  men,  however,  either  by  the  endowments  of  talent, 
by  greater  opportunity,  or  close  research,  rise  high,  and  border  on  the  an- 
gelic science,  while  others  grovel  in  the  earth,  and  rise  but  a  small  grade 
above  the  brutes. 

Perhaps  an  assembly  of  wiser  patriots  were  never  collected  together 
than  at  the  convention  in  Philadelphia,  in  1787.  The  United  Staler  had 
gained  their  independence  at  the  expense  of  much  treasure,  toil,  and  blood, 
ut  had  at  that  time,  no  efficient  government  for  civil  regulation.  The 
articles  of  confederation,  were  found  by  experience,  to  be  insufficient 
to  govern  the  nation ;  and,  to  remedy  the  defects,  the  several  states  se- 
lected their  sages  to  meet  in  convention,  and  point  out  the  road  to  national 
safety  and  happiness.  This  convention  had  the  experience  of  all  former 
ages  before  them,  and  knew  well  the  condition  of  all  the  states  ;  and,  after 
three  months  deliberation,  produced  a  constitution  of  government,  which 
was  ratified  by  the  people ;  and  which  (with  some  salutary  amendments 
that  have  been  annexed  unto  it)  has  been  the  supreme  law  of  the  United 
Stales  for  forty  years,  under  which  tht;y  have  prospered  and  risen  to  high 
renown. 

It  is  not  possible  for  one  man,  or  a  body  of  men,  in  framing  a  consti- 
tution, or  giving  a  code  of  laws,  to  make  provision  for  every  event  that 
will  take  place.  Without  inspiration,  the  events  will  not  be  known  be- 
forehand.    Inspiration  itself,  makes  known  but  few  of  the  events  that  d 


542  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

take  place  among  men.  And,  besides,  if  an  attempt  should  be  made  to 
meet  every  emergence,  the  book  would  be  so  voluminous,  that  a  human 
mind  could  not  contain  it.  Government,  must,  therefore,  have  a  quantum 
of  confidence  reposed  in  the  agents,  checked  by  responsibility.  These 
items  should  be  as  rare  as  possible ;  but,  when  they  do  arise,  if  the  rights 
of  the  citizens  clash  with  the  energies  of  government  or  the  letter  of  the 
law,  the  rights  of  the  citizens  should  always  have  the  pre-eminence;  for 
natural  right  is  anterior  to  all  law.  These  rights  are  the  gifts  of  God ; 
constitutions  and  laws  are  the  creatures  of  men.  This  is  a  glass  in  which 
we  may  see  the  faces  of  the  two  parties  in  the  United  States,  let  them  be 
called  by  what  names  soever.  In  the  construction  or  interpretation  of 
those  things  that  are  necessarily  obscure,  or  not  expressly  provided  for, 
one  has  the  honor  of  government,  and  his  own  honor  and  importance,  for 
his  land-mark ;  the  other,  the  rights  of  the  people  for  his  polar  star. 
One  gratifies  his  own  will,  at  the  expense  of  being  burnt  in  effigy  by  an 
indignant  people  ;  the  other  executes  the  known  will  of  his  constituents, 
to  the  sacrificing  of  his  own  opinion. 

It  is  no  ways  probable,  that  the  convention  that  framed  the  constitution, 
or  the  state  conventions  who  ratified  it,  ever  thought  that  a  time  would 
come,  when  the  representatives  in  Congress  would  seek  to  cheat  the  peo- 
ple out  of  the  president  who  was  fairly  elected  j  or  that  a  state  would 
give  one  voice  by  her  electors,  and  another  by  her  representatives;  yet 
these  events  have  both  taken  place,  one  of  them  in  twelve,  and  the  other 
in  thirty-six  years  after  the  adoption  of  the  constitution.  In  the  adminis- 
tration  of  the  elder  Adams,  an  alien  act,  a  sedition  law,  a  direct  tax,  a 
standing  army,  an  eight  per  cent  loan,  etc.,  all  arose,  which  were  so  ab- 
horrent to  the  people,  that  they  rose  in  their  strength,  and  elected  other 
men,  that  there  might  be  a  change  of  measures.  Jefferson  and  Burr  ob- 
tained seven  electoral  votes  more  than  Adams  and  Pinckney.  As  the 
constitution  then  stood,  the  electors  did  not  designate  the  president  and 
vice-president ;  and,  as  Jefferson  and  Burr  had  an  equal  number  of  votes, 
the  states  in  Congress,  by  their  representatives,  had  to  select  one  of  the 
two  for  president.  In  this  crisis,  it  it  believed  that  there  was  not  a  man 
in  Congress  but  knew  that  it  was  the  design  of  the  people  that  Jefferson, 
and  not  Burr  should  be  the  president ;  but,  as  there  was  a  gap  for  chi- 
canery, the  adverse  party,  finding  that  Burr  would  hearken  to  proposals, 
sustained  thirty-six  ballotings,  to  cheat  the  people  out  of  their  [)rcsident. 
Was  ihis  bowing  to  the  majesty  of  the  people  ?  The  United  States  were 
so  alarmed  at  this  event,  that  they  altered  the  constitution,  to  prevent  the 
like  again. 

In  the  presidential  election  of  1824,  another  game  was  played.  Jack- 
son had  fifteen  more  electoral  votes  than  the  second  Adams,  but  not  a 
majority  of  the  whole;  and,  therefore,  the  selection  devolved  on  the  rep- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  543 

resentativcs  in  Congress.  In  this  selection,  sonne  of  the  states  who 
had  voted  by  their  electoral  colleges  for  Jackson,  now,  by  their  represen- 
tatives, voted  for  Adams ;  some  of  whom,  at  least,  had  the  express  wish 
and  known  will  of  the  states  where  they  lived,  that  they  would  give  their 
votes  for  Jackson  ;  but,  for  some  reason  or  other,  the  will  of  the  people 
was  trampled  upon.  If  Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate,  who  before  were  at 
strife,  were  not  made  friends,  in  order  to  crucify  Jackson,  and  keep  the 
presidency  in  a  cabinet  line,  our  senses  have  deceived  us.  Two  thirds  of 
the  people,  in  the  now  presidential  election,  on  oath,  have  declared  it  to 
be  true.  Well  done,  Uncle  Sam  !  neither  the  terror  of  the  administration 
of  the  elder  Adams,  nor  the  intrigue  that  was  used  to  elect  the  second 
Adams,  and  perpetuate  the  dynasty  in  a  cabinet  line,  have  deterred  or  de- 
ceived you.  Go  on,  sir,  with  your  independent  majesty,  and  the  kind 
heavens  will  prosper  you. 

It  must  be  granted,  that  every  man  has  ambition  to  excel,  and  a  thirst 
after  pre-eminence.  This  propensity  is  nourished  by  base  men,  which 
leads  them  into  the  various  parts  of  tyranny.  Such  men  serve  not  their 
country,  but  themselves,  and  by  good  words  and  fair  speeches,  deceive 
the  simple.  Men  of  this  description,  should  be  trusted  no  more  with  the 
destinies  of  government,  than  wolves  should  be  placed  to  guard  the  sheep. 
But  the  good  man  suppresses  this  vile  ambition,  and  transforms  it  into 
patriotic  emulation.  Did  Washington,  did  Jefferson  ever  seek  to  be  pro- 
moted  ?  Did  they  ever  express  a  desire  to  be  exalted  on  the  ruin  of  pub- 
lic good  or  public  will?  Were  they  not  always  little  in  their  own  eyes, 
and  subservient  to  the  voice  of  their  country  ?  Let  the  history  of  their 
lives  answer  the  questions.  And  has  Jackson  ever  been  an  office-hunter  ? 
has  he  ever  sought  promotion?  When  the  safety  of  his  country  called 
for  the  display  of  his  talents,  he  has  never  declined  the  enterprise,  though 
painful  and  hazardous ;  but,  as  soon  as  the  object  was  gained,  like  Cin- 
cinnatus  and  Seranus,  he  has  retired  to  his  home,  to  feast  on  the  furniture 
of  his  own  mind,  and  enjoy  the  scenes  of  rural   life. 

A  man  may  conquer  in  many  pitched  battles,  and  be  destitute  of  the 
talents  which  a  statesman  and  chief  magistrate  should  possess ;  but,  he 
who  can  make  soldiers  out  of  ruffians — create  supplies  for  an  army  in  a 
waste  place — fasten  every  soldier  to  him  in  love  and  fear — be  so  sagacious 
as  never  to  be  surprized — and  defeat  an  army  vastly  superior  to  his  own, 
with  the  loss  of  little  or  no  blood,  gives  the  best  pledges  that  he  is  en- 
dowed with  a  gift  to  rule. 

Such  has  been  the  case  with  Jackson.  The  battle,  just  hinted  at,  which 
ended  in  a  splendid  victory,  was  fought  on  the  eighth  of  January,  1815, 
and  has  given  rise  to  the  present  assembly,  to  celebrate  the  victory  of 
that  day. 


544  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

This  evening  is  awfully  solemn,  like  the  evening  of  the  passover,  which 
was  a  time  much  to  be  observed  by  the  children  of  Israel.  Cast  your 
thoughts  back  fourteen  years  from  this  day,  and  reflect  on  the  prize  at 
stake.  The  "  beauty  and  booty"  of  New  Orleans — the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  the  American  army.  When  so  much  was  at  hazard,  well 
might  the  commander  and  his  men  exclaim,  "  If  we  perish,  we  will  perish 
in  the  last  ditch." 

The  western  troops  deserve  well  of  their  country.  I  personally  knew 
a  great  number  of  the  early  settlers  of  Kentucky  ;  they  were  my  neigh- 
bors and  acquaintances — they  were  men  of  principle,  patriotism,  and  be- 
nevolence, "not  quarrelsome,  but  bold  enough  to  fight;"  and  their  sons 
have  not  disgraced  them.  To  defend  their  own  homes  from  the  savages, 
had  taught  them  the  art  and  hardships  of  war,  and  the  use  of  the  rifle  ; 
and,  at  this  battle,  every  squint  they  made  was  a  harbinger  of  certain 
death. 

From  the  great  law  of  self-preservation,  which  is  paramount  to  all  laws 
written  on  parchment,  General  Jackson  was  necessarily  impelled  to  pro- 
claim martial  law  in  New  Orleans,  and  stop  the  proceedings  of  the  civil 
functionaries.  It  was  a  daring  attempt ;  but  he  took  the  responsibility 
upon  himself,  and  by  doing  it,  he  saved  the  city.  For  this,  however,  he 
was  fined  $1000  by  Judge  Hall,  which  he  peaceably  paid,  out  of  his  own 
funds.  The  "  beauty"  of  the  city,  soon  raised  the  "  booty"  of  a  fine  to 
remunerate  their  deliverer;  which  he  received  on  no  other  conditions, 
than  that  it  should  be  given  to  the  widows  and  orphans  of  those  who  died 

in  camp. 

General  Jackson  has  been  represented,  by  his  enemies,  as  deficient  in 
the  art  of  writing  ;  I  know  not  for  what.  All  of  his  officials,  addresses, 
and  epistles,  that  I  have  seen,  are  masculine  and  luminous,  and,  when  he 
has  done,  he  leaves  off.  To  say  that  he  can  compress  as  many  rich  ideas 
on  a  small  piece  of  paper,  and  leave  nothing  obscure,  as  Jefferson  did, 
would  be  saying  that  of  him  which  no  man  on  earth  merits.  The  valor 
of  his  pen,  and  the  valor  of  his  sword,  have  both  been  tested ;  and  it  will 
impress  the  reader  of  his  exploits,  that  no  difficulty  which  he  has  as  yet 
encountered,  was  strong  enough  to  draw  out  all  his  energies ;  no  chair 
large  enough  for  him  ;  he  would  spread  over  it  on  every  side.  Self-taught, 
he  has  made  himself.  Indeed,  if  a  man  cannot  make  himself,  he  cannot 
keep  himself,  after  others  have  made  him.  It  is  folly  to  attempt  to  hold 
up  a  man  to  whom  God  has  given  no  legs. 

It  is  the  cant  of  the  times,  that  Jackson  will  be  an  awkward  president 
and  make  many  blunders.  It  may  be  so  ;  but  his  opportunity  has  been  as 
creat  to  inform  himself  of  the  usages  of  courts  and  ambassadors,  as  was 
that  of  Washington;  and  he  never  blundered  into  the  ditch.     But  these 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  545 

fopperies,  which  monarchs  and  aristocrats  think  so  much  of,  do  not  weigh 
an  ounce  of  lampblack,  in  the  estimation  of  republicans.  A  republic, 
like  a  kitchen-garden,  should  have  every  thing  necessary,  but  nothing  su- 
perfluous. To  my  certain  knowledge,  fifty  years  past,  nothing  degraded 
an  American  sooner  than  for  him  to  plead  for  the  usages  of  European 
courts. 

As  the  president  of  the  United  States,  elect,  in  every  station  that  he 
has  stood  in,  has  given  great  satisfaction  to  all  the  people,  except  those 
who  were  jealous  of  his  popularity,  so  in  the  administration]of  the  gov- 
ernment we  hope  he  will  do  likewise.  If  he  remains  little  in  his  own 
eyes,  he  will  appear  great  in  the  eyes  of  others.  If  he  does  not  forget 
the  rights  of  the  people,  the  people  will  not  forget  him.  If  he  steers  the 
ship  between  Sylla  and  Charibdes,  the  crew  will  rejoice.  But,  if  he  coun- 
teracts  all  these  things,  the  people,  (not  with  sword  and  cannon,)  but  with 
little  bits  of  paper,  will  give  him  leave  of  absence,  and  provide  for  him  a 
home  department. 

While  we,  this  evening,  feast  on  dainties,  let  us  not  forget  the  man  who 
fed  on  acorns  to  defend  our  rights.  Nor  let  us  be  unmindful  of  the  Ameri- 
can  watchman,  honest  George  Kremer,,  who  cackles  but  little,  but  lays 
good  eggs.  And  let  us  extend  the  hand  of  friendship  to  the  unwavering 
friend  of  the  people,  Martin  Van  Buren,  now  governor  of  New  York. 

The  exertions  made  for  education — the  circulation  of  history,  and  the 
thirst  of  the  rising  generation  after  information,  are  favorable  symptoms 
that  the  states  will  not  fall  into  degradation  and  vassalage  through  igno- 
rance. It  is  but  for  the  United  States  to  know  their  rights  and  correspond- 
ing duties,  to  be  as  happy  and  prosperous  as  the  state  of  man  admits  of. 
But,  clamor  must  be  considered  as  a  certain  tax  which  all  free  govern, 
ments  have  to  pay.  In  the  election  of  a  chief  magistrate,  some  will  be 
influenced  by  the  hopes  of  office,  and  others  by  personalities,  and  the  tax 
of  clamor  will  be  imposed.  But,  when  the  question  is  fairly  taken  and 
settled  by  a  majority,  the  man  who  murmurs  is  a  tyrant. 

To  close  these  miscellaneous  remarks,  let  it  be  remembered,  that  with- 
out industry,  frugality,  honesty,  temperance,  subordination  to  the  laws,  and 
a  reverence  for  the  precepts  and  spirit  of  religion,  no  government  on 
earth  can  make  us  prosperous  or  happy.  While  we,  therefore,  freely  an- 
imadvert upon  the  characters  and  measures  of  our  rulers,  let  us  be  cau- 
tious of  blaming  them  for  the  evils  that  proceed  from  our  own  errors. 

While  we  believe  that  government,  formed  not  on  birth,  not  on  con- 
quest, not  on  wealth,  nor  on  grace,  but  on  mutual  compact,  is  accord- 
ing to  immutable  right ;  let  us  beware,  in  electing  agents,  not  to  form 
entangling  alliancies  with  those  who  differ  with  us  in  opinion.  Their 
words  will  eat  like  a  canker  worm,  and  spread  like  a  gangrene.     When 

69 


546  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

we  are  in  the  minority,  let  us  remain  steadfast,  and  peaceably  seek  a 
reform,  and  patiently  bear  what  our  sentiments  exposes  us  to.  Wnea 
we  are  in  the  majority,  let  us  be  assiduous  to  guarantee  to  those  who 
differ  with  us  the  full  latitude  of  their  privileges ;  for  heretics  and  mi- 
norities have  both  inalienable  and  chartered  rights,  of  which  they  can- 
not be  deprived,  but  by  the  iron  hand  of  oppression, 

God  save  the  United  States — bless  the  Congress — protect  the  beauty 
and  booty  of  New  Orleans,  and  preserve  the  life  of  Andrew  Jacksonv 


ELDER    JOHN  LEL.AND.  547 


ADDRESS 


AT  THE  DEDICATION  OF  THE  BAPTIST  MEETING-HOUSE 
IN  LANESBOROUGH,  FEBRUARY  10,  1829. 


Mountains  of  gold — rivers  of  oil — the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills,  and 
all  the  treasures  of  the  earth  cannot  purchase  a  pardon  of  sin,  nor  a  title 
to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  :  yet  the  religion  of  Jehovah  has  always  cost  his 
worshippers  time  and  property.  The  excellent  offering  of  righteous  Abel 
consisted  of  the  "firstlings  of  his  flock,  and  the  fat  thereof — the  sacrifice 
of  Noah,  of  the  "clean  beasts" — the  oblation  of  Abraham,  of  "a  ram,  a 
heifer,  a  she  goat,  a  turtle,  and  a  pigeon."  About  the  time  that  the  Al- 
mighty brought  the  oppressed  Israelites  out  of  bondage,  he  ordained  the 
new  moon,  or  first  day  of  the  month.  This  ordained  statute,  the  God  of 
Jacob  appointed  in  the  life  time  of  Joseph,  before  the  Israelites  generally 
understood  the  language  of  Egypt.  This  solemn  feast-day,  at  every  new 
moon,  was  ushered  in  by  blowing  a  trumpet :  Psalm  Ixxxi.,  3,  4,  5.  Soon 
after  this  the  passover  was  appointed,  and  God  delivered  the  shoulders  of 
the  Israelites  from  burdens,  and  their  hands  from  the  pots.  On  the  second 
month  after  their  deliverance  the  rest  of  the  holy  Sabbath  was  enjoined 
to  be  observed  every  seventh  day,  with  a  penalty  of  certain  death. 

In  the  religious  code  of  laws  which  the  Israelites  received  from  God, 
at  Mount  Sinai,  provision  was  made  for  building  the  Tabernacle,  alias, 
sanctuary,  at  considerable  expense.  The  gold,  silver,  and  brass  used  in 
this  building  exceeded  ten  tons.  This  building  was  moved  from  place  to 
place,  with  its  utensils,  carried  partly  in  waggons,  and  partly  on  men's 
shoulders,  until  it  was  settled  at  Shiloh. 

In  the  days  of  King  Solomon,  the  most  superb  and  costly  temple  was 
erected  that  was  ever  on  earth.  This  building  was  a  house  of  God,  built 
by  divine  direction.  The  treasures  which  David  had  collected  for  the  build- 
ing of  the  temple,  during  his  troublesome  wars,  exceeded  five  thousand 
tons  of  gold,  and  fifty  thousand  tons  of  silver,  beside  iron,  brass,  timber 
and  stone  without  estimation.  His  personal  contribution  was  equal  to 
eighty-five  millions  of  dollars.*     After  the  tribes  took  possession  of  ths 

*  These  estimations  are  given  in  whole  numbers,  calculated  on  the  presumed  truth, 
that  a  Hebrew  talent  is  equal  to  one  hundred  pounds  Avoirdupois.  The  Avoirdupois  and 
Troy  standards  are  distinct.  Fifty-one  ounces  Troy  are  e^ual  to  fifty-six  Avoirdupois. 
Fourteen  pounds  Avoirdupois  are  equal  to  seventeen  pounds  Troy. 


548 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


promised  land,  all  of  them  were  to  meet  at  the  place  which  God  chose 
three  times  in  each  year,  and  continue  there  seven  or  eight  days.  Time 
was  spent — travel  sustained,  and  great  offerings  made  at  these  yearly  feasts. 
And,  in  addition  to  the  daily,  free-will  and  feast-offerings,  the  tenth  part 
of  their  yearly  products  was  given  to  the  priestly  tribe  of  Levi.  From  the 
organization  of  the  Jewish  church,  until  the  introduction  of  Christianity, 
religion  bore  a  national  character.  Internal  godliness  was  not  necessary 
to  qualify  a  member  of  the  church.  Natural  birth  and  circumcision  were 
the  prerequisites.  The  ordinances  imposed  on  that  church,  were  such  as 
natural  men  could  perform,  consisting  of  what  could  be  touched,  tasted  and 
handled,  every  way  corresponding  with  their  worldly  sanctuary.  Hence, 
splendor,  show  and  majesty  were  proper. 

That  the  temple  of  Solomon  was  a  figure  of  the  gospel  church,  admits 
of  no  doubt ;  but  the  splendor  of  the  church  consists  of  internal  and  spir- 
itual excellence,  and  not  of  external  pomp  and  grandeur.  The  immense 
treasures  that  David  and  Solomon,  and  the  kingdom  expended  in  the  tem- 
ple, faintly  point  to  the  price  given  to  redeem  the  church.  The  incarnate 
God  purchased  the  church,  not  with  gold  and  silver,  but  with  his  own  blood. 
"  The  redemption  of  the  soul  is  precious."  This  sanctuary  and  temple 
worship  was  congenial  with  the  first  Testament,  but  looked  forward  to  a 
better  covenant,  established  on  better  promises.  It  had  no  glory  in  com- 
parison of  that  which  excelled.  Having  answered  the  purposes  of  the 
night,  the  day-spring  from  on  high,  at  length  appeared,  and  the  unveiled 
truth  was  ushered  in.  By  a  man  of  rusticity — -fitted  out  for  the  ministry 
in  the  wilderness,  (John  the  Baptist,)  the  gospel  was  introduced.  In  this 
beginning  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  repentance  for  sin — belief  in  the 
Messiah,  with  correspondent  fruits,  were  proclaimed  by  "  the  voice  of  one 
crying  in  the  wilderness  :"  who  also  declared  that  the  natural  seed  of  Abra- 
ham, without  repentance  and  faith,  were  serpents  and  vipers.  John  was 
a  travelling  preacher,  and  his  success  was  astonishing — but  he  had  no  legal 
salary  or  support  from  missionary  funds.  He  came  to  prepare  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  who  soon  appeared,  John  had  not  known  Jesus  before,  but  by 
a  token  given  :  he  saw  him,  and  said  to  his  hearers,  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  !" 

Jesus  began  his  ministry  in  the  strain  that  John  preached,  saying,  "re- 
pent and  believe  the  gospel."  The  incarnation  of  Christ  is  inconceivable, 
and  of  course,  inexplicable.  That  he  was  God  over  all — the  true  God  and 
eternal  life — the  first — in  whom  dwelt  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead — 
the  creator  of  all  things — bearing  all  the  names  and  titles,  and  doing  all 
the  works  of  Israel's  Jehovah,  is  certain.  And  that  he  was  man — havinf' 
flesii,  bones  and  blood — subject  to  hunger,  thirst,  weariness,  sleep,  tears, 
and  death  is  as  certain.  But  the  great  mystery  of  godliness,  "  God  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh,"  can  be  no  more  comprehended  by  men  who  believe  it, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  549 

than  the  conception  of  a  virgin,  and  her  bearing  a  child,  can  be  understood 
by  those  who  believe  he  was  nnerely  a  man.  As  a  preacher,  he  went  about 
doing  good — preaching  the    gospel  of  the  kingdonn — healing  all  that  were 
diseased,  and  granting  pardon  of  sin  to  all  the  penitent.     His  public  min- 
istry was  short,  (but  about  three  years,)  and  yet  in  that  short  period,  his 
wonderful  works,  and  marvelous  words  were  so  many,  that  a  history  of  the 
whole  would  be  too  voluminous  for  the  human  mind.     But,  living  and 
working  miracles,  was  not  the  whole  of  his  work :    he  came  to  lay  down 
his  life  for  his  sheep.    As  a  martyr,  he  resisted  unto  blood,  bearing  all  the 
abuse,  perjury  and  cruelty  of  implacable  enemies ;  as  a  mediator,  he  en- 
dured that  trouble  of  soul — that  excruciating  distress — that  agony  and 
bloody  sweat — that  forsaking  of  God  that  was  necessary  to  vindicate  the 
divine  honor — magnify  the  law — make  an  end  of  sin,  and  bring  in  ever- 
lasting righteousness,  that  enemies  might  be  reconciled  to  God.     He  died 
for  our  sins,  according  to  the  Scriptures ;  he  commended  his  love  to  us, 
in,  that  when  we  were  enemies,  Christ  died  for  the  ungodly.     That  he 
died,  the  Jews  believed,  and  rejoiced  at  the  event,  but  that  he  rose  from  the 
dead,  they  were  so  loth  to  believe  that  they  denied  it,  and  (as  a  body)  con- 
tinue  to  deny  it  unto  this  day.     The  resurrection  of  Christ  from  the  dead, 
is  the  grand  pivot  of  the  controversy,  between  Jews  and  infidels,  on  one 
part,  and  Christians  on  the  other.     That  the  body  of  Jesus,  which  was 
bruised  and  wounded  with  whip,  nails  and  spear,  did  rise  from  the  dead 
and  was  seen — conversed  with — handled  and  eaten  with  after  his  resurrec- 
tion, is  boldly  affirmed  lo  us,  by  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament — and 
as  promptly  denied  by  Jews  and  infidels. 

If  the  testimony  of  the  watch,  that  the  disciples  came  and  stole  him  away 
while  they  were  sleeping  was  true,  (for  although  they  could  not  tell  what  was 
done  when  they  were  sleeping,  yet  such  an  event  might  possibly  take  place) 
I  ask  what  they  did  with  his  body  ?  Could  they,  in  a  few  minutes,  watch- 
ed  as  they  were,  have  secreted  it  from  the  eye  of  search  ?  What  became 
of  the  body?  Who  has  ever  seen  it,  except  those  who  declare  that  it  rose 
from  the  dead?  The  first  preachers  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  did  not 
go  into  a  distant  land  to  publish  the  strange  event,  so  far  from  where  it 
took  place  that  the  truth  of  it  could  not  be  tested  ;  but  (according  to  their 
orders)  they  began  at  Jerusalem,  at  the  very  place  where  the  event  took 
place,  that  every  man  might  have  it  in  his  power  to  test  every  word  which 
they  said.  The  adversaries  to  the  resurrection  had  every  advantao-e  to 
prove  the  imposture,  if  it  was  so.  Now,  if  the  preaching  of  the  resurrection 
of  Christ,  by  plain,  simple,  unlearned  men,  (who  had  nothing  to  expect  for 
their  labor,  in  this  world,  but  the  axe  or  the  cross)  gained  such  evidence 
in  the  minds  of  every  class  of  men,  that  in  three  hundred  years  it  over- 
turned an  empire,  claiming  universal  sway,  who  can  deny  the  truth  of  it  ? 
It  is  true  that  the  Mahomedan  religion  has  gained  as  much  ground  as  Chris- 


550  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

tianity  has,  but  law,  sword  and  fire  were  their  most  powerful  arguments. 
Quite  the  reverse  with  Christianity.  Not  only  without  the  aid  of  law,  sword 
or  college,  but  in  opposition  to  them  all ;  by  simply  appealing  to  the  reason 
and  judgments  of  men,  without  coercive  means  ;  requesting  only  a  dispas- 
sionate hearing  and  a  correspondent  faith,  they  pursued  their  ministerial 
career.* 

When  Jesus  was  on  earth,  he  chose  whom  he  wouldoi\\\s  disciples,  twelve 
in  number,  ordained  them,  and  gave  them  a  limited  district  to  preach  and 
heal  the  sick  in.  And  afterwards  he  appointed  seventy  others,  and  sent 
them  forth  with  similar  orders.  But  after  his  resurrection,  he  enlarged  their 
commission,  saying,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature."  This  commission  seems  to  say,  "  now  the  middle  wall 
of  partition  between  Jews  and  Gentiles  is  broken  down,  now  the  door  of 
faith  is  open  to  the  Gentiles,  therefore  quit  your  Jewish  prejudices,  and  call 
no  man  common  whom  the  Lord  has  cleansed."  In  accordance  with  this 
commission,  they  went  forth  and  preached  every  where,  the  Lord  working 
with  them.  Not  only  in  the  first  instance  did  the  Lord  neglect  the  wise 
and  prudent,  and  send  forth  fishermen  babes  to  preach  liis  gospel,  but  af- 
terwards in  Corinth,  we  find  that  not  many  wise  men,  noble  or  mighty, 
were  called  to  the  work,  but  the  foolish,  weak,  base,  despised  and  nothing 
thin<rs  of  the  world  were  chosen  to  confound  the  wise  and  mighty,  that  no 
flesh  should  glory  in  his  presence.  Paul  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the 
few  called  to  the  work,  who  was  a  man  of  science,  but  speaks  thus  of  him- 
self: — "  When  I  came  to  you,  I  came  not  with  excellency  of  speech  or  of 
wisdom — my  speech  and  my  preaching  was  not  of  enticing  words  of  man's 
wisdom,  but  in  demonstration  of  the  spirit  and  of  power — we  speak  the 
wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery,   which  none  of  the  princes  of  this  world 

know."t 

In  the  commission  which  our  Lord  gave  to  his  apostles,  there  was  no 
condition.  He  did  not  say,  "  Go  and  preach  if  the  people  will  pay  you,  ap- 
plaud or  honor  you ;"  nothing  like  it.  He  told  them  that  the  laborer  was 
worthy  of  a  reward  ;  and  Paul,  by  inspiration,  enjoins  it  on  those  who  are 
tauirht,  to  communicate  to  the  teacher — not  to  muzzle  the  mouth  of  the  ox 
who  treadeth  out  the  coi*n — assuring  them  that  God  had  ordained  that 
those  who  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  it,  &c.  But  this  duty  of  the  peo- 
ple is  not  made  a  condition  in  the  commission  :  the  preacher  must  not, 


*  It  is  a  lamentible  truth,  which  calls  for  tears  of  blood,  that  ?ince  ChriFtianity  has  been 
established  by  law,  and  become  an  inFlitute  of  st:>te  policy,  it  has  been  perverted  to 
the  most  cruel  and  bloody  purposes.  No  nations  have  been  more  perfidiouF,  unjust  and 
warlike,  than  those  nations  who  have  professed  to  follow  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesu?,  who 
did  no  harm.    Tell  it  not  in  Gath  ! 

+  Children  come  into  the  world  in  ignorance — whatever  they  know  they  have  lo  learn — 
consequently  he  that  knows  the  most  has  the  most  learning,  whether  he  acquires  it  at  the 
Beat  of  erudition,  in  his  study,  or  in  the  school  of  Christ. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  551 

therefore,  be  disobedient  to  the  call,  if  hearers  neglect  their  duty  ;  but  preach 
as  much  as  he  can,  consistent  with  other  duties. 

After  the  ascension  of  Christ  the  success  of  the  gospel  was  astonishing. 
When  Matthias  was  chosen  an  apostl  ,  the  number  was  one  hundred  and 
twenty.  To  these,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  three  thousand  were  added. 
Soon  after  this  the  number  of  them  that  believed  was  about  five  thousand. 
Still  further,  believers  were  the  more  added  to  the  Lord,  multitudes  both 
of  men  and  women ;  but  no  meeting-house,  built  for  Christian  worship, 
was  at  this  time  in  existence.  The  old  temple  and  private  houses  were  the 
places  where  they  preached  daily. 

David  speaks  of  synagogues,  but  it  is  most  likely  his  words  were  prophe- 
tic  of  a  future  period;  for  there  is  no  historical  account  of  any  synagogues 
in  the  time  of  David,  nor  in  any  time  before  the  Babylonish  captivity.  The 
temple  was  the  only  meeting-house  for  the  Tribes.  After  the  Jews  returned 
from  Babylon,  they  built  synagogues  to  assemble  in  on  every  Sabbath  and 
read  the  law  of  Moses.  For  the  building  of  these  synagoues  there  was  no 
divine  order  given,  nor  any  reproof  for  it.  It  was  a  prudential  matter,  in 
which  men  of  themselves  are  to  judge  what  is  right.  So  with  regard  to  houses 
for  Christian  worship,  whether  they  are  called  cathedrals,  chapels,  churches, 
tabernacles,  meeting-houses,  or  by  any  other  name  ;  no  orders  are  seen  in  the 
New  Testament  for  the  churches  to  build  such  houses,  nor  any  prohibi- 
tion. It  is  a  matter  of  convenience  to  be  managed  with  discretion.  I  know 
not  where  or  when  the  first  house  of  this  description  was  built.  I  have 
preached  in  four  'hundred  and  sixty  such  houses,  and  seen  many  more  ; 
which,  together,  would  make  but  a  very  small  part  of  what  are  in  Chris- 
tendom.  It  is  said  that  sixteen  hundred  of  them  were  consumed  in  the  late 
destruction  of  Moscow.  To  ascertain  how  many  such  houses  are  now  in 
the  world,  would  be  a  Herculean  task  ;  and  to  know  how  many  have  been, 
which  are  demolished,  impossible.  Abundance  of  pride,  pomposity,  and 
unnecessary  expense,  is  to  be  seen  in  many  of  those  buildings  reared  to 
worship  Him  who  was  born  in  a  stable  and  cradled  in  a  manger.  And  if 
we  are  to  judge  by  the  course  of  his  life,  and  the  precepts  which  he  taught, 
all  this  bombast  is  unacceptable  with  God  and  unprofitable  to  man.  To  see 
a  magnificent  state  house,  filled  with  starved  senators  and  purpled  prin- 
ces, in  the  midst  of  a  multitude  of  subjects,  clothed  in  tattered  garments  and 
begging  for  bread,  is  not  so  terrific  as  it  is  to  see  one  of  those  splendid  ed- 
ifices, shining  with  gold  and  pearls,  filled  with  worshippers,  adorned  with 
every  badge  of  pride  and  self-importance,  claiming  the  peculiar  favors  of 
HIM  who  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with  hands,  but  in  the  humble  spirit 
and  contrite  heart,  and  seeketh  such  to  worship  him,  as  worship  in  spirit 
and  in  truth. 

To  consecrate  these  houses  and  the  burying  ground  attached  to  them — 
baptize  the  bells,  and  speak  of  the  sacred  desk  and  altar,  is  a  hotch-potch 


552  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

of  Paganism,  Judaism,  and  superstitious  Christianity.  Such  foppery  and 
foolishness  is  but  a  stench  in  Jehovah's  nose — he  will  not  smell  in  such 
assemblies. 

Common  sense  dictates  that  meeting-houses  should  be  built  in  places  the 
most  convenient,  in  a  manner  the  most  advantageous  to  the  assembly,  with 
materials  the  most  durable,  at  an  expense  within  the  command  of  the  pro- 
prietors, without  crowding  on  other  benevolent  duties,  having  nothing  in 
or  around  them  to  foster  the  pride  or  deject  the  spirits  of  the  assembly,  or 
in  any  way  draw  off  their  thoughts  from  eternal  realities. 

Benevolence  is  a  human  and  Christian  duty,  but  liberality  should  always 
be  governed  by  discretion.  For  a  man  to  give  all  that  he  has  to  relieve 
one  object  of  distress,  and  thereby  render  himself  incapable  of  relieving 
another,  in  most  cases  would  be  improper.  Liberality  at  the  expense  of 
moral  honesty  is  despicable  ;  'tis  cheating  07ie  to  favor  another.  To  bestow 
that  to  religious  uses  which  God  appoints  for  human  relief  is  reprehensi- 
ble. God  commanded  the  Jews  to  honor  father  and  mother,  that  is,  to  re- 
lieve  and  requite  them  ;  but  they  said,  (corbin)  it  is  a  gift.  Instead  of  re- 
lieving father  or  mother  they  would  give  what  they  had  to  spare  to  God. 
This  made  the  commands  of  God  void  by  their  traditions.  He  who  gives 
his  income  to  the  indolent  poor,  and  neglects  his  debts  is  a  dishonest 
man. 

The  faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  king  of  glory,  forbids  partiality 
in  religious  assemblies.  To  appoint  the  good  places  for  the  rich,  who  wear 
gold  rings  and  fine  apparel,  and  neglect  the  poor,  who  have  vile  raiment,  is 
censured  in  scripture  ;  from  which  it  seems  that  no  respect  should  be  shown 
to  the  prince  above  the  servant.  Each  should  have  an  equal  opportunity, 
as  each  is  equally  responsible.  Meeting-houses  should  be  as  common,  in 
this  respect,  as  burying  grounds.  That  distinction  which  exists,  and  is 
necessary  in  civil  and  domestic  concerns,  subsides  in  religious  assemblies. 
Each  individual  there  should  realize  that  he  stands  on  common  ground 
with  all  others  ;  equally  mortal,  equally  apostatized,  equally  responsible, 
and  equally  addressed  with  the  glad  tidings  of  peace  through  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb.  A  proper  sense  of  these  articles  is  the  best  sexton  to  keep  or- 
der in  religious  assemblies. 

When  we  enter  a  meeting-house  for  religious  worship,  each  one  may 
ask  the  question,  "  What  was  this  house  erected  for  ?  To  pray,  preach  and 
sing  praise  in.  How  is  God  to  be  worshipped?  In  spirit  and  in  truth. 
Can  unconverted  men,  as  such,  perform  any  part  of  religious  worship  ac- 
ceptable to  God  ?  No7ie  at  all.  If  worship  is  a  spiritual  exercise,  why 
was  this  house  built  ?  To  accommodate  the  saints  in  assembling  together  in 
one  place.  Ought  none  to  assemble  but  the  saints  ?  If  any  man  have  ears 
to  hear,  let  him  hear  ;  force  none  to  come,  forbid  none  that  would. 

When  Christian  assemblies  were  first  established,  whether  they  assem- 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  553 

bled  in  dwelling-houses,  school-houses,  or  meeting-houses,  the  exercises 
of  prayer,  preaching,  prophesying,  exhorting,  singing,  &c.,  were  performed 
in  them  ;  performed  in  the  spirit,  in  a  manner  that  all  could  understand 
and  be  edified.  But  how  often  they  assembled,  whether  once  a  week  or 
once  a  month,  whether  statedly  or  occasionally,  and  whether  these  various 
assemblies  convened  on  the  same  day,  or  had  each  of  them  a  self-appointed 
day  (which  seems  to  be  the  most  likely)  is  not  so  certain. 

What  condition  the  religious  world  would  be  in  at  the  present  time,  if 
previous  events  had  taken  a  different  course,  can  never  be  ascertained. 
Events  have  revolved  as  they  have,  and  produced  the  state  of  things  which 
now  exists.  What  becomes  professors  at  the  present  day,  is,  "  to  mark  exist- 
ing errors  and  avoid  them,  withstand  the  strong  current  of  custom  where  it 
is  wicked  and  vain,  rally  round  the  standard  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  en- 
list under  its  banners.  Never  adept  or  reject  any  sentiment  or  rite  on  ac- 
count of  its  long  standing  or  novelty,  but  test  all  by  the  standard."  That 
the  Christian  world  has  been  in  a  gross  error,  from  the  days  of  Constantine 
to  the  present  time,  admits  of  no  doubt.  From  that  period  down,  the  Chris- 
tian religion  has  been  an  institute  of  state  policy,  regulated  by  the  laws  of 
men,  and  supported  by  the  sword  of  the  magistrate.  Whether  in  a  papal  or 
protestant  mode,  the  principle  has  done  incalculable  mischief,  and  drench- 
ed the  earth  in  blood. 

In  the  United  States,  the  felonious  principle  has  been  apprehended,  tried, 
condemned  and  executed.  Roger  Williams  and  William  Penn  first  at- 
tacked the  villain,  and  Thomas  Jefferson  did  more  than  any  one  man  to 
bring  him  to  the  stake.  Some  few  roots  of  this  principle  are  yet  in  the 
soil  of  Massachusetts,  interwoven  in  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  state  ; 
but  the  spirit  of  the  people  triumphs  over  those  evil  roots.  There  are  but 
few  places  in  the  state  where  the  people  would  succumb  to  a  legal  distraint 
for  religious  uses. 

Another  scheme  now  supersedes.  Application  is  now  made  to  the  be- 
nevolence, the  honor,  the  piety  and  pity  of  the  people,  to  raise  funds,  by  all 
devisable  methods,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  colleges  and  theological 
seminaries,  to  fit  out  pious  youth,  to  send  as  missionaries  to  different  sta- 
tions, to  spread  Christianity  over  the  world.  And,  notwithstanding  the 
immense  sums  that  have  been  realized  and  are  in  train,  still  the  agents 
complain  of  heavy  debts  now  existing,  and  other  imperious  calls  for  money 
to  keep  the  machine  in  motion. 

Among  Christians,  equally  pious  and  wise,  there  is  a  difference  of  opin- 
ion respecting  the  present  exertions,  which  are  in  the  full  tide  of  experi- 
ment.  Some  see  in  them  the  rising  of  the  latter-day  glory,  when  kings 
shall  bring  their  gold  and  treasures  into  the  church,  and  the  Lord  be  king 
over  all  the  earth.  In  this  view  of  the  subject,  every  mendicant  or  solicitor 
is  not  only  well  rewarded  out  of  the  money  which  he  collects,  but  is  con- 

70 


554  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

sidered  as  purchasing  a  good  degree  and  great  boldness  in  faith.  And  all 
who  will  not  unite  with  them,  hand  and  purse,  to  aid  this  work,  they  con- 
sider covetous  men,  who  have  no  regard  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 

Others  are  afraid  that  these  existing  funds  will  fill  the  ministerial  ranks 
with  indolent,  covetous  mercenaries  :  that  lazy  boys,  seeing  the  prospect 
before  them,  will  assume  the  disguise  of  pharisaic  reserve — become  bene- 
ficiaries and  licentiates,  for  their  own  emolument,  and  not  for  the  good  of 
others :  that  these  exertions  tend  to  foster  the  pride  of  those  who  wish  to 
be  heard,  attended  to,  and  treated  as  a  class  of  singular  characters :  that 
there  is  no  likeness  between  the  apostolic  missionary  exertions  and  the 
present,  either  in  spirit  or  method :  that  it  is  going  over  the  ground  again, 
which  the  chuch  trod  in  the  second  and  third  centuries,  which  produced  a 
national  established  Christianity,  and  finally  led  on  to  the  rise  of  the  whore 
of  Babylon,  The  parties  are  now  at  issue.  Time  will  bring  in  a  true 
verdict. 

In  comparison  of  the  present  missionary  struggle,  a  recent  affair,  within 
the  memory  of  many  who  are  now  living,  claims  an  account.  In  Windsor 
and  Tolland,  Connecticut,  a  few  of  the  New  Lights  were  internally  im- 
pressed that  God  had  a  great  work  for  them  to  do  at  the  west,  and  were 
not  disobedient  to  the  divine  teaching.  Daniel  Marshal  left  his  home,  and 
took  his  course  to  the  head  of  the  Susquehanna,  carrying  his  family  with 
him.  Shubal  Stearns,  with  a  few  of  his  church,  in  1754,  started  for  the 
west,  selling  or  giving  away  what  they  had.  Stearns  and  Marshall  met 
in  Virginia,  and  moved  on  to  North  Carolina.  Here  they  fixed  their  sta- 
tion,  and,  in  1755,  they  formed  into  a  church,  having  sixteen  members,  on 
Sandy  Creek,  Guilford  county.  They  immediately  began  their  work,  and 
God  smiled  on  their  labors.  Soon  their  little  church  increased  to  more 
than  six  hundred.  From  this  beginning,  the  flame  prevailed  in  every  di- 
rection.  In  the  south  part  of  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Geor- 
gia,  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  there  are  more  than  a  thousand  Baptist 
churches,  now  existing,  which  arose  from  that  beginning.  These  mission- 
aries had  neither  outfit  nor  annuity.  The  providence  of  God,  the  prayers 
of  the  saints,  and  benevolence  of  those  wlio  were  taught  by  them,  carried 
them  through.  Stearns  died  in  1771.  Marshall  lived  until  1784,  and  then 
fell  asleep. 

This  affair  borders  on  the  missionary  proceedings  of  the  apostles ;  but 
the  modern  exertions  seem  to  be  grounded  on  human  calculation,  and  not 
on  divine  impression  :  in  which  outfit  and  annuities  form  a  prominent  part. 
In  the  domestic  mission,  our  own  money  circulates  from  hand  to  hand  j 
but,  in  the  foreign  mission,  nothing  but  silver  and  gold  will  answer,  which 
drains  the  country  of  its  precious  metals.  On  this,  a  question  arises,  whe- 
ther the  institution  of  Christ  to  Christianize  the  world,  has  anything  in  it 
which  tends  to  impoverish  a  nation  ? 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  555 

That  Christianity  is  now  in  a  flourishing  condition,  in  the  outer  court,  is 
certain.  The  hosts  that  unite  with  religious  societies,  the  many  splendid 
houses  that  are  built  for  Christian  worship,  and  the  immense  sums  that  are 
raised  to  endow  theological  seminaries  and  send  missionaries  over  sea  and 
land,  all  substantiate  the  fact.  Indeed,  what  is  called  religion,  is  now  the 
most  fashionable  thing  that  can  be  named,  through  every  grade  of  the  com- 
munity,  from  the  venerable  president  of  the  Bible  Society,  down  to  the 
lisping  child  at  Sunday  School. 

But  the  inner  court  presents  nothing  so  flattering.  There  is  but  little 
likeness  between  the  religion  of  the  present  day  and  that  which  prevailed 
in  the  prime  of  Christianity.  Murders,  robberies,  fraud,  drunkenness, 
duellings,  ambition  for  office,  thirst  for  money  and  wealth,  extravagance 
in  praise,  religious  deception  to  collect  money,  etc.,  seem  to  keep  pace 
with  our  population ;  so  that  a  man,  unbiased  by  any  religious  system, 
would  conclude  that  there  was  as  loud  call  for  the  Hindoos  to  send  their 
missionaries  among  us,  to  reclaim  us  from  these  errors,  as  there  is  for  us 
to  send  our  missionaries  among  them,  to  turn  them  from  idolatry  and  im- 
molation. 

The  time  of  outward  prosperity  and  inward  depression  of  religion,  is  fa- 
vorable for  the  introduction  of  customs  and  laws,  which  lead  on  to  perse- 
cution and  blood-shedding.  The  buddings  of  these  begin  to  appear  among 
us.  Why  fine  a  Jew  for  opening  his  store  on  Sunday  ?  Why  stop  trav- 
ellers on  the  same  day  ?  Why  have  a  law  of  Congress  to  stop  the  mail  on 
the  day  that  one  part  of  the  community  think  should  be  kept  holy,  when 
another  part  as  honestly  believe  that  another  day  is  appointed  by  God,  and 
a  third  and  large  party  judge  that  every  day  is  alike  ?  In  this  diversity  of 
sentiment,  must  Congress,  or  any  uninspired  legislature,  decide  the  ques- 
tion— explain  for  certain  the  law  of  God,  and  punish  all  that  disobey  ?  If 
one  individual  has  his  own  liberty  guaranteed  to  him,  why  should  he  wish 
to  have  his  neighbor  deprived  of  the  same  ?  When  two  men  meet  in  the 
road,  what  right  has  one  more  than  the  other  to  demand  the  whole  path  ? 
None  but  tyrants  desire  it.  For  one  man  to  make  his  own  conscience  the 
standard  for  another  man's  conduct,  is  cruel  stupidity. 

Some  meeting-houses  are  built  by  legal  taxation — some  by  a  generous 
individual — but  many  are  erected,  like  the  one  in  which  we  are,  by  the 
combination  of  many  ;  each  contributing  according  to  his  pleasure.  And, 
as  the  house  is  built  on  liberal  principles,  so,  likewise,  I  am  instructed  to 
state,  it  is  to  be  occupied  in  a  free  manner.  No  one  who  shall  choose  to 
attend,  either  constantly  or  transiently,  will  be  considered  an  intruder  in 
seating  himself  at  pleasure.  None  will  be  compelled  to  come — none  will 
be  refused  accommodation. 

We  congratulate  the  proprietors  of  this  house,  in  completing  it  without 
the  loss  of  life  or  limb.     And  surely  your  liberal  views  and  helping  hands 


556  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

will  meet  with  the  praise  of  all  the  lovers  of  Jesus  and  lovers  of  freedom. 
Here  you  may  be  accommodated  for  life,  and  when  you  go  the  way  of  all 
the  earth,  your  descendants  may  enjoy  it  as  an  inheritance.  We  hope 
your  liberal  exertions  will  ascend  as  a  memorial  to  Him,  for  whose  praise 
and  glory  the  house  was  built,  and  that  He  will  frequently  send  down  his 
holy  spirit  on  the  people  who  assemble  at  this  place.  Why  may  we  not 
pray  for  a  heavenly  blessing  to-day  ?  If  it  would  be  presumption  for  us  to 
pray  for  the  Holy  Ghost,  like  a  mighty  rushing  wind,  to  descend  and  fill 
this  house,  as  it  did  the  temple  on  the  day  of  Pentecostj  yet,  surely,  it  can- 
not be  arrogant  or  improper  for  us  to  pray  that  the  spirit  of  the  Lord 
might  descend  in  its  ordinary  course,  and  not  only  fill  the  saints  with  joy, 
but  turn  sinners  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
the  living  God  ;  for  nothing  appears  more  gloomy  and  preposterous,  than  to 
see  a  temple,  built  for  the  worship  of  God,  filled  with  a  lifeless  preacher  and 
an  inattentive  congregation.  It  is,  therefore,  ardently  desired,  that  this  con- 
gregation, whether  they  have  a  stated  preacher,  or  only  occasional  supplies, 
may  be  visited  by  Him,  who  walks  amidst  the  golden  candlesticks,  and 
holds  the  stars  in  his  right  hand.  Our  hearts  rise  with  the  pleasing  an- 
ticipation that  this  house  may  be  a^place  of  the  spreading  of  nets,  and  that 
the  fish  may  be  as  the  fish  of  the  great  sea;  exceeding  many.  That,  while 
the  gospel,  like  the  living  waters,  shall  flow  from  this  pulpit,  the  seats  may 
be  filled  with  penitent  sinners  and  rejoicing  saints.  That  multitudes  may 
here  say,  "  come,  draw  near  all  ye  that  fear  God,  and  I  will  declare  what 
he  has  done  for  my  soul."  Such  exercises  would  richly  reward  the  pro- 
prietors of  this  house  for  their  labor,  and  fill  the  saints  with  joy,  that  would 
extend  to  the  angels  in  heaven. 

Young  people,  can  you  hear  of  this  without  emotion  of  heart  ?  Is  there 
none  of  you  that  will  huzza  for  Jesus  to-day — none  that  will  desert  from 
Satan,  and  fly  to  the  Saviour,  who  loved  sinners,  and  gave  his  blood  to 
save  them  ? 

Sinners,  can  you  hate  that  Saviour  ? 

Can  you  thrust  him  from  your  arms  ? 
Once  he  died  for  your  behaviour, 

Now  he  calls  you  to  liis  charms. 


ELDER    JOHN  L12LAND.  557 


FACTS  AND  aUESTIONS.* 


It  is  a  thought,  possible  with  all — probable  with  many — and  certain  with 
a  few,  that  the  antediluvians  ate  no  flesh.  Vegetables,  seed  and  fruit  were 
given  them  for  food.  They  lived  to  a  great  age.  No  more  than  twenty. 
seven  of  their  names  are  given  in  their  history,  and  yet  seven  of  them,  in- 
cluding Noah,  lived  more  than  nine  hundred  years.  The  antediluvian  age 
lasted  sixteen  hundred  and  fifty-six  years.  After  the  flood  the  charter  of 
food  was  enlarged  :  every  living  thing  that  moved  was  given  to  men,  to  eat 
their  flesh,  but  not  their  blood.  No  one  was  born  after  this  period  who  lived 
five  hundred  years.  What  the  people  drank  before  the  flood,  is  not  told 
us,  but  that  they  were  eating  and  drinking,  until  Noah  entered  the  ark,  we 
are  assured  of.  After  the  deluge,  Noah  became  an  husbandman,  planted 
a  vineyard,  and  drank  wine  until  he  was  drunk.  Perhaps  this  was  the 
first  inebi-iation  that  took  place  on  earth.  From  Noah,  until  Moses,  a  space 
of  eight  hundred  years,  frequent  mention  is  made  of  eating  flesh  and  drink- 
ing wine,  but  no  account  of  strong  drink  or  liquor.  During  the  time  that 
judges  ruled,  and  kings  reigned  over  the  nation  of  Israel,  strong  drink,  and 
liquor,  were  much  used  and  much  abused  :  in  some  cases  commanded,  and 
in  other  cases  forbidden.     See  the  following  texts  : 

Exodus,  xxii.,  29 :  Thou  shalt  not  delay  to  offer  the  first  of  thy  liquors. 

Leviticus,  x.  9  :  Do  not  drink  wine  nor  strong  drink. 

Numbers,  vi.,  3  :  He  shall  separate  himself  from  wine  and  strong  drink, 
neither  shall  he  drink  any  liquor  of  grapes. 

Deuteronemy,  xiv.,  26  :  Thou  shalt  bestow  the  money  for  wine  or  strong 
drink,  or  for  whatsoever  thy  soul  lusteth. 

Judges,  xiii.,  4,  7,  14  :  Drink  neither  wine  nor  strong  drink. 

1st  Samuel,  i.,  15 :  I  have  drunk  neither  wine  nor  strong  drink. 

Proverbs,  xxxi.,  4.  6 :  It  is  not  for  princes  to  drink  strong  drink, — give 
strong  drink  to  those  who  are  ready  to  perish. 

Song,  viii.,  2:  I  would  cause  thee  to  drink  of  the  juice  of  my  pome- 
granate. 

Isaiah,  v.,  11, 12  :  That  they  may  follow  strong  drinJc- — and  mingle  strong 
drink. 

From  these,  and  other  passages,  it  is  evident,  that  in  addition  to  water, 
wine,  vinegar,  milk,  broth,  juice  of  pomegranates,  and  pottage  of  lentiles, 

*  Published  in  1829. 


558  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

that  liquor  and  strong  drink  were  distinct  articles  ;  but  what  they  were, 
and  how  they  were  manufactured,  is  hard  to  say.  Tlie  apple-tree  is  spo- 
ken of  as  a  common  and  useful  tree,  (see  Song,  xi.,  3  :  Joel,  i.  12,)  but 
whether  the  people,  as  far  back  as  Moses,  pressed  cider  out  of  the  apples 
is  not  known  ;  if  they  did,  it  is  probable  that  cider  was  their  strong  drink. 
Dr.  Gill,  from  Aben  Ezra,  a  Jewish  Rabbi,  says,  that  strong  drink,  and 
liquor,  were  made  of  dates  and  honey,  wheat  and  barley.  But  by  whatso- 
ever they  were  made,  and  by  what  process  they  were  manufactured,  they 
had  the  quality,  like  wine,  to  inebriate :  and  the  excessive  use  of  them 
made  one  of  the  crying  sins  of  the  Israelites,  and  of  the  surrounding  na- 
tions.  Hewett's  account  of  the  first  invention  of  alcohol,  by  an  Arabian 
physician  and  chemist,  is  two  thousand  years  too  late  to  give  character  to 
the  strong  drink,  and  liquors,  that  were  put  to  a  pernicious  use  in  ancient 
times,  and  brought  so  many  woes  and  judgments  on  drunkards. 

I  judge,  that  drunkenness,  effected  either  by  ancient  strong  drink,  or 
modern  rum,  amounts  to  the  same  evil,  and  has  the  same  impression  on 
body,  mind,  interest  and  manners. 

The  wise  Solomon  unites  with  the  prophets  of  his  nation,  in  exposing 
the  evil  of  drunkenness,  but  to  qualify  his  reproofs,  he  says,  "  Give  strong 
drink  to  those  who  are  ready  to  perish,  and  wine  to  those  who  are  of  heavy 
heart."  St.  Paul  reproves  the  excess  of  wine,  and  declares  that  drunkards 
shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  :  yet  he  advises  the  infirm  Timo- 
thy, to  "  drink  no  longer  water,  but  use  a  little  wine  for  his  stomach's  sake, 
and  often  infirmities." 

There  is  a  medical,  as  well  as  nutritive  quality,  in  the  productions  of 
the  earth.  Nothing  is  made  in  vain.  Poisons  are  medicinal  when  prop- 
erly used.     God  has  pronounced  the  whole  creation  good. 

It  is  common  for  men,  in  the  heat  of  an  argument,  to  carry  things  too 
far :  their  declamations  may  have  a  momentary  impression,  but  sober  re- 
flection and  experiment  will  bring  things  to  their  proper  bearings. 
These  observations  suggest  a  few  questions. 

First.  Is  it  reasonable  to  believe  that  the  second  cause  of  the  shortening 
of  the  lives  of  men,  after  the  flood,  was  the  use  of  animal  food  ?  If  this 
could  be  substantiated,  would  it  not  be  a  loud  call  to  the  lovers  of  life  to 
be  sparing  of  sumptuous  dinners,  composed  of  meat?  Do  not  gluttony  and 
drunkenness  unite  to  enfeeble  body  and  mind  ?  Can  there  be  evidence  pro- 
duced, that  at  any  one  time  as  many  lives  were  sacrificed  by  ardent  spirits, 
as  were  destroyed  by  eating  the  flesh  of  quails  ?  Because  meat,  used  im- 
moderately, degrades  the  intellect,  breeds  diseases,  and  shortens  days,  is 
it,  therefore,  best  to  disuse  it  altogether  ? 

Second.  It  is  pretty  generally  confessed  that  wine  and  ardent  spirits  are 
good  for  men  in  certain  cases,  but  who  is  to  be  the  judge  of  these  cases  ? 
Not  the  drunken  sot,  for  he  would  be  always  pouring  the  liquor  down  his 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  559 

throat ;  not  the  physician,  for  although  he  may  know  what  suits  his  own 
constitution,  and  tends  to  his  health,  yet  he  cannot  feel  for  another.  The 
sober  man  himself  is  the  best  judge  for  himself:  so  Solomon  "ave  himself 
to  wine,  (to  test  its  effects,)  but  applied  his  heart  to  wisdom,  to  guard  his 
taste  from  ruling  his  judgment.  Any  man  of  common  intellect  and  reflec- 
tion,  is  the  best  prescriber  for  himself,  in  all  common  cases :  he  knows 
what  food  and  drink  are  most  friendly  to  his  stomach  and  health.  It  is  true 
that  a  man  may  eat  or  drink  that  which  will  seem  to  be  advantageous,  and 
yet  will  be  followed  with  pernicious  consequences.  Here  prudence  die- 
tates  that  men  should  try  the  experiment,  and  when  they  find  that  any  kind 
of  food  or  drink,  or  an  over  portion  thereof,  is  injurious  to  their  health, 
they  should  forbear.  He  whose  taste  is  so  vitiated  that  he  will  not  observe 
this  rule,  is  an  object  of  pity,  but  not  of  hope. 

Third.  Is  it  good  economy  to  abstain  from  ardent  spirits  altogether,  as 
a  drink,  or  not?  He  who  drinks  his  six  cents  dram  each  day,  will  spend 
more  than  twenty  dollars  in  a  year :  if  he  abstains  he  makes  a  saving  of 
those  dollars — and  likely  other  drink  would  be  as  good  or  better  for  him. 
But  if  ardent  spirits  are  disused,  there  will  be  no  revenue  arising  from  the 
tariff  to  support  government.  A  direct  tax  on  poll  and  property  must  fol- 
low. This  grinds  hard  !  The  support  of  government,  however,  would  not 
be  as  heavy  as  it  now  is.  If  all  the  wine  and  spirits  which  are  now  used 
at  levees,  public  dinners,  social  hospitalities,  and  domestic  uses,  were  re- 
trenched, six  dollars  per  day,  instead  of  eight  dollars,  would  be  a  sufficient 
compensation  for  members  of  Congress,  and  so  on,  in  proportion,  through 
the  whole  list  of  officers.  But  if  this  saving  economy  in  drinks  is  prudent, 
why  not  extend  it  to  meats  ?  If  a  man's  flesh  bill  for  life  be  but  three  cents 
each  day,  in  seventy  years  it  would  be  more  than  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  :  whereas,  bread,  roots,  fruit,  milk,  gruel  and  pottage  of  lentiles, 
would  be  more  for  his  health,  his  perception  and  length  of  days. 

I  am  now  seventy-five  years  old.  I  was  never  drunk  in  my  life  :  nor 
has  it  ever  been  a  cross  to  me  to  abstain  from  what  makes  men  drunken. 
For  many  years  of  my  life  I  drank  no  spirits.  When  the  glass  was  going 
round  the  circle  where  I  was,  rather  than  philosophise  or  lecture,  I  would 
put  the  cup  to  my  mouth,  and,  without  drinking,  pass  it.  About  twenty- 
five  years  past,  moving  my  family  on  the  road,  I  worried  all  day  in  the 
snow-drifts,  until  nearly  dark.  My  strength  then  failed  me,  and  a  faint- 
ness  came  on.  A  good  woman,  at  the  door  of  her  house,  handed  me  a 
bottle  of  cider  brandy,  which  I  drank  a  little  of,  and  received  great  and 
immediate  relief.  Since  that,  I  have  u.sed  it,  I  judge,  at  about  the  rate  of 
a  gallon  per  year.  I  often  receive  an  advantage  by  a  little  of  it,  and  have 
never  had  any  evidence  that  it  was  injurious  to  me.  A  spoon-bowl  full  is 
as  much  as  I  use  at  a  time,  and  the  times  of  drinking  arc  not  frequent.  A 
little  in  my  mouth,  before  cold  water,  gives  the  water  a  good  relish  and 


660  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

prevents  injury.  I  am  no  physician,  but  should  judge  that  those  who  die 
by  drinking  cold  water,  in  hot  weather,  might  prevent  it  by  a  lea-spoon  full 
of  spirits.  Rum,  unqualified,  is  disagreeable  to  my  nose,  my  mouth,  my 
throat,  and  my  bowels — but  when  qualified  with  sugar  and  water,  it  is 
agreeable  enough — but  I  have  no  longing  after  it.  I  have  never  used  but 
a  little  wine  :  the  little,  however,  has  been  friendly  to  my  health  and 
spirits. 

I  believe  no  one  abhors  drunkenness  more  than  myself.  A  drunkard  ia 
a  disagreeable  object.  Drunkenness  has  slain  more  thousands  than  Buona- 
parte  did  individuals.  Add  duelling  to  it,  and  the  call  is  as  loud  for  the 
Hindoos  to  send  their  missionaries  among  us,  to  reform  drunkards  and 
duellists,  as  it  is  for  us  to  send  missionaries  among  them,  to  turn  them  from 
idolatry  and  immolation.  But  still  the  good  book  says,  "  Give  strong  drink 
to  those  who  are  ready  to  perish,  and  wine  to  those  who  are  of  heavy 
heart.  Drink  a  little  wine  for  thy  stomach's  sake,  and  often  infirmities. 
Every  creature  of  God  is  good,  and  nothing  to  be  refused,  if  it  be  received 
with  thanksgiving." 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  561 


EXTRACT  OF  A  LETTER  TO  COL.  R.  M.  JOHNSON, 
DATED  JANUARY  8,  1830. 


The  message  is  lengthy,  but  not  superfluous.  Long  as  it  is,  I  wish  it 
contained  another  solemn  warning  to  Congress,  to  do  nothing,  in  a  legis- 
lative capacity,  that  would  have  any  bearing  on  religious  opinions. 

A  large  number  of  the  people,  in  concert,  have  petitioned  Congress  to 
stop  the  transportation  of  the  mail  on  Sunday,  because  they  believe,  in 
their  consciences,  that  Sunday  should  be  kept  holy  and  free  from  all  ser- 
vile labor.  The  report  of  the  committee  of  the  Senate,  last  session,  on 
the  petition,  is  replete  with  candor  and  strength  of  argument ;  the  radical 
parts  of  which  never  have  and  never  can  be  confuted  ;  but  still  it  has  not 
put  the  matter  to  rest.  New  memorials  are  to  be  presented  to  Congress 
— perseverance  is  urged — irreligion  is  trumpeted,  and  the  learning  and  re- 
ligion of  the  petitioners  are  to  outweigh  all  opposition. 

The  constitution  of  the  United  States  is  a  charter  of  powers  granted  and 
rights  retained  ;  among  all  the  enumerated  powers  given  to  Congress, 
there  is  none  that  authorises  them  to  determine  which  day  of  the  year  or 
week  the  people  shall  abstain  from  labor  or  travel.  Should  they,  therefore, 
make  such  a  powerless  law,  it  would  be  unconstitutional.  There  are 
many  thousands  in  the  United  States,  who  conscientiously  keep  the  sev- 
enth day  of  the  week  for  Sabbath.  Should  Congress  stop  the  transporta- 
tion of  the  mail  on  the  seventh  day,  and  continue  it  on  Sunday,  what  would 
the  petitioners  says  ?  Would  they  not  complain  of  a  partiality  shown  to 
the  Sabbatarians,  to  the  grief  of  the  Sundarians  ?  It  amounts  to  nothing 
to  say  there  is  a  majority  who  prefer  the  observance  of  Sunday  to  any 
other  day,  for  minorities  have  unalienable  rights,  which  ought  not,  and  can- 
not,  be  surrendered  to  government.  The  God  we  adore — the  worship  we 
pay  him,  and  the  times  of  performing  that  worship,  are  articles  not  within 
the  compass  of  any  Gentile  legislature.  The  design  of  civil  government, 
which  is  to  protect  the  lives,  liberty  and  property  of  the  many  units  which 
form  the  whole  body,  is  every  way  answered  without  that  surrender. 
Government  should  defend  the  rights  of  the  religionists,  as  citizens,  but  the 
religious  opinions  of  none.  If  the  petitioners  are  secured  in  their  persons 
and  rights,  why  should  they  desire  more  ?  Their  consciences  can  never 
be  charged  with  guilt  for  what  others  do  ;  for  conscience  belongs  alone  to 
the  homedepartment.     Why  should  they  wish  to  stretch  and  lop  off,  like 

71 


662  THE   "WRITINGS    OT 

Procrustes,  and  bring  all  to  their  standard  ?  The  driving  of  a  carriage  will 
neither  terrify  them  nor  break  their  devotion  ;  for  many  of  them  are  driven 
to  the  places  of  their  devotion.  If  Sabbatical  laws  are  necessary  to  govern 
the  people  on  Sunday,  and  keep  them  from  all  business  but  religious  du- 
ties, why  not  make  a  law  to  prevent  Sunday  schools ;  for  there  is  no 
greater  relation  between  education  and  religion  than  there  is  between 
travelling  and  religion.  Paul,  and  his  company  and  baggage,  were  five 
days  travelling,  by  water,  from  Philippi  to  Troas.  In  Troas,  they  tarried 
seven  days,  the  last  of  which  was  the  first  day  of  the  week  ;  of  course  one 
of  the  five  days  was  Sunday,  and  yet  there  was  no  law  of  conscience,  or 
law  of  Congress,  to  prevent  them  from  transporting  themselves  and  goods 
on  Sunday. 

Should  Congress  indulge  the  petitioners,  and  pass  a  law  to  stop  the 
transportation  of  the  mail  on  every  Sunday,  it  would  be  a  nest-egg  for 
themselves  and  for  others.  Encouraged  by  success,  they  would  next 
proceed  to  have  the  days  of  Christmas,  and  Easter,  and  their  associations 
and  synods  exempted  in  the  same  way,  and  where  would  it  end  ?  The 
Sabbatarians,  with  the  Jews,  finding  Congress  flexible,  would,  with  equal 
right,  claim  a  law  to  sanctify  Saturday  for  their  convenience.  Whenever 
a  legislature  legalize  holy-days,  creeds  of  faith,  forms  of  worship,  or  pe- 
cuniary reward  for  religious  services,  they  intrude  into  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  and  impeach  the  wisdom  of  the  divine  law-giver,  for  not  knowing 
how,  or  his  goodness,  for  not  giving  all  laws  necessary  in  his  government. 
The  deadly  pill,  at  first,  will  always  be  rolled  in  honey.  The  honor  of 
religion,  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  the  piety  and  research  of  the  reformers, 
the  good  of  society,  the  safety  of  the  state,  and  the  salvation  of  souls,  form 
the  syrup,  in  which  the  poisonous  pill  is  hidden.  It  is  from  men,  high  in 
esteem  for  holiness  and  wisdom,  that  the  worst  of  usages  and  most  cruel 
laws  proceed  ;  for  base  characters  defeat  their  own  wishes.  The  heart  of 
King  Asa  was  perfect  all  his  days,  yet  he  oppressed  some  of  the  people — 
was  mad  at  the  seer  who  reproved  him,  and  made  a  law  that  whosoever 
would  not  seek  the  Lord  should  be  put  to  death. 

Admit  of  the  principle  that]  religion  is  an  institute  of  state  policy,  and 
the  people  hold  their  liberty  by  the  tenure  of  the  will  of  the  legislature, 
which  is  very  changeable,  often  corrupt,  and  many  times  very  cruel.  Ad- 
mit of  the  principle,  and  you  approve  of  that  which  has  reared  an  inqui- 
sition,  and  drenched  the  earth  with  blood. 

Many  plead  for  an  equality  of  all  Christian  societies,  and  plead  as 
strongly  that  they  should  become  bodies  politic,  and  be  supported  by  the 
civil  law.  If  this  is  proper  for  Christian  societies,  it  is  as  proper  for  Jews, 
Pagan  or  Mahometan  societies  ;  but  the  liberty  contended  for,  should  be 
guaranteed  to  each  individual,  as  his  inalienable  right,  which  cannot  be 
meddled  with,  without  usurpation  in  the  rulers,  which  turns  them  to 
tyrants. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  563 

Those  who  wish  to  call  in  the  strong  arm  of  law  to  defend  their  opin- 
ions, give  evidence  that  they  have  not  logical  reasoning,  on  moral  and  re- 
ligious subjects,  to  support  their  weak  dogmas. 

I  am  sorry  that  Congress  have  committed  themselves  by  a  precedent  of 
giving  their  chaplains  a  legal  reward  for  religious  services.  How  prepos- 
terous the  sound !  A  far-fetched  construction  supports  it.  The  law  of 
reason  and  revelation  enjoin  a  reward  to  the  laborer ;  but  if  Congress 
should  I'eward  the  chaplains  with  their  own  contributions,  it  would  look 
more  like  simple  Christianity.  The  people  at  large  have  none  of  the  de- 
votion or  instruction  of  the  chaplain,  nor  any  voice  in  electing  him  ;  why 
then  should  they  be  taxed  where  they  are  not  represented  ?  The  chaplain, 
who  would  not  attend,  on  request,  and  trust  to  the  promise  of  Christ  and 
the  benevolence  of  his  friends  for  his  reward,  without  legal  obligation, 
would  be  selling  his  prayers  for  money,  and  turning  the  gospel  into  mer- 
chandise. The  thing  here  spoken  of,  is  a  small  thing,  which  the  nation 
can  never  feel ;  but  trace  it  to  its  root,  and  it  contains  that  principle  which 
is  so  pernicious  in  the  world,  and  is  now  used  as  a  stirrup,  by  the  petition- 
ers, to  mount  the  steed  and  ride  down  the  people. 

In  all  other  respects.  Congress  have  been  cautious  and  wise  in  every, 
thing  that  has  any  bearing  on  conscience  and  religious  rights  ;  and,  even 
in  this  particular,  they  have  made  the  best  of  a  bad ;  for  they  have  shown 
no  partiality  to  sects  or  sentiments  in  their  elections, 

I  have  written  a  long  epistle,  but  it  is  not  likely  that  I  ever  shall  write 
any  more ;  for  my  age  advises  me  that  the  time  of  my  departure  is  near. 
Yours,  with  respect, 

JOHN  LELAND. 


564  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


TRANSPORTATION  OF  THE  MAIL.' 


Ye  observe  days. 1  am  afraid  of  you. 

Let  every  one  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind. 


'  If  Christian  legislatures  have  a  right  to  regulate  the  religion  of  individ- 
uals, Mahomedan  and  Pagan  legislatures  have  the  same.  The  Pagans 
have  their  appointed  days  toworship  Jupiter,  or  Juggernaut.  The  Ma- 
homedans  have  their  weekly  day  (Friday)  to  adore  their  great  prophet. 
Among  the  many  sects  of  Protestants  there  exists  a  variety  of  opinions 
respecting  days  of  rest  and  v/orship.  The  Quakers  meet  for  worship  two^ 
days  in  a  week,  without  attaching  much  sanctity  to  one  day  above  another. 
Many  keep  the  seventh  day,  like  the  Jews,  from  a  belief  that  the  observ- 
ance of  that  day  is  of  moral,  unchangeable  and  universal  obligation.  Some 
believe  that  half  the  time  (the  night)  is  enough  for  rest,  and  that  one  day- 
is  as  good  as  another  for  worship.  A  very  considerable  number  keep  the 
first  day  of  each  week  as  a  Christian  Sabbath,  being  of  the  opinion  that 
God  appointed  one  day  in  seven,  by  a  moral  precept  to  be  observed  by  all 
0ien — that  the  seventh  day  was  designated  from  creation  until  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ — that  Christ  changed  the  day  from  the  seventh  unto  the 
first  day  of  the  week — altered  the  exercises  of  the  day — and  remitted  the 
punishment  for  profaning  the  day  from  certain  death  to  a  small  fine.  Part 
of  this  last  sect  are  now  petitioning  Congress  to  gratify  their  wishes,  and 
stop  the  transportation  of  the  mail  on  Sunday.  Why  do  they  petition  ? 
Are  they  interrupted  at  their  meeting-houses  by  the  mail  stages  ?  This 
is  not  likely,  for  many  of  themseb/es  drive  their  carriages  to  their  places 
of  worshipi  If  they  are  abused  by  the  stage  drivers,  existing  laws  are 
sufficient  to  punish  the  rioters.  If  they  enjoy  all  the  liberty  and  protection- 
that  they  need,  why  are  they  restless  ?  Do  they  wish  Congress  to  decide 
the  controversy  in  their  favor,  and  legally  declare  that  the  first  day  of  eacb 
week  is  too  holy  for  men  to  labor  and  travel  thereon  ?  Should  that  be  the 
case,  what  would  the  Jews  and  Sevcndarian  Christians  say  ?  Would  they 
not,  with  equal  justice,  petition  Congress  to  stop  the  mail  on  the  seventh 
day?  And  by  the  same  rule,. any  of  them  might  petition  that  their  days 
of  Associations,  Synods,  etc.,  might  be  exempted  in  the  same  way.    There 

•  Published  in  1830. 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  565 

are  many  thousands  in  the  United  States,  who  have  formed  into  societies 
to  destroy  intemperance  :  (and  who  does  not  believe  that  drunkenness  is 
as  great  an  evil  as  driving  a  stage  on  Sunday  ?)  should  they  petition  Con- 
gress to  stop  all  distilleries,  would  not  the  petitioners  say  that  it  was  inter- 
fering with  private  right  ?  They  act  more  wisely !  they  labor  to  direct 
public  opinion,  and  leave  individuals  at  their  liberty.  Let  the  petitioners 
learn  of  them  and  do  likewise.  Not  one  of  them  is  compelled  to  contract, 
drive,  or  ride  on  Sunday,  why  then  complain  ?  Conscience  is  a  court  of 
judicature,  erected  in  every  breast,  to  take  cognizance  of  every  action  in 
the  home  department,  but  has  nothing  to  do  with  another  man's  conduct. 
My  best  judgment  tells  me  that  my  neighbor  does  wrong,  but  my  con- 
science has  nothing  to  say  of  it.  Were  I  to  do  as  he  does,  my  conscience 
would  arrest  and  condemn  me,  but  guilt  is  not  transferable.  Every  one 
must  give  an  account  of  himself.  When  a  parent  properly  admonishes  his 
child  to  beware  of  vice,  if  the  child  commits  an  overt  act,  the  parent  feels 
no  guilt,  he  only  mourns  the  misfortune  :  if  the  parent  has  been  remiss  in 
giving  advice,  he  feels  guilty  for  the  neglect,  (which  is  his  own  crime,)  but 
not  for  the  crime  of  the  child.  The  error  of  confounding  opinion  and 
conscience  together  has  effected  a  world  of  mischief.  For  individuals,  or 
for  a  legislature  to  make  their  own  consciences  (opinions)  the  standard  to 
try  the  conduct  of  others  by,  is  tyrannical  usurpation.  "  Why  is  my  lib- 
erty judged  by  another  man's  conscience  ?"  Transporting  the  mail  on 
Sunday  is  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  the  memorialists,  but  can  never  pinch 
their  consciences.  The  Quakers  have  the  philanthropic  opinion  that  war 
should  never  be  waged  :  let  them  call  it  pure  conscience,  and  petition  Con- 
gress to  never  declare  war,  would  the  present  petitioners  wish  that  the 
prayer  of  the  Quakers  might  be  granted  ?  Let  them  answer  the  ques- 
tion. ******* 

If  any  improvement  has  been  made  on  this  subject,  from  the  days  of 
Constanune,  until  the  present  time,  it  consists  in  the  discovery,  found  out 
by  long  experience,  "  that  the  only  way  to  prevent  religion  from  being  an 
engine  of  cruelty,  is  to  exclude  religious  opinions  from  the  civil  code.'* 
Let  every  man  be  known  and  equally  protected  as  a  citizen,  and  leave  his 
religious  opinions  to  be  settled  between  the  individual  and  his  God  :  keep- 
ing this  in  view,  that  he  who  does  not  worship  God  in  the  way  he  chooses^ 
does  not  worship  him  at  all.  Roger  Williams,  William  Penn,  and  the 
early  settlers  of  New  York,  embraced  this  principle,  which  has  been  in- 
terwoven in  the  constitution  of  government  for  the  United  States. 

The  powers  given  to  Congress  are  specific — guarded  by  a  "  hitherto 
shalt  thou  come  and  no  further."  Among  all  the  enumerated  powers  given 
to  Congress,  is  there  one  that  authorizes  them  to  declare  which  day  of  the 
week,  month,  or  year,  is  more  holy  than  the  rest — too  holy  to  travel  upon  ? 
If  there  is  none,  Congress  must  overleap  their  bounds,  by  an  unpardonable 


566  THE   WRITINGS    OF 

construction,  to  establish  the  prohibition  prayed  for.  Let  the  petitioners 
ask  themselves  the  question.  If  Congress  should  assume  an  ecclesiastico- 
political  power,  and  stop  the  mail  on  the  seventh  day,  and  let  it  be  trans- 
ported on  the  first,  would  that  satisfy  them  ?  If  not,  are  they  doing  as 
they  would  be  done  by  ?  *  *  *  *  If  Con- 

gress pass  the  prohibitory  law  prayed  for,  it  is  hoped  that  they  will  fix  the 
boundaries  of  the  day,  to  prevent  contention. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELANO.  567 


EXTRACTS  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  HON.  R.  M.  JOHNSON, 
MARCH  29,  1830. 


Sir: — For  forty  years,  next  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul,  the  rights  of 
conscience  have  been  articles  of  my  highest  solicitude.  Not  only  that 
all  sects  and  societies  should  be  placed  on  a  level,  but  that  each  lonely 
individual  should  have  equal  favor,  and  not  be  obliged  to  join  any  so- 
ciety to  escape  disabilities  or  oppression.  Indeed,  I  stand  pledged,  that 
as  long  as  I  can  use  my  tongue  or  pen,  I  will  never  lie  dormant  when 
religious  liberty  is  in  jeopardy.  The  report  speaks  for  itself.  If  it  can 
be  bettered,  I  know  not  in  which  particular.  It  breaths  the  language  of 
John  Milton,  Roger  Williams,  William  Penn,  Thomas  Jefferson,  etc., 
and,  I  think  it  is  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the 
New  Testament.     It  has  my  unqualified  approbation. 

The  report  of  the  minority  of  the  committee  comes  in  company  with 
the  other.  After  what  I  have  said,  it  will  not  be  expected  that  I  shall 
approve  of  the  whole  of  it.  It  discards  the  idea  of  any  theological  con- 
troversy, and  yet,  in  the  very  beginning,  it  lays  the  foundation  of  a  reli- 
gious war.  There  never  was  a  Christian  nation  on  earth,  before  the  days  of 
Constantino,  who  opened  the  flood-gates  of  error,  and  set  Christians  at  war 
with  each  other.  ****** 

A  few  years  past,  a  moral  society  was  formed  in  Berkshire,  for  the 
suppression  of  vice.  An  executive  committee  was  appointed  to  stop  travel 
on  Sundays.  Were  it  not  a  serious  subject,  it  would  provoke  a  smile  to 
see  Belzebub  in  chase  of  Lucifer,  whip  and  spur — the  committee  break- 
ing the  Sabbath  to  prevent  Sabbath  breaking.  When  the  pursuer  had 
overtaken  or  met  with  his  game,  they  sometimes  compromised,  and  for  a 
fine,  the  traveller  was  let  go  on  ;  but,  generally  he  was  carried  to  a  jus- 
tice or  the  county  court,  and  fined  for  breaking  the  Sabbath.  But,  a  cer- 
tain Mr.  Clark,  being  stopped,  resented  the  abuse,  and  brought  suit  against 
them,  for  assault  and  battery,  before  the  supreme  judicial  court,  where 
Mr.  Clark  recovered  a  considerable  sum  for  damages  ;  the  decision  being 
that  they  had  no  right  to  stop  and  unhorse  him.  This  decision  purified 
the  consciences  of  the  whole  club.  Strange,  how  the  getting  or  losing 
of  money  will  give  direction  to  conscience !  Whether  these  good  souls, 
on  conversion,  paid  back  the  fines  which  they  had  taken,  I  cannot  cer- 
tainly tell.     My  best  information  is  that  they  did  not. 


568  TEE    WRITINGS    OF 

I  have  lived  long  enough  to  see  that  individuals  often  break  over  the 
bounds  of  moral  honesty  to  injure  their  neighbors ;  but,  this  is  not  more 
frequent,  than  it  is  for  legislative  bodies  to  overleap  their  legitimate  guide, 
and  usurp  the  empire  of  natural  individual  rights.  The  let  alone  policy 
may  be  extended  too  far  ;  but  less  evils  arise  from  that  neglect,  than  arise 
from  a  redundancy  of  laws.  The  liberty  of  the  native  of  the  woods, 
under  proper  restraint,  to  pervert  overt  acts  (if  the  expedient  can  be  found) 
should  be  aimed  at.  Tf,  on  entering  into  social  compact,  individuals  sur- 
render all  to  the  public  will,  then  government  may  direct  our  food,  physic, 
costume,  marriage,  association,  location,  occupation,  private  opinion,  re- 
ligion, hearing,  seeing,  appetite,  pronunciation,  vibration  of  the  arteries, 
and  every  breath  we  draw.  But,  if  all  this  is  surrendered,  the  individuals 
lose  all  accountability  to  their  Maker,  and  government  becomes  respon- 
sible for  all ;  for,  it  would  be  beneath  the  righteousness  of  the  Divine 
Being,  to  hold  a  man  to  answer  for  himself,  when  he  was  divested  of  every 
attribute  that  constitutes  a  moral  agent. 

If  I  should  vary  a  few  degrees  from  the  question  of  Sunday  mails,  it 
would  be  following  a  precedent  which  Congress  has  taught  me.  When 
members  of  that  august  assembly,  think,  until  they  are  as  full  of  matter 
as  a  bottle  of  wine  that  has  no  vent,  they  take  the  floor,  and  seem  to  tear 
up  mountains  by  the  roots — ride  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  and  direct  the 
storm.  No  matter  what  the  question  is,  whether  Missouri,  retrenchment, 
or  public  land  ;  the  hall  and  gallery  arc  struck  with  wonder  at  the  pro- 
fondity  of  the  orator  ;  but,  if  the  small  pox  was  in  the  question,  neither 
speaker  nor  hearer  would  catch  the  disease.  I  see  no  great  evil  in  all 
this.  Their  effusions  may  help  the  next  question  ;  at  any  rate  the  next 
election.  Have  not  members  of  Congress  as  good  a  right  to  ramble,  as 
the  late  Patrick  Henry  ?  Must  all  be  guaged  to  speak  in  the  direct,  log- 
ical, and  irrefutable  mode  of  Madison  ?  All  souls  were  not  cast  in  the 
same  mould.  It  takes  every  man  to  make  a  world.  I  think  Congress, 
on  the  whole,  performs  wonders.  They  have  safely  steered  the  ship  be- 
tvv^een  Scylla  and  Charybdis,  notwithstanding  adverse  winds  and  mutinous 
sailors.  The  religion  which  I  profess,  forbids  me  to  speak  evil  of  the  ru- 
lers of  the  people.  I  honor  the  throne,  (government,)  and  the  altar, 
(religion  ;)  but,  those  who  under  a  pretence  of  religion  and  good  order, 
would  shape  my  religion  and  guide  my  conscience,  are  usurping,  presum- 
tuous  tyrants.  A  man  cannot  give  greater  evidence  that  he  is  destitute 
of  the  meek  spirit  of  Christianity,  and  ignorant  of  its  genius,  than  when 
he  makes,  or  urges  others  to  make,  laws  to  coerce  his  neighbors  in  matters 
of  religion.  It  is  like  putting  a  tool  on  the  stones  of  the  altar,  or  making 
a  new  cart  to  carry  the  ark. 

I  cheerfully  subscribe  to  the  sentiment,  that  Christianity  is   not  only  a 
good  religion,  but,  the  only  religion  that  ever  met  the  sinner's  wants  and 


ELDER   JOHN    LKLANfD.  569 

relieved  his  woes — the  only  religion  that  ever  brought  pardon  to  the  guilty, 
and  gave  assui*ance  of  eternal  life ;  but,  as  an  institute  of  state  policy, 
a  question  arises,  whether  it  has  ever  done  any  good.  Has  any  Christian 
nation  ever  exceeded  Tyrus  in  wealth — Greece  in  science — ancient  Rome 
and  Carthage  in  bravery — or  modern  China  in  internal  improvement  ? 
And  what  nations  now  are  more  perfidious  and  blood-thirsty,  than  those 
who  have  formed  crusades,  established  an  inquisition,  and  massacred  the 
South-Americans  ?  Let  Christianity  operate  in  its  own  natural  channel, 
and  it  is  a  blessing  of  immense  worth ;  but,  turn  it  into  a  principle  of 
state  policy,  it  fosters  pride,  hypocrisy,  and  the  worst  kind  of  cruelty. 

JOHN  LELAND. 
Hon.  R.  M.  Johnson. 


72 


570  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


LETTER  TO  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  BAPTIST  CHRONICLE, 
AT  GEORGETOWN,  Ky. 


Chesire,  Mass.  June  25,  1830. 
Dear  Sir  : — You  have  had  the  goodness  to  send  me  several  of  your 
Baptist  Chronicles,  which  have  safely  arrived.     In  a  blank  page  of  one  of 
them,  you  inform  me  of  the  family  that  you  have  descended  from. 
******** 

Of  the  fourteen  hundred  and  seventy-one  that  I  have  baptized,  but  very  few 
of  them  were  ever  brought  into  the  covenanted  mercies  of  God,  by  the  seal 
of  the  covenant — (baptism.)  It  has  been  my  lot  to  baptize  those  who  came 
in  at  the  door  of  repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  towards  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  not  those  who  climbed  up  some  other  way.  I  have  baptized 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost ;  and  if  the  apostles  did  not 
find  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Lord, 
they  either  did  not  understand  their  commission,  or  I  do  not  understand 
what  is  said  about  it.  The  doctrine  that  there  are  three  that  bear  record 
in  Heaven,  which  three  are  one ;  and  the  doctrine  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
God  over  all  and  yet  the  seed  of  Abraham,  are  both  of  them  inconceivable, 
and  (to  our  limited  reason)  impossible  :  not  more  so,  however,  than  crea- 
tion or  the  resurrection.  Enthusiasm  consists  in  believing  without,  or 
against  evidence.  I  believe  that  my  eye  can  see,  and  ten  thousand  things 
beside  ;  but  the  why,  the  how,  and  wherefore,  I  cannot  conceive  of. 

In  the  year  1781,  and  afterwards,  a  great  number  of  my  friends  moved 
to  Kentucky.  I  have  heard  of  the  death  of  many  of  them,  but  as  many  of 
them  were  younger  than  myself,  it  is  probable  that  they  are  living.  While 
I  am  writing,  their  persons  present  themselves  to  my  imagination,  and  bring 
fresh  to  mind  the  meetings  we  had  in  Virginia.  Yes,  how  did  my  soul 
travail  and  pray  for  their  salvation  !  and  how  was  I  delighted  when  I  saw 
the  grace  of  God  among  them  !  Tell  them,  dear  sir,  tell  them  from  me  to 
stand  fast  in  the  doctrine  of  the  grace  of  God,  and  not  be  spoiled  through 
philosophy  or  vain  deceit,  but  to  be  steadfast  and  immovable,  always  abound- 
ing in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  They  will  never  find  a  place  of  pleasure  or 
safety  equal  to  the  humble  spot  at  the  feet  of  Jesus.  I  hope  they  will  not 
get  into  vain  jangling  and  strife  about  words,  for  if  any  oppose  the  simpli- 
city of  the  gospel,  by  what  they  call  science  and  deep  research,  they  give 
to  science  a  false  name,  they  are  puffed  up  with  a  false  mind. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  571 

I  am  afraid  that  I  am  too  dictatorial  in  these  remarks ;  for  I  claim  no 
apostolical  authority,  no  diocesan  or  clerical  power;  my  highest  claim  is 
that  of  a  repenting  sinner,  and  a  very  imperfect  preacher. 

******** 

Some  societies  have  a  written  creed  to  begin  upon ;  others  form  creeds 
by  votes  after  they  have  united  ;  while  a  third  have  their  verbal  agreements 
of  procedure  ;  and  a  fourth  have  a  permanent  creed  that  they  will  have 
no  creed.  In  all  these  cases  there  is  an  understanding.  In  this  light  the 
Indian  tribes  have  their  constitutions  of  government,  as  well  as  the  United 
States.  The  subject  reminds  me  of  a  law  once  made  in  Rhode  Island, 
**  that  the  preachers  should  be  rewarded  by  free  contributions,  and  no 
other  way."  I  have  known  many  men,  who  have  been  such  enemies  to  all 
bigotry  in  religion,  that  they  were  the  greatest  bigots  that  I  ever  saw,  in 
condemning  every  one  who  was  not  as  liberal  as  themselves.  But  let  a 
man's  creed  be  what  it  will,  if  it  denies  that  the  Jesus  of  the  New  Testament 
is  the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament ;  or  asserts  that  any  can  be  saved,  with- 
out receiving  the  unction  and  being  led  by  the  spirit  of  God,  the  creed  is 
not  the  voice  of  my  beloved.  Whether  I  am  sheep  or  goat,  I  know  not  the 
voice,  and  cannot  follow  the  shepherd.  For  I  had  as  well  be  Pagan,  Jew 
or  Turk  (as  it  respects  the  salvation  of  my  soul)  as  to  be  a  Christian,  void 
of  the  spirit  of  Christ.  Nominal  Christianity  will  not  deliver  from  death. 
Out  of  that  kingdom  Christ  will  gather  all  that  offend.  The  lamp  without 
oil  will  go  out  in  obscure  darkness.  Orthodoxy,  heterodoxy,  or  any  other 
doxy,  without  the  love  of  a  holy  God  in  the  heart,  is  a  miserable  doxy  for 
me.  If  the  greatest  reasoner  is  the  greatest  saint,  philosophers  excel  Chris- 
tians,  and  the  Devil  goes  beyond  them  all. 

Yet  see  how  I  shift  subjects :  I  mean  to  do  so :  I  do  as  I  would  be  done 
by.  When  I  hear  a  long  harangue  of  metaphysical  reasoning  on  abstruse 
questions,  I  feel  more  like  calling  for  my  night-cap  than  anything  else.  So 
with  myself,  when  I  speak  or  write  ;  it  may  be  light  but  shall  not  be  long. 

Innocence  is  better  than  repentance  ;  but  when  a  man  commences  a  trans- 
gressor, repentance  is  the  best  characteristic  that  he  can  possess.  A  hum- 
ble spirit  and  a  contrite  heart  are  always  essential  to  our  acceptance  with 
God,  and  have  been  so  from  Abel  unto  the  present  moment.  But  this  tem- 
per of  mind  is  overlooked  (for  men  are  too  big  for  the  lowly  Jesus)  and 
some  creed,  some  society,  or  some  forms  of  godliness.,  relied  upon.  Ar- 
minia.nism  or  some  other  is7Ji — Predestinai^n,  with  all  the  other  tions,  in 
the  vocabulary — societies  as  good  as  eleven  of  Christ's  disciples — forms  in 
will-worship,  showing  much  wisdom  and  neglecting  the  body — can  any  of 
them  or  all  of  them  in  concert,  give  one  groan  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  bring 
one  sealing  promise  to  the  sinner's  heart  ?    Farewell. 

JOHN  LELAND. 
Mr.  Uriel  B.  Chambers. 


572  THE    WRITINGS    OP 


SHORT    SAYINGS 


ON    TIMES,    MEN,    MEASURES    AND    RELIGION,    EXHIBITED    IN    AN    ADDRESS, 
DELIVERED    AT    CHESHIRE,    JULY    5,    1830. 


The  Scribes,  Priests,  and  Lawyers  murmured,  but  the  common  people  heard  him  gladly. 

New  Testament. 

Friends  and  Fellow-Citizens  :  This  day  we  have  assembled  to  reflect 
on  the  great  changes  and  marvellous  events  that  have  taken  place  in  our 
land,  in  the  course  of  less  than  sixty  years.  Thirteen  depressed  colonies, 
containing  but  three  millions  of  people,  have  grown  to  twenty-four  inde- 
pendent states,  with  a  general  government  over  the  whole,  the  population 
of  which  amounts  to  twelve  millions  of  souls. 

The  increase  of  wealth,  both  real  and  personal,  beggars  description. 
The  facilities  of  intercourse,  by  printing,  mail  stages,  steam-boats,  and  ca- 
nals,  fill  every  thinking  mind  with  wonder.  The  many  inventions  to  aid 
and  ease  hard  labor,  have  greatly  contributed  to  make  the  states  really 
independent.  The  advantages  of  education,  and  the  thirst  of  the  youth 
after  knowledge,  was  never  exceeded  in  Greece.  The  style  of  living  and 
dressing  has  increased  four  fold.  Persecution  for  conscience'  sake  is  aban- 
doned, and  but  few  roots  are  found  where  the  legislature  intrude  into  the 
kingdom  of  Christ.  The  wars  which  we  have  had  with  the  Europeans 
and  savages  have  resulted  to  our  advantage.  The  political  spasms,  (a  tax 
that  all  free  governments  have  to  pay,)  whether  of  a  personal  or  sentimen- 
tal nature,  have  ever  closed  on  the  side  of  liberty.  After  the  people  have 
decided  that  they  can  and  will  rule  themselves,  maugre  all  the  force  of 
cabinets,  caucuses,  intrigues  and  bargains,  the  storm  subsides,  and  all  rally 
under  the  banner  of  the  law.  The  rijiht  of  suffrage  is  found  to  be  so  ef- 
fectual,  that  the  people  bear  momentary  abuses  patiently,  until  the  consti- 
tutional period  arrives,  when  they  right  themselves. 

Should  the  same  love  of  liberty — spirit  of  enterprize — bravery  in  war — 
internal  improvement — literary  research  and  oratory — with  a  disposition 
to  be  just  and  humane  to  all  nations  that  now  exist,  continue  to  prevail  for 
a  century  forward,  as  they  have  for  half  a  century  past,  the  rigid  patriotism 
of  the  Spartans — the  profuse  learning  of  the  Greeks — the  bravery  of  the 
Romans — the  exquisite  arts  of  the  Italians,  and  the  laborious  improvement* 
of  the  Dutch,  would  be  no  longer  the  highest  note  in  the  poet's  song,  nor 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  573 

the  finest  painting  in  historic  page.  The  world  which  was  found  by  Co- 
lumbus, delivered  by  Washington,  and  taught  by  Jefferson,  would  excel 
them  all. 

From  the  experiment  already  tested,  the  ground  of  hope  is  strong,  that 
the  federate  principle  can  prevail  over  all  the  territory  from  the  mouth  of 
Columbia  River  to  Passamaquoddy,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Western 
Sea.  Looking  forward  one  hundred  years,  and  seeing,  at  least,  sixty  mill- 
ions  of  people,  covering  forty  independent  states,  all  linked  together  by  a 
federal  chain  ;  acknowledging  no  king  but  law  ;  having  none  to  rule  over 
them  but  those  whom  they  choose  ;  each  one  enjoying  the  right  of  private 
judgment ;  of  publishing  his  opinions  without  hazard  ;  of  worshipping  what 
God  he  chooses,  in  the  manner  he  prefers,  at  the  times  and  places  of  his 
own  selection  ;  having  no  privileged  orders  of  men  ;  none  exempted  from 
their  proportionable  parts  of  the  burdens  of  government ;  none  proscribed 
from  holding  offices  ;  punishing  those  alone  who  work  ill  to  their  neighbor, 
and  pitying  the  ignorant  and  superstitious.  Not  as  a  statesman,  but  as  a 
meek  Christian,  I  subjoin,  in  addition  to  the  before-mentioned  blessings,  the 
outpourings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  the  quickening  of  dead  sinners  ;  the  peo- 
ple mourning  for  their  sins,  and  turning  to  a  gracious  Saviour  ;  receiving 
his  spirit  and  being  governed  by  his  laws  :  this  would  be  a  state  of  as  great 
felicity,  (should  it  prevail  all  over  the  world,)  as  can  be  expected,  until 
this  earth  shall  be  dissolved,  and  a  new  earth  and  new  heavens  shall  ap- 
pear. 

These  pleasing  anticipations  may  never  be  realized.  Blooming  morn- 
ings are  often  obscured  by  clouds  and  storms.  The  sun  was  risen  when 
Lot  entered  Zoar,  but  soon  a  storm  of  brimstone  destroyed  the  devoted 
cities.  The  sins  of  the  people  may  provoke  a  jealous  God  to  give  them 
up  to  those  who  lust  for  power  ;  wealth  and  splendor  may  ruin  them.  War 
famine  and  pestilence,  are  weapons  in  the  magazine  of  Jehovah,  by  which 
he  chastiseth  the  ungrateful  and  rebellious.  The  same  prophets  who  speak 
of  the  glorious  things  that  God  will  do  for  men  in  the  latter  days,  speak 
also  of  great  tribulation  and  distress  that  will  fall  upon  the  wicked. 

It  is  ardently  hoped  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  will  be  wise 
and  diligent  enough  to  keep  the  power  of  government  in  their  own  hands, 
and  not  be  tricked,  flattered,  or  frowned  out  of  it ;  and  so  just  and  grateful 
that  the  Almighty  may  delight  to  bless  them. 

To-day  we  render  our  thanks  for  all  the  good  things  which  the  Lord  has 
done  for  us :  and  to-day  we  make  our  prayers  that  goodness  and  mercy 
may  follow  us  all  the  days  of  our  lives. 

It  cannot  be  concealed  that  there  is  a  gnawing  worm  under  the  bark  of 
our  tree  of  liberty,  that  seeks  to  sap  our  civil  and  religious  rights.  Mean 
suspicion  is  ridiculous;  but  manly  jealousy  is  noble.  Words  are  flexible 
things  J   it  is  principles  and  measures  that  characterize  the  man.     Let 


674  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

men  be  called  whig  or  tory — monarchist  or  anarchist — federalist  or  repub- 
lican— angel  or  devil,  it  is  their  actions,  and  not  their  name  or  profession, 
that  we  are  to  form  our  judgments  upon.  Forming  our  judgments  by  this 
rule,  we  have  glaring  evidence  that  there  are  many  would-be-chiefs  who 
are  harboring  and  fostering  an  aristocratic  principle  which  often  shows  its 
teeth,  and  waits  for  a  favored  moment  to  show  the  whole  hog.  This  prin- 
ciple has  been  haunting  the  United  States  from  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence to  the  present  moment.  It  has  as  many  names  as  a  Spanish  Don — 
as  many  colors  as  a  chamelion — as  many  high  claims  to  wisdom  and  re- 
ligion as  a  Pharisee,  and  deceitful  as  an  opossum,  but  always  remains  the 
same.  The  genius  of  the  principle  is  to  amass  the  offices  and  hold  them 
fast,  get  the  money  and  trick  the  sovereign  people  out  of  their  rights. 
Men,  when  under  the  influence  of  this  principle,  when  in  office  have  stiff 
fibres  in  the  back  part  of  their  necks,  and  when  out  of  office  they  howl 
like  wolves  at  the  alphabet,  because  it  contains  the  three  letters  o-u-t. 
These  ambitious  aspirants  are  never  pleased  with  men  or  measures,  while 
they  themselves  are  the  neglected  agents.  Like  Absalom,  they  pray,  "  Oh, 
that  I  were  made  judge !"  (and  like  him  are  self-conceited,)  "  that  every 
man  which  hath  any  suit  or  cause,  might  come  unto  me  and  I  would  do 
him  justice."  Such  men,  when  they  are  invested  with  power,  are  like 
Phffiton,  who  undertook  to  drive  the  chariot  of  the  sun,  but  being  unskilful 
in  charioteering,  drove  his  chariot  to  the  earth  and  set  the  world  on  fire. 

When  Mr.  Jeffiirson,  the  patriarch  of  liberty,  was  promoted  to  the  pres- 
idency, the  debt  of  the  United  States  was  about  eighty  millions  of  dollars  ;* 
but  during  his  eight  years  administration  it  was  reduced  to  half  the  amount, 
and  things  seemed  to  be  in  a  fair  train  to  extinguish  the  whole ;  but  the 
war  of  1812  put  a  stop  to  the  whole,  and  cast  the  states  into  the  back 
ground  a  great  distance.  The  duration  of  the  war  was  two  years  and  a 
half:  the  close  of  it  was  honorable  and  advantageous  to  the  United  States, 
but  the  course  of  it  was  disastrous.  The  expense  of  it  was  about  one 
million  of  dollars  per  week.  The  revenue  decreased,  and  expenses  increased 
so  fast,  that  at  the  end  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  weeks,  the  debt  was  one 
hundred  and  twenty  millions  of  dollars.  Since  the  close  of  the  war,  the 
debt  has  been  more  than  one  half  discharged,  and  the  people  are  now  look- 
ing forward  when  four  or  five  years  will  liquidate  the  last  cent.  In  this 
they  will  not  be  disappointed,  if  the  Almighty  is  propitious,  our  own  gov- 
ernment  wise,  and  the  people  peaceable.  To  what  use  the  surplus  revenue 
will  be  put,  after  the  debt  is  paid,  has  already  become  an  object  of  solici- 
tude  and  debate.  When  that  time  shall  arrive,  it  is  highly  probable  the 
people  will  know  best-  what  to  do  with  their  money.  It  will  be  the  property 
of  those  who  will  then  be  living,  and  when  men  possess  an  estate  they 

*  The  sums  are  here  stated  in  round  numbers,  designed  to  be  near  enough  to  the  truth 
10  give  a  just  idea  of  the  course  of  things. 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  575 

wish  to  have  the  control  of  it.  At  present  the  revenue  belongs  to  those 
who  are  living,  and  what  is  not  necessary  for  the  support  of  government, 
will  be  best  applied  to  pay  the  debt,  as  fast  as  the  engagements  of  govern- 
ment, and  the  claims  of  the  creditors  admit  of.  How  exulting  the  thought, 
that  twelve  millions  of  people,  possessing  immense  regions  of  fertile  soil, 
producing  all  the  necessaries  and  conveniences  of  life,  with  a  watery 
highway  to  all  parts  of  the  globe,  having  none  to  bear  rule  over  them  but 
their  own  wills,  shall  owe  no  man  any  thing,  but  shall  have  a  permanent 
revenue  that  will  produce  a  surplus  beyond  the  exigencies  of  government ! 
What  splendid  monarchy  on  earth  exhibits  a  state  of  things  so  full  of  de- 
light ?  The  pomp  of  crowns,  mitres,  stars,  ribands,  purple  and  diamonds, 
surrounded  by  an  oppressed  starving  people,  holds  no  competition  with  it. 

If  a  man  unskilled  in  fiscal  affairs  can  be  indulged  by  the  present  gene- 
ration, and  pardoned  hy  those  who  will  be  living  when  the  debt  shall  all 
be  paid,  he  will  suggest  a  few  thoughts  for  consideration.  "  Let  no  project 
check  the  liquidation  of  the  debt.  Lower  the  duties  on  all  merchandize 
^s  far  as  a  just  competition  with  other  nations  will  justify  ;  this  will  be  a 
relief  to  the  laborers.  Sell  the  public  lands  cheap  to  actual  settlers  and 
cultivators.  Give  small  portions  of  it  to  the  industrious  poor,  who  have 
nothing  to  buy  with.  Distribute  the  surplus,  as  fast  as  it  arises,  in  an  equi- 
table way  among  the  several  states.  Keep  not  a  great  sum  in  the  trea- 
sury, for  like  a  cider  cheese  it  will  always  be  haunted  with  bees.  Let  the 
contingent  fund  be  small  and  guarded.  Let  the  people  be  rich  and  the 
government  frugal.  Let  it  always  be  remembered  that  our  government 
was  formed  for  the  good  of  the  whole,  and  not  for  the  aggrandizement  of 
a  few." 

The  powers  granted  to  the  general  government  are  few  and  defined : 
those  granted  to  the  government  of  Massachusetts  are  maHy  and  undefined- 
The  legislature  may  make  all  laws  not  forbidden  by  the  constitution  :  the 
discretion  of  the  legislature,  therefore,  in  a  great  measure,  governs  the 
people.  Whether  the  measures  of  the  government  of  Massachusetts  are 
in  all  things  wise  and  economical,  is  a  question  of  moment.  The  com- 
monwealth  was  justly  called  the  cradle  of  liberty  in  the  revolutionary  war, 
but  was  the  hot  bed  of  opposition  in  the  war  of  1812.  That  the  citizens 
of  this  commonwealth  had  a  right,  through  their  legislature,  to  memorialize 
Congress  on  the  subject,  is  true ;  but,  after  the  war  was  declared,  was  it 
right  for  them  to  vilify  the  rulers — discourage  enlistments — withhold  loans — 
keep  back  the  militia — declare  the  war  unjust — rejoice  at  the  victories  of 
the  enemy,  and  at  the  defeats  of  Americans — call  out  the  militia  for  a 
sham — hold  a  convention  to  paralyze  the  arm  of  Congress,  and,  indeed,  do 
every  thing,  by  word  and  deed,  that  v/ould  render  the  war  disastrous — the 
rulers  obnoxious,  and  the  government  itself  execrable  ?  To  gain  these  oh- 
jects  the  pulpits  were  ringing,  the  presses  groaning,  and  misrepresentation 


576  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

was  the  order  of  the  day.  What  excuse  for  all  this  ?  Had  the  opposition 
succeeded  in  their  wishes — run  down  those  who  were  in  office  find  gained 
the  places  themselves — what  government  they  would  have  formed,  whether 
alliance  or  recolonization,  will  never  be  known,  for  the  event  has  not  ta- 
ken place. 

While  I  am  speaking,  a  solemn  thought  crowds  into  my  mind.  If  the 
departed  souls  of  illustrious  patriots  visit  their  kindred  on  earth,  and  min- 
gle with  them  in  their  feelings,  how  would  the  souls  of  Hancock,  Adams, 
Warren,  and  company,  lament  to  see  how  far  Massachusetts  has  fallen  ? 
And  would  not  the  soul  of  Washington  have  frowned  indignantly  on  the 
Hartford  convention,  for  seeking  to  break  the  bonds  of  the  Union  ? 

We  are  flattered  away  every  year  with  the  wealth  of  the  slate,  and  new 
schemes  are  reccommended  and  enacted,  which  call  for  commissioners, 
surveyors,  engineers,  pioneers  and  clerks,  all  of  which  must  be  paid,  if 
the  schemes  dissolve  in  mist.  It  would  be  more  pleasing  to  be  informed 
that  the  debt  of  the  commonwealth  was  discharged,  and  light  taxes  were 
sufficient. 

In  common  life,  it  is  the  safest  economy  for  a  man  first  to  pay  for  his 
land  and  clear  his  fields,  and  afterwards  erect  his  useful  and  ornamental 
buildings  as  fast  as  the  profits  of  his  lands  will  justify  ;  and,  if  I  mistake 
not,  the  same  economy  is  best  for  a  state. 

A  respectable  part  of  the  people  are  strongly  persuaded,  that  a  heavy 
sum  of  the  debt  was  created  to  carry  on  the  opposition  to  the  last  war, 
and  the  measures  of  the  general  governmeot,  and  ardently  wish  that  the 
items  of  debt,  and  for  what  purposes  they  were  created,  might  be  so  dis- 
tinctly stated,  that  he  who  runs  may  read.  While  they  labor  under  ex- 
isting impressions,  they  cannot  but  feel  indignant  at  the  claims  presented 
to  Congress  to  reimburse  the  expenses  of  the  war;  for,  to  them  it  appears 
that  this  government  wishes  to  coerce  Congress  to  pay  their  enemies  for 
the  mischief  they  have  done  them.  Will,  or  ought  the  United  States  ever  to 
agree  to  this  ?  It  is  an  anti-revolutionary  principle,  to  say  "  that  the  peo- 
ple are  their  own  worst  enemies,  and  the  government  must  save  them 
from  themselves.  That  government  is  a  mystery  known  to  but  few,  and 
the  many  should  peaceably  acquiesce." 

Let  the  items  of  debt  be  stated  as  fair  as  a  tax-bill,  without  etceteras 
and  contingencies,  and  the  democratical  republicans,  (though  they  may 
question  the  wisdom  of  many  of  the  items,)  will  each  to  a  man  exert 
himself  to  extinguish  the  whole,  if  it  takes  all  but  one  cow  and  sheep  from 
his  flocks,  and  all  but  one  shirt  from  his  back.  This  he  would  rather  do 
than  to  have  commissioners  after  commissioners,  still  increasing  the  debt, 
sent  on  to  Congress  with  such  claims  as  they  carry  with  them.  For  the 
measures  of  the  seventeenth  century,  in  whipping  and  banishing  the  Bap- 
lists — hanging  the  Quakers,  and  destroying  the   witches,  hardly  appear 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND,  577 

more  dishonorary.  When  the  debt  shall  all  be  paid,  and  the  taxes  light- 
ened, then  lei  railroads,  tunnels,  and  castles  in  the  air  be  the  order  of  the 
day,  if  nothing  better  appears. 

If  those  who  led  the  poople  into  debt  by  their  opposition  to  the  war 
and  government,  and  those  who  still  justify  the  measure,  were  to  be  con- 
vinced of  their  error,  and  honestly  pray  like  the  negro  in  a  sea-squall,  "  O 
Lorda  !  set  me  on  dis  a  rock,  dat  a  rock  tudder  rock,  and  I'll  be  bound  you 
never  catch  me  here  again,"  we  should  soon  have  better  times,  less  mur- 
murings  and  less  taxes.  But,  while  the  same  men  and  measures  are  sup- 
ported, the  great  body  of  laborers  have  little  to  expect,  but  to  bow  down 
their  shoulders  to  bear  and  become  servants  unto  tribute. 

We  all  wish  to  be  loyal  subjects  to  the  constitution,  and  constitutional 
laws  and  measures  of  this  commonwealth ;  and,  likewise,  to  the  consti- 
tution and  constitutional  laws  and  measures  of  the  United  States,  which 
are  supreme ;  but,  how  all  this  is  to  be  done  when  the  states  and  general 
governments  clash,  is  not  easy  to  say.  We  are  waiting  and  hoping  for 
the  time  when  there  will  be  a  greater   harmony  between  them. 

It  is  folly  and  madness  to  fight  against  the  laws  of  nature  and  the 
course  of  events.  The  extent  and  population  of  the  western  section 
of  the  United  States,  will  soon  outweigh  the  Atlantic  states.  A  great 
portion  of  the  west,  is  made  up  of  emigrants,  who  have  fled  from  haughty 
masters  and  heavy  taxes,  to  this  land  of  liberty,  leaving  their  aristocrat- 
ical  brethren  behind.  Their  attachment  to  our  free  government  has  be- 
come proverbial.  This  circumstance  will  tend  to  keep  the  now  existing 
western  states,  and  those  which  shall  arise  hereafter,  upon  the  plain  ground 
of  representative  democracy,  to  the  joy  of  republicans,  and  the  grief  of 
aristocrats  in  the  Atlantic  States.  This  appears  to  be  the  course  that 
events  will  take,  and  all  opposition  to  it,  is  like  a  shad's  head  against  a 
steam-boat. 

When  men  have  the  liberty  of  declaring  their  opinions  without  hazard, 
and  voting  without  control,  they  have  all  that  they  should  desire — if  a 
majority  is  against  them  they  should  acquiesce — he  who  varies  from  this 
should  give  up  the  name  of  republican,  for  he  is  destitute  of  the  principle. 
It  is  true  the  majority  may  be  wrong,  and  the  minority  right ;  but,  when 
free  debate  is  granted,  and  free  balloting  allowed,  the  majority  will  be 
convinced  of  their  error  and  retrace  their  steps.  In  this  case  it  is  for 
the  majority  to  decide  whether  the  measure  was  right  or  wrong  ;  for, 
if  it  is  given  to  the  minority,  the  number  may  be  reduced  to  an  individnal 
and  end  in  absolute  despotism. 

Has  not  Massachusetts  always  had  an  equal  portion  of  members  in  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  Congress  ?  and  have  not  those 
members  had  equal  freedom  of  debate  ?  why  then  should  there  be  any 
complaint  when  a  majority  is  against  them  ?  would  Massachusetts  wish 

73 


578  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

to  dictate  to  the  whole  twenty-three  states  ?  as  well  might  the  little  town 
of  Hull  give  law  to  the  whole  commonweallh  of  Massachusetts. 

But,  while  I  am  speaking,  it  strikes  my  mind  that  the  best  of  men  are 
but  men  at  best.  Perfect  knowledge  and  wisdom  are  not  the  attributes 
of  man.  Add  to  this,  that  the  administration  of  government  is  often  at- 
tended with  such  perplexities,  that  a  choice  of  evils  is  the  only  alternative. 
Government  is  often  condemned  for  evils  that  spring  from  another  source. 
While  the  people,  therefore,  freely  animadvert  on  measures,  and  expose 
the  schemes  of  ambitious  aspirants,  let  them  be  peaceable  in  temper,  and 
patient  to  bear  real  or  supposed  evils  as  long  as  they  are  sufFerable.  When 
a  standard  of  grammar  is  found  out,  in  which  every  letter  in  the  alphabet 
has  the  same  power  in  every  word,  and  every  word  a  definite  meaning  in 
every  sentence — when  the  knowledge  of  perpetual  motion  shall  be  ascer- 
tained— when  a  natural  standard  of  weights  and  measures  is  discovered — 
when  the  first  rise  of  sin  can  be  developed — when  a  clue  shall  be  seen 
which  will  reconcile  the  designs  of  God  with  the  freedom  of  the  human  will ; 
then  men  will  know  how  to  give  power  enough  to  their  rulers  to  do  good, 
and  yet  have  it  so  counterpoised  that  they  can  do  no  harm. 

Let  it  moreover  be  remembered,  that  a  restless  discontented  spirit,  is 
injurious  to  good  government,  and  tends  to  destructive  revolutions  on  one 
hand,  as  the  ambition  of  aspiring  demogogues  does  on  the  other. 

As  religion  is  become  very  fashionable  in  every  circle,  and  fills  a  page 
in  all  publications,  the  remarks  of  the  day  would  be  incomplete,  without 
some  notice  is  taken  of  it.  Like  the  Buzite  of  old,  I  shall,  therefore,  show 
my  opinion. 

The  one  great  church  is  built  by  Christ  the  Lord,  against  which  all  the 
powers  of  earth  and  hell  shall  not  prevail.  But  gospel  churches  are  built  by 
men,  who,  on  account  of  local  residence,  unity  of  sentiment,  and  Chris- 
tian affection,  unite  in  a  bond  for  social  worship  and  gospel  discipline. 

When  any  one  is  received  into  the  fellowship  of  such  a  church,  no  al- 
teration takes  place  as  to  his  standing  in  human  connexion  and  civil  so- 
ciety. The  king,  the  captain,  and  the  servant,  have  nothing  added  to  them, 
and  nothing  taken  from  them  by  the  fellowship  of  the  church.  So,  also 
when  any  one  commits  an  overt  act,  and  is  excluded  from  the  fellowship 
of  the  church,  he  is  not  deprived  of  rank  or  wealth,  or  exposed  to  any 
disabilities  or  penalties  of  the  church,  which  extends  no  farther  than  a 
declaration  of  what  and  whom  they  fellowship,  and  what  and  whom  ihey 
do  not.  If,  however,  the  overt  act  for  which  he  was  excluded,  should  be 
a  crime  against  any  righteous  law  of  state,  he  is  subject  to  a  fine  or  pen- 
alty from  the  civil  court,  neither  more  nor  less  on  account  of  the  church 
censure. 

Civil    government   is   rightly  founded,  neither  in  birth,  in  power,  in 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  579 

wealth,  nor  in  grace,  but  in  compact.  Individuals  unite  together,  not 
for  the  aggrandizement  of  a  few,  but  to  protect  the  life,  liberty  and 
property  of  the  whole  body.  A  charter  of  powers  granted  and  rights 
retained  is  the  platform  by  which  they  are  to  be  governed,  and  all  are 
to  be  subject  to  the  public  will. 

Government  was  not  designed,  nor  should  it  ever  be  used,  to  direct 
the  faith,  fix  the  residence,  describe  the  enterprise,  or  make  the  con- 
tracts of  individuals,  or  in  any  wise  deprive  them  of  their  natural  rights  ; 
all  of  which  they  retain,  except  what  are  voluntarily  resigned  in  the 
compact  for  the  security  of  the  rest. 

It  is  not  designed  to  defend  the  religious  opinions  of  any,  but  the  per- 
sons and  rights  of  all ;  so  that  Jews,  Turks,  Pagans  and  Christians,  with 
all  their  subdivided  opinions,  may  peaceably  live  together  in  the  same  do- 
main — each  one  enjoying  the  free  exercise  of  his  religious  opinions,  and 
all  impartially  protected  by  the  law.  Should  any  one  man,  or  one  sect, 
attempt  to  force  another  to  believe,  act  or  support,  what  they  themselves 
believe  in,  with  this  plea,  that  the  others  were  licentious  and  heretical,  the 
assailants  would  be  the  offenders,  to  be  punished  by  the  law  ;  for  when  a 
man's  religion  leads  him  to  commit  overt  acts,  he  should  be  punished  for 
his  actions  and  pitied  for  his  delusion. 

If  this  is  a  true  epitome  of  the  formation  of  church  and  state,  and  of 
their  respective  designs  and  powers,  a  common  observer  will  readily  see 
that  holh  have  greatly  swerved  from  the  basis  which  is  founded  in  na- 
ture, reason  and  revelation.  The  author  of  Christianity  and  the  scheme 
of  salvation  was  perfect  and  complete  ;  but,  even  among  the  apostles, 
there  was  a  strife  which  of  them  should  be  greatest.  Diotrephes  loved 
to  have  the  pre-eminence,  and  there  were  many  masters.  The  mystery 
of  iniquity  began  to  work,  and  anti-christs  arose,  before  the  close  of  the 
apostolic  age.  And,  notwithstanding  the  pagan  persecutions  which  the 
Christians  endured  for  three  hundred  years,  the  bishops  were  grasping 
after  power  over  the  churches,  and  supremacy  among  themselves.  When 
Constantine  took  the  church  into  his  own  hands,  he  established  Chris- 
tianity by  law,  and  provided  fat  livings  for  the  preachers.  Pagans  were 
proscribed,  and  none  were  admitted  to  offices  but  Christians.  The 
Trinitarians  and  Arians,  like  Castor  and  Pollux,  lived  and  died  by- 
turns,  and  the  triumphant  party  would  be  the  orthodox  and  the  other 
party  the  heterodox.  The  contest  of  the  bishops  for  mastery  lasted  un- 
til A.  D.  606,  when  the  Emperor  Phocus  conferred  the  title  Universal 
Father,  or  Pope,  on  the  bishop  of  Rome.  Popes  advanced  from  one 
Btep  of  power  to  another,  until  they  kept  standing  armies,  and  crowned 
and  dethroned  kings  at  pleasure. 

The  marriage  of  church  and  state  together  was  unnatural ;  of  course 
a  monstrous  offspring  followed.     From  that  day  until  the  present  mo- 


580  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

ment  it  has  been  the  grief  of  the  humble  followers  of  the  Lamb  to  see 
their  own  nominal  brethren,  by  force  and  bloodshed,  wrest  from  infidels 
and  Christian  heretics  their  inalienable  rights,  by  which  Christ  has  been 
wounded  in  the  house  of  his  friends,  and  Christianity  exposed  to  the 
hatred  and  scorn  of  a  gazing  world. 

In  common  life,  a  man  has  an  inalienable  right  to  do  that  which  is 
morally  wrong,  and  if  his  wrong  injures  none  but  himself,  he  is  ac- 
countable to  none  but  himself  and  his  God,  So,  in  the  religious  de- 
partment, a  man  has  an  indefeasible  right  to  believe  what  is  not  true,  and 
perform  worship  that  is  hypocritical  or  delusive.  In  either,  or  both  of 
these  cases,  the  supposed  or  real  defaulter  is  not  amenable  to  any  court, 
either  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  to  be  fined  or  corporeally  punished,  or  any 
way  disabled,  farther  than  the  withdrawal  of  the  fellowship  of  his 
brethren. 

The  kingly  and  priestly  power,  which  was  ordained  for  the  government 
of  the  Theocracy  of  Israel,  figured  out  and  centered  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  in 
the  Cbristocracy.  Christ  sits  upon  this  throne  as  a  priest,  and  bears  the 
glory.  He  is  king  on  the  holy  hill  of  Zion,  and  minister  of  the  sanctuary. 
Like  Melchizedec,  he  is  king  of  righteousness  and  priest  of  the  Most  High 
God.  Ministers  of  the  gospel  are  never  called  priests  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, in  distinction  from  all  the  saints  ;  of  course,  nothing  can  be  drawn 
from  the  power  of  kings  and  priests,  in  the  Theocracy,  that  will  establish 
the  right  of  kings  or  priests  to  be  lords  over  the  heritage  of  God  under  the 
second  Testament.  Holy  men  of  God,  who  have  been  sent  by  Christ  to 
preach  the  word  of  reconciliation  among  men,  should  be  highly  esteemed 
in  love  for  their  works'  sake  ;  but  holy  orders  of  naen,  legally  clothed  with 
ecclesiastical  power,  should  be  shunned  like  a  den  of  rattlesnakes.  The 
power  and  authority  wliich  is  given  to  church  rulers,  whether  called 
bishops  or  angels,  is  like  the  power  of  a  prudent  father  m  his  family,  and 
may  be  called  the  power  of  infiuence,  acquired  by  pre-eminent  gifts,  bene- 
volence and  godly  zeal. 

There  are  a  number  of  religious  denominations  in  the  United  States  ^ 
several  of  them  of  nearly  equal  weight  and  numbers.  No  one  of  them 
can  overbalance  all  the  rest;  which  will  forever  be,  as  long  as  it  con- 
tinues, a  sufficient,  barrier  agairtst  religious  oppression,  in  the  old  way ; 
■which  has  been,  for  one  sect,  when  it  was  more  numerous  than  all  the 
rest,  iofeel  power  and  forget  right,  and  force  all  others  to  bow  down  to 
their  sheaf.  But  a  %ew  way  of  persecution,  may  yet  arise,  and  exercise  all 
the  authority  o^  i\\e  first  beast.  Let  the  many  Christian  sects  agree  to  sur- 
render their  distinguishing  rituals  so  far  a&  for  all  of  them  to  unite,  and 
have  Christianity  to  be  the  test  for  all  ofBces  in  the  general  and  state  goiu 
ernments,  in   every  department,   and   the   horned   beast   will   be  set  up. 

Nothing  in  this  state  of  things  (should  it  take  place)  looks  like  the  mil. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  581 

lennium,  for  there  is  no  return  of  the  Jews  in  it — the  unfortunate  sons  of 
Abraham  must  all  be  proscribed.  Professed  Deists  have  none  of  the 
loaves  and  fishes  ;  and  the  millions  in  the  United  States,  who  do  not  be- 
lieve themselves  Christians,  must  stand  by,  as  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers 
of  water,  to  pay  taxes  and  fight  battles  for  their  Christian  neighbors.  But 
who  are  to  be  the  Christians  ?  Some  think  infants  are  made  Christians  at 
the  time  of  their  baptism,  others  do  not  believe  it.  Some  conclude  that 
joining  a  church  makes  them  Christians,  but  Judas  belonged  to  Christ's 
church  and  was  a  devil.  Others  judge  that  believing  the  unity  of  God  is 
the  only  essential ;  the  devil,  however,  believes  this  and  trembles.  Many 
measure  the  increase  of  Christians  by  Sunday  Schools,  Missionary  Soci- 
eties, etc.  ;  but  once  a  generation  of  vipers  compassed  sea  and  land  to 
make  proselytes. 

It  should  always  be  remembered,  that  the  essentials  of  Bible  religion  are 
articles  that  lie  between  God  and  individuals,  and  cannot  be  perfectly 
known  by  any,  but  by  Him  who  searches  and  knows  the  hearts  of  men  and 
what  is  in  them.  But  this  is  overlooked.  Nominal  Christianity,  observing 
Sunday  as  holy  time,  is  now  to  be  the  test ;  and  no  man,  without  this 
mark,  is  to  buy  or  sell,  ride  in  the  stage,  float  in  a  boat,  or  bear  any  office 
in  the  state.  How  little  this  sounds  like  the  doctrine  preached  by  John, 
JESUS,  Peter  and  Paul. 

Should  the  many  Christian  sects  in  the  United  States  drop  their  peculi- 
arities, and  unite  in  the  manner,  and  for  the  purposes,  just  mentioned,  it 
makes  the  blood  run  cold  in  the  veins  to  think  of  the  horrors  that  would 
ensue  ;  for  there  are  millions  in  this  land  of  liberty  that  would  not  submit 
to  disfranchisement  without  resistance  :  clerical  awe  and  pharisaical  grim- 
ace would  not  restrain  them. 

It  is  not  all  that  Christianity  does  for  men,  but  all  that  it  asks  of  them 
is  a  dispassionate,  unprejudiced  hearing,  with  a  corresponding  faith  on  ra- 
tional evidence.  Error  always  needs  the  props  of  ignorance,  anger,  guile, 
hypocrisy,  and  the  strong  arm  of  law  to  support  it.  Truth  needs  no  such 
aid.  Error  of  opinion  ceases  to  be  dangerous  when  truth  is  on  equal 
ground  to  combat  it. 

There  was  once  a  religious  confederacy  of  discordant  materials,  com- 
posed  of  Libertines,  Cyrenians,  Alexandrians,  Cilicians  and  Asiatics  ;  but 
when  they  could  not  withstand  the  reasoning  of  Stephen,  they  resorted  to 
perjury,  and  condemned  and  stoned  him  to  death.  Their  great  union  se- 
cured the  rights  of  none  who  differed  with  themselves. 

I  close  these  miscellaneous  sketches,  by  observing  that  we  have  cause 
of  gratitude  that  we  have  now  a  president  who  was  chosen  by  the  people^ 
and  who  is  seeking  their  good.  His  message  and  veto  show  his  depth  of 
thought,  his  independence  of  mind,  his  attachment  to  republicanism  and 
love  of  economy.  May  his  life  be  preserved,  and  his  usefulness  con- 
tinued ! 


582  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

While  the  heads  of  departments  are  all  at  their  posts  discharging  their 
respective  duties,  we  have  a  watchman  in  Congress,  guarding  our  religious 
rights,  before  whose  arm  the  intrepid  Tecumseh  fell,  and  before  whose  re- 
ports the  clerical  hierarchy  blushed  and  gnashed  his  teeth. 

When  Jackson  shall  have  finished  his  administration,  there  will  be  none 
living,  young  enough  to  be  president,  who  had  any  hand  in  the  revolution- 
ary war.  A  generation  will  then  take  the  lead,  who  never  saw  the  works 
which  were  done  by  Moses  and  Joshua.  If  they  will  have  a  king  to  reign 
over  them,  that  they  may  be  like  other  nations  ;  or  a  whole  life  or  hered- 
itary  aristocracy,  with  an  established  order  of  ecclesiastics,  so  it  will  be. 
We  can  only  weep  all  night,  like  Samuel,  in  view  of  theapostacy,  but  must 
always  keep  in  mind  that  our  descendants  will  have  the  same  right  to  choose 
a  government  for  themselves  that  we  or  our  fathers  have  had. 

The  world  stood  before  we  were  born.  It  has  been  our  home  until  now, 
and  will  be  so  until  we  die.  When  we  are  gone  the  way  of  all  the  earth, 
it  will  be  the  habitation  of  our  descendants.  While  we  live,  let  us  serve 
our  generation  by  the  will  of  God  ;  and  when  we  fall  asleep,  He  who 
made  the  world  will  take  care  of  it  until  the  consummation  of  all  things. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  583 


THE  RESULT  OF  OBSERVATION." 


"  I  said  I  will  be  wise,  but  it  was  far  from  me." — Solomon. 


The  highest  claimants  of  internal  rectitude  and  perfection  generally 
discover  the  greatest  ambition  to  carry  their  points  and  increase  their 
party. 

He  who  loves  to  hear  no  person  praised  but  himself,  is  an  enemy  to  all 
but  himself. 

Boldness  without  modesty  is  arrogance.  Modesty  without  boldness  is 
sheepishness  ;  but  boldness  tempered  with  modesty,  forms  an  amiable 
character. 

When  dissentions  and  party  strife  arise  in  religious  societies,  no  one 
owns  or  knows  himself  to  be  a  partisan  ;  each  one  conceives  himself  to 
be  laboring  for  the  general  good.  At  such  limes  truth  cannot  enter,  and 
the  historian  must  drop  his  pen,  until  the  storm  is  over. 

To  pray  to  be  heard  and  seen  of  men,  and  to  preach  for  name  and  fame, 
is  Christianity  inverted. 

The  elaborate  disquisition — the  pompous  style — the  handsomely  turned 
period,  with  polite  gesticulation,  may  gain  admiration  among  the  light- 
minded  ;  but  conscience  slumbers,  and  piety  starves  amidst  it  all. 

For  a  preacher  to  be  honest  before  God  and  man,  and  preach  what  he 
has  been  taught  and  does  believe,  is  so  essential  to  his  work,  that  even  a 
suspicion  of  his  honesty  with  his  hearers,  prevents  all  good  impression. 

He  who  murmurs  in  adversity  will  be  unthankful  in  prosperity. 

The  suicide  kills  one,  the  murderer  kills  two.  The  first  does  no  vio- 
lence to  the  will  of  the  slain  ;  the  last  does.  Suicide  costs  the  state  little 
or  nothing  ;  murder  costs  much. 

Extract  from  preachers  all  the  zeal  to  proselyte  and  increase  party — all 
the  love  of  fame,  to  be  called  Rabbi,  and  all  the  love  of  ease  and  good 
living — and  how  much  remains  for  Christ,  of  genuine  piety  and  disinter- 
ested charity  ? 

Many  labor  hard  to  find  the  art  to  be  honest,  while  they  cast  the  work 
and  burden  on  others,  and  secure  the  profits  for  themselves.  They  make 
treaties  with  their  consciences  that  they  may  pursue  their  course  with 
peace. 

*  Published  in  1830. 


584  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

A  young  preacher  should  fervently  seek  and  pray  for  holy  zeal :  and 
yet,  unless  his  mind  is  stored  with  the  holy  scriptures,  and  the  sense  thereof, 
he  will  be  a  lean  old  man. 

Never  do  any  thing  that  you  doubt  the  correctness  of,  unless  your  doubts 
are  greater,  that  a  neglect  will  be  criminal. 

It  is  one  thing  to  believe  a  doctrine,  or  system,  from  the  force  of  argu- 
ment, and  another  to  believe  what  God  says,  and  the  heart  feels.  It  is 
hard  for  a  saint,  at  all  times,  to  realize  and  appropriate  to  himself,  that 
which  his  judgment  acknowledges  to  be  true. 

It  has  been  the  strife  of  Gentiles,  Jews  and  Christians,  to  reconcile  the 
eternal  designs  of  God  with  the  freedom  of  the  human  will.  Perhaps  a 
better  solution  cannot  be  given,  than  to  say,  it  was  the  eternal  design  of 
God,  that  the  will  should  be  left  free  to  act,  yet  accountable  for  the  right 
use  or  abuse  of  its  powers.  This  solution  may  lead  to  questions  irresolv- 
able, and  may  have  bearings  hard  to  dispense  with  ;  but  that  salvation  is 
of  the  Lord,  and  condemnation  of  creatures,  is  certain.  God's  grace  is 
free  :  his  wrath  is  conditional. 

Sin  has  so  completely  deranged  all  the  faculties  of  the  soul,  and  sunk 
men  into  such  a  horrible  pit,  that  any  scheme  which  the  limited,  dark  mind 
of  man  can  comprehend,  would  be  insufficient  to  save — a  scheme  founded 
in  infinite  wisdom,  and  executed  by  omnipotent  power,  through  boundless 
love,  was  necessary  to  restore.  This  scheme  the  gospel  exhibits,  and 
those  who  believe  in  it  find  deliverance  ;  but  who  but  God  understands  it 
in  all  its  parts  ?  How  unsearchable  are  his  ways,  and  his  judgments  past 
finding  out ! 

Internal  religion  is  always  the  same,  and  always  will  be.  External  re- 
ligion changes  :  sometimes  by  the  command  of  God,  and  often  by  the 
weakness  of  men.  The  Mosaic  worship  was  from  Jehovah.  Moses  was 
faithful  in  all  his  house,  and  built  the  tabernacle  according  to  the  pattern 
shown  to  him  in  the  mount.  But  when  the  state  of  the  tribes  was  changed, 
David  was  inspired  to  modify  the  Mosaic  worship  for  the  convenience  of 
the  Israelites,  and  the  whole  of  it  was  abrogated  when  the  kingdom  of  the 
Messiah  was  established.  That  the  externals  of  Christianity  have  been 
changing  by  men,  needs  no  proof  but  to  reflect  on  what  has  been,  and  to 
survey  what  now  is. 

When  a  preacher  is  annointed  with  a  holy  unction,  viewing  the  charac- 
ter of  Christ  and  the  worth  of  souls,  it  will  alter  the  tone  of  his  voice, 
change  his  countenance,  and  fill  his  eyes  with  pity  ;  but  for  a  man  to  affect 
all  this  when  his  heart  is  not  in  it.  is  but  hypocrisy  in  himself,  and  disgust- 
ful to  his  hearers. 

"  Jnd  /  will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the  woman,  and  between  thy  seed 
and  her  seed :  it  shall  bruise  thy  head  and  thou  shall  bruise  his  heel." 
That  this  is  a  declaration  of  the  Messiah,  who  was  the  seed  of  the  woman — 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  585 

the  seed  of  Abraham — the  seed  of  David,  born  of  Mary,  admits  of  no 
doubt ;  but  that  it  was  a  gracious  promise,  made  to  Adam  and  Eve,  is  not 
so  evident.  The  Lord  God  was  not  speaking  to  the  new  made  pair,  but 
to  the  serpent,  and  the  words  are  not  a  promise  of  pardon,  but  a  denunci- 
ation of  the  conquest  of  Christ  over  Satan,  at  the  expense  of  a  little  bruise 
in  his  heel,  (his  human  nature.)  It  is  possible  that  Adam  and  Eve  stood 
near  enough  to  hear  what  God  said  to  the  serpent,  and  catch  a  gleam  of 
hope  from  what  they  heard  ;  but  of  this  we  have  no  certain  proof;  nor  is 
there  any  assurance  that  the  Messiah  was  ever  revealed  to  any  before 
Abraham,  who  saw  his  day,  and  was  the  father  of  all  that  believe.  That 
all  who  were  saved  before  Abraham,  were  saved  through  Christ,  is  cer- 
tain ;  but,  like  heathen,  or  infants,  they  might  be  saved  by  the  merits  of 
one  who  had  not  been  revealed  to  them. 

Some  parts  of  the  scripture  are  written  in  a  chain  of  logical  argument, 
but  other  parts  are  written  like  a  string  of  pearls,  one  truth  following  an- 
other without  any  dependence  upon  it. 

Men  should  remember  that  their  beasts  of  service  are  not  endowed  with 
reason  ;  yet  treat  them  in  a  manner  for  which  they  could  not  reproach 
their  owners  with  cruelty  and  unkindness,  if  they  were  reasonable  crea- 
tures. 

The  seas  abide  within  their  limits,  and  stay  their  proud  waves  at  the 
bars  and  bounds  prescribed  for  them  ;  but  men  revolt  and  break  over  the 
moral  bounds  of  their  obedience. 

The  covetous  man  despises  him  who  is  indolent,  and  the  lazy  man  ab- 
hors the  covetous.  The  first  pleads  wants,  pinches  and  hard  times,  to  cloak 
his  covetousness :  the  last  pleads  bodily  infirmity  to  excuse  himself  from 
labor.  If  we  know  a  man  to  be  covetous,  we  are  forbidden  to  eat  with 
him  J  and  with  the  lazy  man,  we  are  to  keep  no  company,  that  he  may  be 
ashamed. 

A  man  of  profound  learning  will  easily  understand  an  ideal  discourse, 
though  dressed  in  rustic  language.  He  prefers  rich  ideas  to  flowery  ex- 
pressions, but  when  both  unite,  he  is  not  straitened.  But  when  men  of 
vulgar  habits  hear  subjects  investigated  in  a  lofty  style,  though  the  speaker 
delivers  mysteries  of  great  worth,  yet  they  are  unedified.  They  have  to 
stretch  their  thoughts  so  hard  to  understand  the  language,  that  they  lose 
all  the  impression  of  the  ideas.  Many,  however,  are  to  be  found,  who  will 
applaud  that  the  most,  which  they  understand  the  least. 

Is  open  space  a  creature,  or  is  it  eternal  ?  If  it  is  a  creature,  when  was 
it  created  ?  and  what  existed  where  it  now  is,  before  its  creation  ?  If  it  ia 
eternal,  what  shall  we  say  ? 

When  preachers  are  divinely  impressed  to  carry  the  gospel  to  a  desti- 
tute people,  afiliction  may  attend  them,  but  good  success  will  follow.  But 
when  missions  are  formed  on  human  calculations,  or  with  colonizing  views, 

74 


586  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

the  disasters  of  the  crusade,  or  the  cruelties  of  South  America,  come  into 
mind. 

Some  men's  tongues  are  like  race  horses,  the  lighter  the  load,  the  swifter 
the  speed  :  but  the  tongues  of  other  men  are  like  dromedaries,  the  heavier 
the  burden,  the  more  fleety  the  beast. 

If  the  first  sin  arose  from  a  sinful  cause,  it  seems  there  was  a  sin  before 
the  first  sin.  But  if  the  first  sin  proceeded  from  a  holy  cause,  then  the 
law  of  nature  was  inverted.  Sin  has  certainly  taken  place  in  a  manner 
that  justifies  God,  and  casts  all  the  blame  on  the  transgressor.  But  this 
lesson  is  hard  to  read,  difficult  to  spell,  and  must  be  skipped. 

Neither  money,  nor  the  love  of  it,  was  the  root  of  all  evil,  for  evil  existed 
before  the  value  of  the  precious  metals  was  known  :  but  since  money  has 
been  coined  and  became  current,  it  so  completely  answers  all  things,  that 
the  love  of  it  is  the  rooi  of  lying,  deceiving,  perjury,  stealing,  robbery,  war, 
and  every  kind  of  murder.  It  is  difficult  to  find  a  man  with  as  much  money 
as  he  wants,  or  as  much  religion  as  he  needs. 

Preachers  are  in  the  habit  of  using  home  made  scripture,  which  is  not 
biblical.  As  death  leaves  you,  so  judgment  will  find  you.  Purchased  grace, 
purchased  salvation,  purchased  the  love  of  God.  God  gave  his  Son  out  of 
his  own  bosom.  Little  cliildren  love  one  another.  Covenant  of  grace, 
covenant  of  redemption,  etc.  Words  are  valuable,  but  ideas  founded  in 
truth  are  more  valuable. 

Contentions  often  arise  in  churches,  neighborhoods,  and  between  man 
and  man.  At  such  times  Satan  places  himself  between  the  two  adverse 
parties,  and  when  the  parlies  look  at  each  other,  instead  of  seeing  them  as 
human  beings,  they  see  nothing  but  Satan.  At  such  times,  all  means  used 
to  effect  a  reconciliation,  only  tear  the  scab  from  the  sore.  Absence  from 
each  other,  time  and  lonely  reflection  are  the  best  remedies.  Let  the  con- 
tention  die  of  old  age. 

Man  is  a  complex  creature,  having  a  body  of  clay,  possessed  by  a  quick- 
ening spirit,  which  two  are  connected  with  a  rational  soul.  To  describe 
the  union  of  these  parties,  draw  the  line  of  demarcation,  and  give  to  each 
its  proper  due,  is  beyond  the  reach  of  my  pen  or  thoughts.  The  body, 
however,  being  animated,  has  hivoluntary  nud  voluntary  motions.  The  first, 
including  the  beating  of  the  heart — the  vibration  of  the  arteries — the 
springing  of  the  nerves,  etc.,  are  neither  effected  nor  prevented  by  the 
will.  The  last,  comprising  the  movement  of  the  various  members,  organs, 
and  the  whole  body,  is  governed  by  the  will,  and  are,  therefore,  contingent. 
The  winking  of  the  eye  partakes  partly  of  both  ;  it  performs  without  the 
will,  and  yet  may  be  hastened  or  checked  by  it.  This  stricture  on  man 
reminds  me  of  the  marvellous  scheme  of  salvation.  The  contrivance  of 
the  plan — the  incarnation  of  Christ — the  atonement  made  by  the  death 
and  resurrection  of  Jesus — our  being  born  again — the  resurrection  from 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  587 

the  dead,  etc.,  are  all  the  works  of  God,  and  the  will  of  man  is  not  con- 
sulted about  them  :  in  these  things,  man  neither  assists,  nor  resists.  But 
when  a  sinner  is  changed  by  grace,  the  powers  of  his  soul  are  voluntarily 
employed  in  the  service  of  God.  He  strives  as  ardently,  hears  as  atten- 
tively, sacrifices  as  freely,  denies  himself  as  readily,  repents  as  sincerely, 
and  chooses  the  good  part  as  voluntarily,  as  if  the  work  was  all  his  own. 
God  calls  effectually,  and  the  sinner  runs  willingly. 

Read  Romans,  xii.,  from  verse  ninth  to  the  end,  and  challenge  all  the 
wits  and  wise  men  on  the  earth  to  produce  an  equal  number  of  salutary 
precepts  in  a  form  so  condensed.  The  diction  of  the  Bible  cannot  be  imi- 
tated by  human  effort. 

Grievous  afflictions  are  not  alicays  sent  as  a  scourge  for  crimes  commit- 
ted, but  sometimes  as  preventives  from  crimes.  Paul's  thorn  prevented 
his  pride. 

A    FAMILY    PKAYER. 

That  God  would  secure — 

Our  houses  from  devouring  flames. 
Our  property  from  thieves  and  knaves, 
Our  bodies  from  disease  and  pain, 
Our  souls  from  guiit  and  every  stain. 

He  that  believes  in  the  word  of  God,  saves  his  soul ;  but  he  that  be- 
lieves in  the  word  of  speculators,  loses  his  interest.  Let  God  be  true,  but 
every  man  a  liar. 

It  is  not  reasonable  to  believe  that  the  original  copies  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  are  now  in  existence:  the  ravages  of  time  have  destroyed 
them.  And,  (whatever  may  be  said  of  the  superintendence  in  the  trans- 
criptions and  translations  of  the  Bible,)  the  highest  claim  that  any  Jew  or 
Gentile  can  boastj  is,  that  he  possesses  a  careful  transcription  or  transla- 
tion by  uninspired  scribes. 

I  have  seen  many  revivals  of  religion  in  my  life  ;  some  singularities  have 
attended  each  of  them  to  distinguish  one  from  the  other.  When  the  ininds 
of  the  people  are  strongly  excited,  in  some  things  they  go  to  excess.  Not 
making  a  just  distinction  between  the  truth  of  God  and  the  corruptions  of 
men,  they  call  all  gold  that  glistens.  That  enemy  of  man,  who  seeks  to 
check  religious  zeal,  if  he  cannot  succeed  therein,  will  drive  them  on  to  a 
zeal,  not  according  to  knowledge.  As  far  as  this  phrenzy  of  zeal  prevails, 
so  far  the  zealot  will  condemn  the  moderate  Christian,  while  the  last,  in 
his  turn,  will  brand  the  other  with  enthusiasm.  I  have  found  in  myself, 
and  discerned  in  others,  that  holy  zeal  and  vain  ambition,  (though  discor- 
dant in  nature,)  will  rise  and  fall  together.  When  religion  is  low,  and  my 
spirits  are  dull,  I  have  neither  zeal  nor  ambition  to  rise :  but  when  my  soul 
is  enlivened,  and  a  prospect  of  success  is  before  me,  ambition  cries,  "now 
stretch  your  wings — fly  high  and  immortalize  your  fame." 


588  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

When  a  preacher  exhibits  with  a  dull  spirit — small  ideas — scattering 
arguments,  and  poor  voice,  his  old  man  is  ashamed,  and  his  new  man  is 
starved  ;  but  vv'hen  he  is  fresh  anointed — speaks  as  he  ought  to,  in  power 
and  demonstration  of  the  spirit — commending  himself  to  every  man's  con- 
science, in  the  sight  of  God,  his  new  man  is  fed  and  refreshed  ;  while  the 
old  man  triumphs  with  a  boast,  "how  finely  I  have  preached." 

Nothing  is  so  valuable  as  simple  truth.  The  heathen  were  so  well  con- 
vinced of  this,  that  they  worshipped  the  goddess,  Truth,  stark-naked.  To 
diminish,  to  exaggerate,  or  give  false  coloring,  either  by  word,  gesture, 
doubtful  accent,  or  any  kind  of  inuendo,  to  plain  truth,  is  satanical.  He 
who  professes  a  regard  for  the  truth  of  God,  (which  the  Almighty  has 
confirmed  with  an  oath,)  and  is  not  in  the  habit  of  speaking  the  truth  with 
bis  neighbor,  gives  his  profession  the  lie. 

For  nearly  six  thousand  years,  the  bans  of  marriage  have  been  pub- 
lished  between  mouths  and  victuals ;  and  all  the  lids,  doors,  locks,  bolts, 
high  duties,  non-intercourse  and  embargoes,  that  can  be  devised,  are  in- 
sufiicient  to  keep  them  apart.  They  were  made  for  each  other.  He  who 
has  nothing  to  bestow,  will  never  be  troubled  with  hangers-on. 

To  be  concise  and  perspicuous,  is  the  excellence  of  speaking  or  writing  ; 
loquacity  and  obscurity  are  the  contrast. 

Many  errors  are  committed  for  want  of  good  breeding  and  proper  re- 
flection ;  but  the  worst  are  committed  through  ill  design. 

A  man  has  a  civil  right  to  do  that  which  is  morally  wrong. 

A  man's  speculative  opinions  efiect  not  his  moral  standing  in  society. 

There  are  many  vicious  tempers,  which  the  discipline  of  the  church, 
and  the  penal  laws  of  the  state  cannot  prevent  nor  punish;  but  every 
mental  evil,  though  ever  so  subtile,  is  condemned  in  the  gospel. 

The  promises  made  in  the  covenant  of  works  are  conditional ;  which 
conditions,  men  can  perform  by  the  exertions  of  their  natural  powers. 
But,  in  the  new  covenant,  all  the  promises  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  are 
yea  and  amen,  and  do  not  rest  on  the  works  of  men  for  their  accomplish- 
ment. "  I  will  give  them  a  new  heart — I  will  be  their  God,  and  they 
shall  be  my  people — I  will  never  leave  them — their  sins  and  iniquities  I 
will  remember  no  more,  etc."  To  apply  the  promises  of  God,  made  in 
Christ  to  the  contrite,  unto  those  who  are  seeking  to  be  justified  by  the 
works  of  the  law,  is  giving  that  which  is  holy  unto  dogs.  Natural,  prov- 
idential, and  national  blessings,  are  promised  to  men  upon  their  obedience  ; 
but  pardon  of  sin,  justification,  eternal  life,  and  all  the  blessings  of  the 
new  covenant  are  promised  in  Christ,  through  grace,  and  not  as  a  re- 
ward. 

In  civil  life,  if  a  young  man  has  not  the  faculty  to  make  himself,  he 
would  not  be  able  to  keep  himself  after  others  had  made  him ;  so  also 
in  the  religious  department;  if  a  man  does  not  rise  to  eminence  in  the 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 


589 


ministry,  by  the  energies  of  his  own  naind,  all  the  academical  gloss  that 
could  be  put  upon  him,  would  not  make  him  shine.  It  is  folly  for  men 
to  hold  up  a  man  to  whom  God  has  given  no  legs. 

The  temple  of  Diana  was  two  hundred  years  in  building ;  but  Erostratus 
burnt  it  down  in  one  night,  to  gain  for  himself  a  great  name.  Emped- 
ocies  cast  himself  into  Etna's  burning  mouth,  that  he  might  defied. 

The  nations  have  been  reduced  to  vassalage,  and  the  earth  soaked  with 
blood,  to  raise  the  fame  of  cruel  monsters,  in  the  shape  of  men.  But 
how  can  men  believe  or  be  happy,  "  who  receive  honor,  one  of  another, 
and  seek  not  the  honor  that  comes  from  God  alone."  God  honors  the 
humble,  and  abhors  the  proud.  Abundance  of  pride  is  to  be  seen  among 
religious  sects  ;  each  one  striving  for  the  mastery  ;  and  much  strife  among 
the  preachers,  who  shall  be  greatest.  How  hard  such  preachers  labor  to 
make  God's  stream  turn  their  own  mills.  Was  I  free  from  this  vile  am- 
bition  myself,  I  should  esteem  others  better  than  myself,  and  rejoice  to 
see  them  increase,  though  I  decreased  myself.  Then  I  should  not  preach 
myself,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord  ;  and  do  nothing  through  strife  or  vain- 
glory,  but  in  lowliness  of  mind. 

If  ye  have  biUer  envying  and  strife  in  your  hearts,  glory  not,  and  lie  not 
against  the  truth.  From  these  pernicious  tempers,  the  hearts  of  saints 
are  not  secure.  When  they  are  beset  with  the  fiery  darts  of  envy  and 
strife,  they  will  seem  to  possess  two  hearts.  Their  judgment,  reason, 
and  all  the  goodness  that  is  in  them,  will  condemn  those  vile  passions, 
while  their  corrupt  spirit  is  harboring  them.  Al  such  limes,  if  a  man 
glories  in  his  goodness,  without  confessing  his  vileness,  he  lies  against 
the  truth.  How  common  it  is  for  those  who  give  the  greatest  evidence 
to  others  that  they  are  ixoverr.ed  by  ambition,  envy  and  strife,  to  make  the 
boldest  declarations  of  their  purity,  merely  from  thcii  reason;  when  their 
inside  heart  will  whisper,  "  envy  and  strife  are  here.'*  Or  if  they  con- 
fess their  mental  evils,  it  will  be  in  a  studied  manner  ;  calculating  more 
to  gain  applause  for  their  honesty  and  humility,  than  to  bemoan  themselves 
in  dust  and  ashes- 
Innocence  is  better  than  repentance  ;  but,  after  a  man  has  transgressed, 
repentance  is  the  best  quality  which  he  can  possess.  When  one  man  has 
injured  another,  if  the  injurious  honestly  confess  his  error,  without  any 
evasion  or  design,  it  will  disarm  the  injured  of  all  revenge  ;  should  the  in- 
jured, in  such  a  case,  refuse  the  hand  of  forgiveness,  he  himself  would  be- 
come the  injurious  party. 

Peter  committed  an  overt  act  when  he  cut  off  the  ear  of  Malchus,  and 
was  exposed  to  punishment  for  assault  and  battery.  This  he  knew,  and 
followed  afar  off.  His  denial  of  Christ,  was  not  the  effect  of  ill  will,  but 
fear  of  punishment  for  what  he  had  done.  He  lied,  and  swore  to  the  lie, 
to  secrete  and  screen  himself  from  prosecution.     Two  reasons  may  be 


590  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

assigned  why  he  was  not  arrested.  First,  the  enemies  of  Christ  wereso 
intent  to  destroy  him  immediately,  that  minor  subjects  were  hardly  noticed. 
Second,  the  miracle  performed  by  Christ,  in  healing  the  servant's  ear  with 
a  touch,  must  have  had  a  solemn  impression  on  all  who  saw  it.  Had  Mal- 
chus  gone  to  a  magistrate  with  a  complaint,  what  evidence  could  he  have 
given  of  any  abuse,  when  both  his  ears  were  whole  upon  his  head  ?  Had 
he  subpcened  the  witnesses  who  saw  the  whole  affair,  they  must  have  told, 
not  only  that  the  ear  was  cut  oif,  but  who  it  was  that  healed  it,  which 
would  have  operated  greatly  in  favour  of  him  whom  they  were  determined 
to  crucify. 

In  this  event,  the  weakness  and  wickedness  of  the  disciple,  and  the 
goodness  and  God-head  of  the  master,  are  evidently  seen.  The  historian 
has  not  informed  us  whether  the  ear  which  was  cut  off,  was  placed  to  the 
head  from  which  it  was  severed,  and  stuck  fast  and  sound,  or  whether  an- 
other  ear  was  created  and  fixed  in  its  stead.  In  either  case,  the  miracle 
was  striking,  and  the  conviction  irresistible. 

A  question.  If  man,  in  his  primeval  innocency,  was  subject  to  be  se- 
duced by  a  tempter,  to  do  that  which  was  morally  wrong,  why  cannot  a 
man  in  his  corrupt  state,  by  the  stimulus  of  a  prompter,  do  that  which  is 
morally  right  ?  Are  the  natural  powers  of  man  impaired  by  sin  ?  or  does 
he  possess  a  self-determining  power  over  his  own  will  ? 

Law  is  founded  in  justice,  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  mercy  ;  hence 
he  that  despised  Moses'  law,  died  without  mercy.  The  law  of  God,  (com- 
monly called  the  moral  law,)  is  the  eternal,  unalterable  rule  of  right ; 
which  arises  from  the  relation  that  exists  between  God  and  man,  and  be- 
tween man  and  man;  and  will  be  binding  as  long  as  the  perfections  of 
God,  and  faculties  of  men,  continue.  This  law  enjoins  on  all  rational  be- 
ings, that  which  is  proper  for  them  to  believe  and  do  ;  and,  any  trans- 
gression of  this  law  is  sin.  Under  this  law,  Christ  was  made,  and  was 
perfectly  obedient  unto  it.  But  the  word  law,  (in  Bible  style,)  is  not  al- 
ways used  in  this  definite  sense  ;  but,  as  the  whole  law  of  doctrine,  in- 
eluding  precepts  given,  grace  bestowed,  promises  made,  and  pardons  grant- 
ed by  him  who  is  law-giver,  king,  and  judge.  The  whole  administration 
of  the  divine  government  is  called  law  ;  and  this  law  is  perfect,  converting 
the  soul. 

The  mind  of  every  creature  is,  and  forever  will  be  limited  to  certain 
bounds.  Universal  science  is  peculiar  to  God  alone  ;  some  men,  however, 
have  intellects  and  research  approximating  to  angels ;  while  others  are 
stupid  and  obscure,  rising  but  a  small  grade  above  the  brutes.  Every 
man  is  not  a  Solomon  for  wisdom,  nor  a  Paul  for  divinity.  It  is  possible 
for  a  preacher  to  entertain  a  congregation  thirty  years  with  new  subjects 
every  sermon  !  If  so,  his  mill  must  stand  on  the  living  stream,  for  his 
head  of  water  is  insufficient.     Is  it  necessary  or  advantageous  that  he 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  591 

should  have  a  store  of  novelty  sufficient  for  so  great  a  variety  ?  If  he 
can  bring  out  of  the  treasury  some  new  things  with  the  old,  will  not  that 
answer  ?  Are  there  not  many  pairs  of  chapters,  sections  and  verses,  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures  ?  Did  not  Jesus  use  the  same  words  three  times  in 
prayer?     Did  not  Paul's  hearers  desire  to  hear  the  same  words  again? 

These  arguments,  however,  should  not  be  used  as  a  cloak  for  ignorance, 
or  as  a  covert  for  indolence  in  searching  the  scriptures  and  meditating 
thereon. 

With  regard  to  myself,  my  talents  are  small ;  I  can,  nevertheless,  preach 
a  few  sermons  to  the  same  congregation,  as  independent  of  each  other  as 
need  be.  Afterwards,  I  take  part  of  one,  and  part  of  another,  with  a  new 
text,  to  keep  up  the  idea  of  variety.  And  when  all  other  aids  fail,  I  gain 
some  consolation  from  the  poor  memories  of  the  people,  concluding  they 
may  have  forgotten  what  I  remember  is  the  same. 

Archippus  had  personal  accomplisbm.ents,  and  abundance  of  wealth  ; 
yet  Clarissa  refused  his  hand,  because  his  mind  was  lean  and  sordid.  Her 
sentiment  was  fixed,  thai  it  is  the  mind  which  makes  the  man,  and  she  would 
not  be  connected  with  a  man  who  possessed  nothing  but  external  show. 
So,  also,  in  the  religious  world,  many  rise  to  high  preference  and  fat  liv- 
ings, who  are  lean  divines.  A  Bunyan,  who  is  taught  of  God  and  versed 
in  scriptures,  will  enrich  the  world  more  than  many  of  them.  Milton 
has  said  before  me,  "  that  Christ  and  his  illiterate  apostles  used  to  travel 
afoot,  but  now  doctors  of  divinity  are  driven  by  the  devil  in  pompous  car- 
riages. 

Mero  has  a  poor  constitution,  but  is  a  great  student  of  botanyand  phys- 
ic ;  the  quality  of  every  plant  and  drug  in  the  apothecary's  shop,  he  seems  to 
understand  ;  but,  remains  sickly  in  himself,  and  useless  to  others.  Domus, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  robust,  healthy,  and  useful  to  others,  as  he  enjoys  com- 
fort and  ease  in  himself;  so,  likewise,  he  employs  himself  in  doing  good 
to  others.  His  motto  is,  "  that  health  is  better  than  the  study  of  med- 
icine." So,  among  religionists ;  some,  like  Mero,  are  studying  all  the 
subtleties,  dogmas,  and  metaphysical  hair-splitting  of  theology  ;  stretching, 
lopping  off,  twisting,  suppressing,  adding,  and  altering,  to  support  their 
favorite  hypotheses  and  systems;  and  thus  spend  their  days  in  inquie- 
tude and  unprofitable  vexation.  While  others,  like  Domus,  stretch  not 
themselves  beyond  their  measure,  or  meddle  with  that  which  is  too  high 
for  themselves  ;  but,  believe  that  which  is  plain,  and  do  that  which  is  right, 
and  leave  inexpressibles,  inconceivables,  and  incomprehensibles,  to  settle 
their  own  accounts.  In  cases  like  these,  I  judge  that  the  disciples  of 
Mero  are  possessed  with  that  knowledge  which  puffs  up,  while  the  follow- 
ers of  Domus  enjoys  that  charity  which  edifies. 

What  was  Jehovah  about,  eternal  ages  before  creation  began  ?  Where, 
or  what  shall  I  be  millions  of  ages  hence? 


692  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Loud  words  and  long  harangues,  cannot  make  truth  out  of  error ;  nor 
are  the  most  brilliant  talents  always  listed  on  the  side  of  truth. 

Wit  is  one  thing,  and  wisdom  is  another  ;  when  they  unite,  a  Franklin 
is  formed.  In  such  instances,  wit  makes  wisdom  pleasing,  and  wisdom 
makes  wit  profitable. 

Genius  and  research  are  not  always  connected  with  firmness  and  per- 
severance;   when  they  are,  they  produce  a  Jefferson. 

In  scientific,  political,  and  religious  departments,  good  men  are  seek- 
ing  to  escape  manifest  errors,  and  finding  out  hidden  truth.  And  it  is 
most  likely  that  the  consummation  of  all  things  will  find  men  in  the 
pursuit. 

If  men  acquire  the  certain  knowledge  of  but  few  things,  in  seventy  years, 
eternity  vvill  be  a  long  school  to  learn  the  rest  in. 

The  most  that  gospel  preachers  can  claim  since  the  age  of  miracles 
has  ceased,  is  the  ordinary  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  those  who  set 
up  for  a  higher  claim,  fail  in  their  evidence,  and  prove  only  that  they  are 
infected  with  enthusiasm.  That  sinners  are  criminally  guilty,  is  certain ; 
but,  most  of  the  severe  reproofs  which  uninspired  preachers  give  them, 
are,  (at  best,)  mixed  with  too  much  arrogancy  in  the  preacher,  and 
raise  too  much  the  indignation  of  the  hearer.  Let  the  preacher  view 
himself  a  brother-sinner  to  his  hearers;  and  view  sin  as  a  great  misfor- 
tune, as  well  as  a  crime;  and,  out  of  pity  and  love,  persuade,  and  pray 
the  sinner  to  be  reconciled  to  God,  if  he  wishes  to  do  him  good. 

Virtus  est  medium  vitiorum.  Formality  and  fanaticism,  like  the  two 
thieves  on  either  side  of  Christ,  are  reviling  him,  and  casting  contempt  in 
his  teeth.  The  formalist  grounds  his  hope  of  heaven  on  the  rituals  he  per- 
forms, the  time  he  spends,  and  the  charity  he  bestows  in  the  line  of  reli- 
gion. Redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  justification  by  his  righteous- 
ness, and  being  born  again,  are  objects  of  minor  consequence  with  him.  He 
is  not  distressed  with  a  hard  heart,  oppressed  with  guilt,  or  attacked  with 
unbelief.  He  feels  not  the  corruption  of  his  nature,  nor  is  his  heart  bro- 
ken for  sin.  He  has  not  learned  that  he  cannot  come  to  Christ  except  he 
is  drawn  by  grace,  nor  has  he  received  the  spirit  of  adoptien  to  cry  Abba 
Father.  He  may  be  forward  in  joining  the  church,  and  zealous  in  the 
duties  of  his  profession,  and,  after  all,  have  only  the  form  of  godliness, 
without  feeling  its  gracious  influence.  To  such  a  man,  Christ  and  his 
cross  are  but  empty  names. 

The  fanatic,  on  the  other  hand,  places  his  hope  on  great  revelations, 
burning  zeal,  singularity  from  the  world,  and  the  persecution  he  meets 
with.  His  zeal  is  not  tempered  with  love,  but  has  an  alloy  of  bitterness 
with  it ;  and  his  language  is,  "  come  and  see  my  zeal  for  the  Lord  of 
Hosts."  As  he  receives  his  knowledge  immediately  from  God,  or  from  a 
source  bevond  the  reach  of  others,  in  his  own  view,  all  reasoning  with  him 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  593 

is  in  vain.  His  singular  revelations  or  advantages  qualify  hinn  to  be 
teacher,  but  not  to  be  pupil ;  convey  the  idea  to  him,  that  you  have 
got  before  him,  and  he  must  learn  of  you,  and  his  spirit  will  rise  at 
once.  In  fine,  there  are  so  many  grades  of  formality  and  fanaticism, 
which  work  so  subtlely,  in  so  many  ways,  by  the  sleight  of  hand,  that  it 
is  beyond  my  ken  to  develop  the  subject.  May  a  gracious  God  deliver 
me  from  every  fatal  error,  and  guide  me  in  the  right  way. 

Among  the  many  ten  thousand  things  which  exist  in  the  natural  world, 
the  causes  of  which  cannot  be  ascertained,  the  case  of  the  mistletoe  is  not 
the  least.  This  evergreen  shrub  is  found  living  in  the  crotch  of  an  oak, 
or  some  other  tree,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  it  proceeds  from  the  pec- 
cant humors  of  the  tree,  nor  can  any  man  tell  where  it  comes  from.  So  in 
the  moral  world,  sin  does  exist — I  see  it — I  feel  it,  but  the  first  rise  of  it 
is  enveloped  in  the  dark. 

The  language  of  simple  tyranny  is,  "  I  will  do  as  I  choose,  and  you 
shall  do  as  I  say."  The  bigot  says,  "  nobody  is  always  right  but 
myself.*' 

The  apple  is  some  time  rising  from  the  bud  to  its  full  size,  after  which, 
by  ripening  and  mellowing,  it  grows  richer,  until  it  begins  to  rot.  So  with 
the  mind  of  man  ;  it  rises  by  degrees  to  its  full  height — then  grows  candid 
and  forbearing — and  then  decays  in  age. 

Quick  perception,  deep  research,  lively  fancy,  strength  of  memory  and 
soundness  of  judgment,  are  the  attributes  of  a  great  man. 

Some  men  think  more  than  they  read.  Others  read  more  than  they 
think.  Those  who  practice  both,  grow  wise.  Those  who  follow  neither, 
remain  ignorant. 

So  far  as  pride  restrains  overt  acts,  promotes  industry,  and  labors  to  ob- 
tain a  good  report,  it  is  a  virtue  ;  but  when  it  rises  in  rebellion  against 
God,  contempt  of  fellow  creatures,  and  self-exaltation,  it  is  the  blackest 
vice. 

The  sermons  and  discourses  of  some  men  remind  me  of  Solomon's  car- 
go, containing  partly  the  precious  articles  of  gold,  silver  and  ivory,  and 
partly  the  folly  of  apes  and  peacocks.  Some  declaimers  are  half  fop  and 
half  sloven.     Let  the  defects  of  others  teach  me  wisdom. 

When  polemical  writers,  on  religious  subjects,  are  wanting  in  plain 
proof,  they  put  on  holy  awe,  call  in  the  aid  of  sophistry  and  anger  to  sup- 
ply the  lack  of  argument,  pour  out  defamation  on  their  combatants,  and 
call  the  whole  of  it  "zeal  for  the  Lord  of  Hosts." 

The  world  abounds  with  religious  bigotry,  and  bigots  are  degrading 
each  other.  Some,  however,  profess  to  counteract  the  current,  by  con- 
stantly preaching  against  all  bigots  and  bigotry;  not  duly  considering  that, 
while  other  sects  of  bigots  are  fighting  each  other,  they  themselves  have 
taken  the  bigot's  dagger  to  fight  all  the  rest. 

75 


594  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

In  rare  instances,  men  of  exalled  worth,  meet  with  universal  praise  ; 
])ut,  in  most  cases,  real  merit  and  disinterested  benevolence,  are  the 
surest  pledges  of  calumny  from  the  envious,  and  reproach  from  the  un- 
grateful. 

Homer,  the  father  of  poets,  who  has  enriched  the  world  with  his  song, 
was  himself  a  beggar.  Luther,  the  great  reformer  in  Europe  was  a  poor 
man.  Jefferson,  the  greatest  statesman  that  the  world  ever  produced,  died 
insolvent.  Paul,  the  chief  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  had  no  certain  dwelling 
place — was  hungry  and  naked — poor,  yet  making  many  rich.  But  ten 
thousand  such  instances  fade  away,  when  compared  with  the  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who,  though  he  was  rich,  yet,  for  the  sake  of  rebellious 
traitors,  became  poor,  that  they,  by  his  poverty,  might  be  rich — might  be 
pardoned  and  become  the  sons  of  God — receive  an  inheritance,  a  kingdom, 
a  crown  of  life. 

The  KINGDOM,  spoken  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  times  in  the 
New  Testament,  taken  in  all  its  parts,  includes  the  King,  his  subjects,  his 
laws,  his  pardons  granted,  his  grace  bestowed,  the  fruits  of  his  spirit,  and 
the  "lories  of  heaven.  Sometimes  one  part  is  most  emphatical,  and  some- 
times and  another.  It  is  called  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  thirty-three 
times  in  Matthew's  gospel,  and  nowhere  else  in  the  New  Testament. 

In  some  governments,  universal  toleration  is  granted  to  all  kinds  of  le- 
lif^ious  opinions.  This  sounds  humane  and  benevolent,  but  has  a  deadly 
root.  If  government  has  jiower  to  grant  it  as  a  favor,  it  has  equal  power 
to  withhold  it.  In  such  cases,  the  citizens  enjoy  their  liberty  by  a  tenure 
no  better  than  the  good  will  of  those  in  power.  But  the  freedom  of  re- 
ligious opinions,  not  only  with  societies,  but  with  individuals,  is  a  right  in- 
alienable,  that  cannot  be  surrendered.  Of  course,  no  government  can 
tolerate  or  prohibit  it  but  by  tyrannical  usurpation.  If  men  commit  overt 
acts  under  a  pretence  of  religious  impression,  let  the  magistrate  punish 
them  for  the  overt  acts,  and  pity  them  for  their  delusion. 

Rev.  Daniel  Marshall,  who  died  in  1784,  was  not  formed  for  brilliancy 
of  talents,  but  much  revered  for  holy  zeal  and  fervent  labor.  When  he 
was  in  company  with  a  circle  of  preachers,  if  he  discerned  too  much  levity 
amonw  them,  he  would  say,  "  stop,  my  brethren,  and  let  us  examine  our- 
selves, whether  we  are  in  a  right  temper  of  mind,  in  case  a  broken-hearted 
sinner  should  come  into  the  room,  and  ask  us  the  question,  what  shall  I  do 
to  he  saved  ?  Ye  servants  of  the  Lord,  pray  for  me — would  it  not  put  us 
to  the  blush  ?"  Let  a  preacher  possess  the  spirit  of  his  profession,  and 
S5uch  an  address  would  make  him  glad  to  see  the  grace  of  God  ;  but,  if  he 
has  got  out  of  the  work,  it  would  till  him  with  dismay. 

The  rava<Tcs  of  age  reduce  the  eagle  to  a  dollar,  the  dollar  to  a  cent> 
and  the  cent  to  nothing.  Well,  we  brouglu  nothing  into  the  world,  and 
can  carry  nothing  out  of  it. 


ELDER    JOHN    LBLAND.  595 

Mention  is  made  of  the  Book  of  the  wars  of  the  Lord,  Num.  xxi.,  14. 
The  Book  of  Jasher,  Joshua,  x.,  13,  and  2  Sam.  i.,  18.  The  Book  of  Na- 
than, the  prophet,  and  the  Book  of  Gad,  the  seer,  1  Chron.  xxix.,  29.  The 
prophecy  of  Ahijah  and  visions  of  Iddo,  2  Chron.  ix.,  29.  Tlie  Book  of 
Shemaiah,  2  Chron.  xii.,  13.  Tlie  Book  of  John,  2  Chron.  xx.,  34.  The 
Books  which  Paul  left  at  Troas,  2  Tim  iv.,  13.  His  Epistle  to  Laodicea, 
Col.  iv.,  16.     The  prophecy  of  Enoch,  Jude  14. 

It  is  common  for  the  rising  generation  to  exert  themselves  to  destroy 
the  habits,  modes  of  faith,  and  fine-spun  systems  of  those  who  have  gone 
before  them.  In  this  strife,  what  the  young  call  improvement,  the  old  call 
apostacy.  The  young  conclude  that  the  old  are  biased  by  tradition.  The 
old  judge  the  young  are  after  new-fangled  notions.  The  young  see  super- 
annuacy  in  the  old.  The  old  discern  the  want  of  experience  and  sober  re- 
flection  in  the  young. 

Faith  has  a  strong  back — hope  a  silver  tongue — charity  a  soft  hand — 
humility  a  bending  knee — contrition  a  tender  heart — zeal  a  nimble  foot — 
patience  a  placid  countenance.  Joy  has  sparkling  eyes,  and  prayer  uplift- 
ed hands. 

When  a  prisoner  is  tried  for  his  life,  the  court  feel  an  awful  responsi- 
bility  to  God,  their  country  and  the  criminal.  It  is  happy  for  the  court 
and  for  the  criminal,  that  neither  judge  nor  juror,  in  his  official  capacity, 
has  anything  to  do  with  the  soul,  conscience,  heaven  or  hell.  There  are 
but  few  crimes,  if  any,  that  should  be  punished  with  death.  Penal  laws 
should  be  few.  If  laws  are  not  fraught  with  humanity  and  goodness,  as 
well  as  justice  and  severity,  they  will  be  abhorred,  but  never  revered. 
Hence,  in  countries  where  penal  laws  are  abundant  and  cruel,  crimes  are 
the  most  frequent,  and  vice  the  most  predominant. 

Human  eyes  are  not  strong  enough  to  read  much  in  the  upper  book  of 
the  eternal  purposes  of  God,  but  sufficient  to  read  in  the  lower  book  of  the 
duty  of  man.  Servants  should  not  pry  into  the  designs  of  their  masters, 
which  they  cannot  understand,  but  obey  their  commands,  which  are  made 
plain. 

He  who  minds  his  own  business,  and  is  not  a  busy-body  in  other  men's 
matters,  bids  fair  to  draw  a  pension  for  his  labor. 

Tell  your  children  what  you  believe,  and  why  you  believe;  but  bo 
sure  to  instruct  them  how  to  believe  :  viz.,  to  hear  dispassionately  both 
sides  of  the  question,  not  biased  by  the  greatness  or  goodness  of  others, 
regarding  neither  frowns  nor  flatteries,  promotion  nor  disgrace,  but  yield 
to  a  preponderance  of  rational  evidence. 

The  bird  of  Galbus  is  possessed  of  that  singular  property,  that,  when 
a  man,  infected  with  the  yellow  jaundice,  looks  upon  it,  the  bird  im- 
mediately dies  and  the  man  recovers.  So  the  death  of  Christ  gives 
eternal  life  to  those  who  look  unto  him. 


596  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

"  He  can't  be  wrong  whose  heart  is  in  the  right." 

Are  these  words  of  the  poet  true  ?  The  heart  of  King  Asa  was  per- 
fect all  his  days ;  yet  he  acted  foolishly — was  wroth  with  the  prophet 
who  reproved  him — put  him  into  prison,  and  oppressed  some  of  the 
people  in  a  rage.  Was  he  not  wrong  in  all  this  ?  Do  not  error,  laws 
and  usages  of  the  isaost  pernicious  tendency,  often  proceed  from  good 
men,  in  which  they  think  they  are  doing  God  service  ?  Let  history 
and  observation  answer  the  question. 

"  All  their  works  they  do  to  be  seen  of  men."  A  rich  man  of  my 
acquaintance  gave  a  bell-clock  to  the  town  where  he  lived  ;  afterwards 
he  was  solicited  to  bestow  a  favor  for  another  purpose.  "  No,"  said 
the  man,  "  when  I  bestow  my  gifts,  I  love  to  bear  them  ding,  ding." 
Let  those  who  subscribe  large  sums  for  Bible,  missionary  and  education 
societies,  ask  themselves  whether  they  would  do  as  much  if  there  was 
no  register  and  publication  of  their  donations,  to  ding,  ding  the  sound 
abroad  ? 

Some  men  are  so  lavish  in  their  conversation  about  religion,  and  so 
urgent  to  others,  while  inattentive  to  the  spirit  and  practice  of  the  gos- 
pel themselves,  that  fears  arise  whether  their  liberality  will  not  leave 
them  in  poverty.  Let  not  this,  however,  stop  the  mouths  and  check 
the  exertions  of  those  who  are  spiritual  and  sincere.  "  Let  the  words 
of  my  mouth,  and  the  meditations  of  my  heart,  be  acceptable  in  thy 
sight,  O  Lord,  our  gracious  Redeemer. 

In  civil  life,  some  men  calculate  well,  but  fail  in  their  enterprises 
for  want  of  corresponding  labor.  So  in  the  ministerial  department,, 
some  ministers  form  sublime  ideas  of  the  character  and  work  of  a 
preacher,  but  neglect  the  life  and  labor  which  they  eulogize;  while 
others  labor  abundantly,  but,  for  want  of  prudent  calculation,  lose  the 
reward. 

A  man  who  has  not  many  inherent  ideas,  and  but  a  few  borrowed 
ones,  having  but  a  small  vocabulary  of  words,  will  never  excel  as  an 
orator.  His  orations  will  be  vox  el  praterea  nihil,  a  voice  and  nothing 
else.  Honest  humility,  however,  in  homely  dress,  is  more  to  be  ad- 
mired than  licentiousness,  adorned  with  all  the  figures  of  rhetoric. 

All  the  aid  that  conscience  asks  of  government,  is  to  be  lei  alone.  Time- 
and  experience  have  found  that  the  only  way  to  prevent  religious  oppres- 
sion, is  to  exclude  religious  opinions  from  the  civil  code. 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND. 


597 


OATHS.- 


A  MAN,  by  the  influence  of  education  and  tradition,  may  be  so  strongly 
persuaded  that  the  dogmas  and  system  which  he  has  embraced  are  cer- 
tainly true,  as  to  seek  no  further  for  evidence  of  their  truth,  but  only  for 
arguments  to  support  them.  He  has  been  taught  what  to  believe,  but  not 
how  to  believe.  He  who  honestly  seeks  for  truth,  must  candidly  hear  both 
sides  of  the  question,  without  any  prepossession  to  turn  the  scale,  and 
form  his  result  on  a  preponderance  of  evidence  :  remembering,  at  the 
same  time,  that  he  may  be  imposed  upon  by  the  items  of  evidence  given, 
or  by  the  weakness  of  his  mind  in  his  conclusions. 

Keeping  this  in  mind,  I  shall  make  some  inquiry  on  the  nature  of  oaths. 
The  great  Jehovah  is  represented  as  often  swearing  ;  and,  because  he 
could  swear  by  no  greater,  he  swore  by  himself.  The  oath  runs,  "  as  I 
live,  saith  the  LORD,"  or,  "by  myself  have  I  sworn."  Many  of  the 
promises  and  threatenings  of  the  Almighty  have  conditions  expressed  or 
understood  in  them  ;  and,  when  they  are  not  fulfilled,  it  is  said  that  God 
repents.  But,  whenever  he  swears  by  his  own  eternal  existence,  no  con- 
ditions  change  his  course,  the  thing  will  certainly  be  accomplished. 

The  Lord  Jesus,  in  substance,  swore  many  times.  The  double  asseve- 
ratioH,  "  Verily,  verily,"  is  found  twenty-five  times  in  John's  gospel, 
which  is  very  little  inferior  to  an  oalh. 

In  the  Mosaic  institutions,  oaths  were  imposed  on  the  people  to  "  end 
all  strife,"  as  the  last  resort  to  obtain  the  truth.  Sometimes  they  cleared 
themselves  by  their  oaths,  and  sometimes  they  cleared  or  condemned 
others.  If  they  swore  falsely  against  any  man,  and  their  testimony  tended 
to  minor  punishment  or  death,  and  the  testimony  was  proved  to  be  false, 
the  punishment  which  the  witnesses  soiight  to  have  inflicted  on  the  defend- 
ant was  to  recoil  on  their  own  heads,  whether  it  was  fine,  stripes  or  death. 

In  the  United  States  it  is  generally  believed  that  the  laws  given  by 
Moses  were  not  binding  on  any  nation  but  the  Israelites.  No  other  na- 
tion has  ever  adopted  them.  That  kings  are  born  with  a  divine  right 
to  rule,  is  not  believed  among  us.  Our  government  is  formed  on  an- 
other principle.  Our  institutions  recognise  the  sovereignty  of  the  peo- 
ple.    That  all  power  is  vested  in  them,  and  by  them  given  to  all  the 

*  Published  in  1830. 


598  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

agents,  who  are  accountable  servants.  If  this  is  correct,  it  follows  that 
no  chief  magistrate,  legislative  body,  or  judicial  board,  have,  or  can  pos- 
sess any  power,  which  is  not  found  in  small  constituent  parts  among 
the  units  that  compose  the  whole  body  ;  for  how  can  the  creature  pos- 
sess more  power  than  the  Creator  ?  The  result  is,  that  if  one  indi- 
vidual has  the  power  to  impose  an  oath  on  another,  in  a  small  moiety, 
then,  by  adding  all  the  little  grains  together,  officers  can  be  created  to 
coerce  by  oath.  But  where  is  the  individual  who  possesses  the  power 
or  right  to  compel  his  neighbor  to  tell  what  he  does  not  choose  to  re- 
veal, by  a  threat  of  the  vengeance  of  God  if  he  diminishes  or  adds  to 
the  truth  ? 

I  am  ignorant  of  the  art  of  Masonry.  It  is,  however,  confidently  af- 
firmed by  some,  and  denied  by  none,  that  oalhs  are  taken  by  the  mem- 
hers,  in  taking  their  degrees  ;  but  who  administers  these  oaths  ?  who 
has  a  right  to  do  it?  If  they  make  those  selemn  declarations,  which 
some  say  they  do,  to  keep  the  secret,  and  afterwards  reveal  it,  they 
are  very  presumptuous  in  their  protestations  at  first,  or  very  perfidious 
in  divulging  it  afterwards.  But,  let  their  oaths  be  ever  so  solemn,  and 
the  tortures  which  they  invoke  upon  themselves  ever  so  horrid,  in  case 
they  falter,  the  whole  amounts  to  nothing  before  a  court  of  justice — 
the  laws  of  state  take  no  cognizance  of  it.  The  testimony  of  a  ma- 
sonic perjurer  (if  so  he  may  be  called)  is  received  as  freely,  and  be- 
lieved as  fully,  as  the  testimony  of  any  man ;  and  the  reason  assigned 
is,  "that  their  oaths  proceeded  from  a  self-created  power." 

Now,  I  ask  what  power  there  is  in  a  republican  government,  or,  in- 
deed, in  any  human  government,  that  the  people  have  not  created  ? 
But  how  can  they  establish  a  power  without  materials  ?  The  germ  must 
first  exist  in  the  individuals.  In  this  respect,  what  plea  has  civil  gov- 
ernment over  the  masonic  institution  ? 

Are  oaths  advantageous?  Do  they  tend  to  bring  truth  to  light?  do 
courts  and  jurors  place  more  confidence  in  the  testimony  of  a  witness, 
when  under  oath,  than  they  would  if  he  was  not  under  oath  ?  He  who 
does  not  reverence  the  truth,  how  can  he  reverence  the  God  of  truth  ? 

If  the  testimony  of  a  witness  is  proved  false,  let  him  be  punished  for 
his  falsehood.     What  more  is  now  inflicted  on  perjurers  ? 

A  great  part  of  the  conversation  of  men  is  but  idle  friz,  which  passes 
for  nothing;  but,  when  they  are  called  upon  to  give  testimony  in  a  case 
where  the  life,  liberty  or  property  of  a  fellow  citizen  is  at  stake,  it  be- 
comes another  thing.  Truth  generally  carries  an  internal  evidence  with 
it,  while  falsehood,  in  its  course,  defeats  itself.  If  neither  of  these  appear 
in  the  testimony,  would  the  solemnity  of  an  oath  produce  them  ? 

The  first  account  given  in  the  time  of  Abraham,  of  an  oath  taken  by 
his  steward,  bespeaks  the  existence  and  caution  of  oaths  before  that  tioie  j 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  599 

but,  whether  they  originated  among  the  Pagans,  out  of  reverence  to  their 
gods,  or  whether  Jehovah  first  tauglit  his  worshippers  the  use  of  them,  I 
cannot  ascertain.  They  certainly  have  been  in  use  from  Abraham  until 
the  present  time,  which  proves  neither  the  advantage  nor  disadvantage  of 
them.  Does  a  man,  by  his  oath  ,  say,  "  I  now  speak  in  the  presence  of 
God  ?"  He  is  always  in  the  presence  of  God.  Does  he  say,  "  I  expect 
to  give  an  account  of  what  I  now  say  before  God  in  the  day  of  judgment?" 
This  is  as  true  of  every  idle  word  he  speaks.  By  his  words  he  will  be  jus- 
tified  or  condemned.  Does  he  believe  that  the  Almighty  will  punish  him 
in  hell  if  he  tells  what  is  not  true  ?  What  more  is  this  than  all  liars  will 
receive  when  they  have  their  part  in  the  lake  that  burns  with  fire  and 
brimstone. 

The  subject  is  too  profound  for  my  talents,  research  and  leisure.  If 
some  good  friend  will  give  an  elucidation  of  the  origin  of  oaths — what  they 
express — what  bonds  they  put  upon  the  witness  that  he  is  not  always  un- 
der— where  a  republic  get  the  power  to  institute  and  enjoin  them — whe- 
ther every  purpose  of  government  and  private  life  could  not  be  answered 
as  well  without  them,  he  shall  receive  my  hearty  thanks. 


600  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


EXTRACTS  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  REV.  JOHN  TAYLOR 
OF  KENTUCKY,  DATED  DEC.  10,  1830. 


I,  John,  who  am  your  brother  and  companion  in  tribulation,  and  in  the 
kingdom  and  patience  of  Jesus  Christ,  have  lately  received  a  book  and  a 
letter  from  an  old  friend,  whom  I  have  not  seen  for  more  than  forty  years, 
which  gives  me  great  satisfaction. 

You  inform  me  of  your  age,  your  labors,  your  success,  the  state  of  your 
family  at  large,  and  that  your  wife,  Betsey,  my  old  friend,  is  yet  living. 
God  bless  her  precious  soul,  and  the  body  attached  to  it.  It  brings  fresh 
to  my  mind  the  winter  of  1779  and  '80,  which  was  the  coldest  winter  that 
America  has  ever  known  ;  and  yet,  to  me,  it  was  the  warmest  that  ever 
I  knew.  At  several  other  periods  of  my  life,  I  have  had  more  success 
than  I  had  at  that  time,  but  never  had  the  spirit  of  prayer  and  travail  for 
souls,  to  an  equal  degree.  It  was  then  your  dear  partner  fell  in  love  with 
the  blessed  Jesus,  and  was  baptized ;  not  to  gain  admission  into  the  king- 
dom, which  is  righteousness  and  peace,  but  to  prove  her  love  and  obedi- 
ence to  him  who  had  delivered  her  from  the  power  of  darkness,  and  trans- 
lated her  into  the  kingdom. 

Your  travels  have  been  great,  your  success  encouraging.  "  They  that 
turn  many  to  righteousness,  shall  shine  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever." 
When  the  ministers  of  Jesus  shall  be  called  to  give  an  account  of  their 
stewardship,  if,  like  their  masters,  they  can  each  say,  "  behold  I,  and  the 
children  which  God  hath  given  me — here,  Lord,  are  the  proofs  of  my 
ministry — the  seals  of  my  faithfulness — the  souls  thou  hast  given  me." 
It  will  be  a  crown  of  rejoicing  in  the  day  of  the  Lord.  But,  notwithstand- 
ing success  is  very  desirable,  yet  the  promise  is  made  to  the  faithful. 
Noah,  a  preacher  of  righteousness,  was  very  unsuccessful ;  all  his  hear- 
ers but  seven  were  destroyed  ;  but,  as  he  was  faithful,  he  obtained  the 
promise,  and  became  heir  of  the  righteousness  which  is  by  faith. 

Whenever  I  had  evidence  that  God  had  blessed  my  imperfect  labors  for 
the  salvation  of  sinners,  it  has  given  me  much  more  joy  than  the  favors 
of  the  rich,  or  the  applauses  of  the  great.         *         *         *         * 

I  have  been  reading  the  writing  which  came  to  Jehoram  from  Elijah, 
ii.  Chron.  21,  12.  Jehoram,  the  son  of  <Jehoshaphat,  did  not  reign,  un- 
til after  Elijah  was  translated  ;  but,  as  he  carried  his  hands  and  feet  with 
him,  it  is  possible  he  might  have  written  in  the  other  world  ;  granting 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  601 

this,  how  could  he  have  sent  his  letter  down  to  Jehorann  ?  It  is  true,  that 
after  this,  he  descended  to  the  holy  mount,  and  was  one  of  the  six  who 
formed  an  assembly  far  more  pompous  and  astonishing,  than  the  millions 
of  Xerxes ;  but,  in  this  case,  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  Elijah  came  post 
from  heaven,  and  dropped  the  writing  into  the  letter-box  of  Jehoram. 
Divines  think  the  letter  was  prophetically  written  by  Elijah,  before  his 
translation,  and  left  in  the  hands  of  Elisha,  to  be  delivered  to  Jehoram  at 
a  given  time.  This  might  have  been  the  case,  for  Josiah  and  Cyrus  were 
prophesied  of  by  name,  and  the  work  they  should  do,  described,  long  be- 
fore they  were  born;  and  yet,  when  we  read  this  writing,  it  will  pre- 
ponderate in  the  mind,  that  the  writing  was  posterior  to  the  crimes.  Why 
may  we  not  conclude  that  Ezra,  or  some  transcriber,  put  the  name  of  Elijah, 
where  it  should  have  been  Elisha  ?     Admit  this,  and  all  is  easy. 

This  same  Jehoram  died  at  the  age  of  forty  years,  (see  the  twentieth 
verse  of  the  same  chapter,)  and  Ahaziah,  his  youngest  son,  succeeded  him, 
being  forty-two  years  old ;  two  years  older  than  his  father,  and  yet  his 
youngest  son.  In  2  Kings,  viii.  26,  this  same  Ahaziah,  is  said  to  have  been 
twenty-two  years  old  when  he  began  to  reign.  Dr.  Gill  owns  there  is 
an  error  here,  not  in  the  translation,  but  in  the  Hebrew.  As  I  am  not 
skilled  in  Bible  mending,  I  shall  here  observe,  that,  considering  the  many 
transcriptions  and  translations  the  Bible  has  passed  through,  it  is  more  to 
be  wondered  at,  that  there  are  no  more  errors  in  it,  than  that  there  are  so 
many.  A  great  part  of  the  Bible  carries  such  evidence  with  it  that  it  is 
of  divine  origin,  that  when  I  read  it,  I  feel,  if  possible,  more  than  certain, 
that  it  is  the  book  of  God  ;  and,  like  its  author,  incomprehensible.  How 
dim  the  golden  verses  of  Pythagoras,  and  the  morals  of  Seneca  appear, 
when  the  true  light  shines  from  the  Holy  Scriptui'es.  Let  all  the  legis- 
lators,  philosophers,  wise  men  and  wits,  that  are  now  living,  combine  to- 
gether to  form  a  code  of  laws,  and  place  it  beside  Romans  xii.,  9,  26, 
(which  can  be  distinctly  read  in  a  minute  and  a  half,  containing  hardly 
two  hundred  words,)  and  it  will  sink  into  insignificance  and  folly. 

The  books  and  letters  which  you  yourself,  Mr.  Chambers,  and  Mr  Nor- 
wood have  had  the  goodness  to  send  me,  give  me  to  understand  that  there 
is  a  strife  among  you,  about  the  ancient  order  of  things,  and  the  old  Bap- 
tist  way,  which  has  split  some  of  the  churches,  and  excited  the  minds  of 
many.  In  these  northern  climes,  the  strife  is  between  the  ancient  order 
of  free  and  accepted  masons,  and  the  seceding  masons,  which  has  also 
split  many  churches,  run  down  many  ministers,  and  become  a  question  at 
the  polls  of  elections.  But,  in  the  section  of  country  where  I  live  and 
preach,  neither  of  the  excitements  prevail.  The  lot  assigned  me,  seems 
to  be,  to  watch  and  check  clerical  hierarchy,  which  assumes  as  many 
shades  as  a  chameleon,  sometimes  requesting  the  civil  law  to  support  it ; 
and,  when  that  fails,  denouncing  the  vengeance  of  God  against  all  who 

76 


602  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

will  not  support  their  dogmas.  If  this  does  not  frighten  the  people  into 
their  service,  good  words  and  fair  speeches  are  resorted  to,  in  order  to 
deceive  the  hearts  of  the  simple ;  and  all  advisable  arts  are  practiced  to 
make  a  gain  of  the  populace,  gain  them  to  their  party  to  make  it  strong, 
and  gain  their  money  to  support  them  in  ease  and  splendor. 

A  new  order  of  things  has  taken  place  in  the  religious  department,  since 
I  began  to  preach.  Then,  when  I  went  to  meeting,  I  expected  to  hear 
the  preacher  set  forth  the  ruin  and  recovery  of  man,  and  labor  with  heav- 
enly zeal  to  turn  many  unto  righteousness.  His  eyes,  his  voice,  and  all 
his  prayers,  and  deportment,  gave  evidence  that  his  soul  travailed  in  birth 
for  the  salvation  of  his  hearers.  But  now,  when  I  go  to  meeting,  I  hear 
high  encomiums  on  Sunday-schools,  tract  societies,  Bible  societies,  mis- 
sionary societies,  anti-mason  societies,  etc.,  with  a  strong  appeal  to  the 
people  to  aid  with  their  money  those  institutions  which  are  to  introduce 
the  millennium  ;  assuring  the  people  that  "every  cent  may  save  a  soul." 
I  do  not  wish  to  be  the  bigoted  old  man,  who  always  finds  fault  with  new 
customs,  though  ever  so  great  improvements;  but,  when  I  see  the  same 
measures  pursued  that  were  in  the  third  century,  I  am  afraid  the  same 
effects  will  follow. 

1  have  had  my  day,  and  it  is  nearly  over.  On  a  serious  reflection,  I 
cannot  much  condemn  myself,  that  I  have  not  devoted  as  much  of  my  time 
in  my  ministerial  labors,  as  human  and  civil  duties  admitted  ;  but,  have 
much  cause  of  self-condemnation  when  I  reflect  on  the  languor  of  soul, 
and  indifference  of  spirit  that  have  beset  me  when  preaching  eternal  re- 
alities. It  is  a  wonder  that  ever  a  holy  God  should  have  crowned  my  im- 
perfect labors  with  any  success ;  and  yet,  amidst  all,  I  have  great  joy  to 
think  that  I  have  not  altogether  "  run  in  vain,  nor  labored  in  vain."  I 
have  followed  travelling,  preaching,  and  baptizing,  ever  since  I  saw  you 
last,  as  much  as  sickness  and  family  cares  would  admit,  and  have  not  va- 
ried materially  in  any  thing;  and  now,  even  while  I  am  writing,  the  old 
gray  headed  sinner  has  to  pray,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner." 

Every  child  has  left  me  ;  myself  and  wife  keep  house  alone.  We  have 
neither  Cuffee  nor  Phillis  to  help  or  plague  us.  My  wife  is  seventy-seven 
years  old,  and  has  this  season  done  the  housework,  and  from  six  cows  has 
made  eighteen  hundred  pounds  of  cheese,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
of  butter.  She  and  myself  entertain  a  great  regard  for  yourself  and 
lady. 

Rev.  John  Taylor,  who  lives,  or  ought  to  live,  in  the  town  of  Regen- 
eration, Grace-street,  Penitent  alley,  a  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  next 
to  glory. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND,  603 


ADDRESS 

DELIVERED    AT   DALTON,    MASSACHUSETTS,    JANUARY    8,    1831. 


This  evening  commemorates  one  of  the  most  remarkable  events  to  be 
found  in  American  history.  The  battle  of  New  Orleans,  commanded 
by  Andrew  Jackson,  against  the  British  forces,  will  be  remembered  and 
admired  as  long  as  military  skill,  bravery,  and  patriotism  have  harmo- 
nious sounds. 

This  triumphant  victory  raised  the  commander  high  in  the  esteem  and 
effections  of  the  nation,  and  brought  him  forward  to  the  chief  magis- 
tracy of  the  United  States.  On  his  promotion,  many  of  his  warm-hearted 
friends  feared  that  his  surprising  talents  were  merely  military,  and  he 
would  be  deficient  in  the  cabinet.  But  his  first  message  to  the  twenty- 
first  Congress  turned  their  fears  into  admiration.  They  now  find  him 
as  profound  in  civil,  as  he  was  in  military  oflSce,  and  greet  him  at  the 
head  of  the  nation,  as  they  did  before  at  the  head  of  the  army.  No 
subject  has  yet  arisen,  since  he  became  president,  but  what  he  has  been 
able  to  digest ;  and  leaves  a  conviction  in  the  minds  of  others,  that  his 
source  of  action  is  not  exhausted. 

A  chaplain  of  the  southern  army  gave  the  following  character  to  General 
Jackson:  "  He  sits  down  and  forms  his  plan  ;  then  rises  and  executes  it." 
Prudence  and  despatch  are  visible  in  all  his  undertakings.  How  unlike 
the  emperor  Heliogabalus,  who  neglected  the  duties  of  the  throne,  and 
spent  his  time  in  catching  flies,  and  collecting  cob- webs  for  public  show. 
When  I  read  his  late  message,  among  other  beauties,  the  clause  which 
recommended  the  pockets  of  the  people  as  the  best  repository  for  revenue, 
shone  with  peculiar  lustre.  It  reminded  me  of  what  I  have  somewhere 
read,  that  a  certain  king,  who  kept  neither  gold,  pearls,  nor  any  fine  orna- 
ments in  his  treasury,  was  visited  by  a  crowned  headed  brother,  who  wal- 
lowed in  splendor  at  home.  On  the  desire  of  the  visitor  to  see  the  royal 
treasures  of  the  frugal  king,  he  was  conducted  into  the  treasury  apart- 
ment, where  little  was  to  be  seen  but  naked  walls.  Struck  with  astonish- 
ment, he  exclaimed:  "how  can  you  support  your  dignity — give  royal 
bounties,  and  maintain  your  army.  To  which  the  other  king  replied, 
"  tarry  with  me  three  days  and  you  shall  see."     In  the  meantime  the 


604  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

frugal  king  sent  a  request  to  his  subjects,  to  bring  in  their  bounties  ;  which 
was  done  with  all  speed,  and  consisted  of  gold,  pearls,  embroidery,  and 
all  kinds  of  riches ;  at  sight  of  which  the  visiting  king  was  astonished. 
"  Here,"  said  the  frugal  king,  "  is  my  treasure,  deposited  in  the  hands  of 
those  who  earned  it,  and  always  at  my  command  when  the  good  of  the 
people  requires  it."  This  seems  to  be  the  policy  of  president  Jackson  ; 
and  is  it  possible  there  can  be  an  American  heart  that  does  not  respond  to 
the  sentiment  ? 

It  was  but  a  partial  reform,  when  England  protested  against  the  en- 
croachments of  the  Roman  Pontiffs  ;  many,  therefore,  were  non-conform- 
ists to  the  Episcopal  establishment ;  some  of  whom  crossed  the  Atlantic, 
and  settled  in  New-England.  These  pilgrims,  with  all  their  good  views, 
brought  some  of  the  drugs  of  the  cup  of  the  whore  of  Babylon  with  them  ; 
and  soon  religious  parishes  were  incorporated.  Every  parish  was  forced 
to  have  a  preacher — all  within  the  parish  were  forced  to  pay  the  preach- 
er-^Sunday  was  established  as  holy  time — all  must  go  to  meeting  or  be 
fined.  Every  town  or  parish  must  have  a  learned  orthodox  preacher  set- 
tled, or  after  five  years  lose  their  charter,  etc.  It  would  take  a  history 
more  than  nineteen  times  as  long  as  the  one  hundred  and  nineteenth 
psalm  to  narrate  all  this  superstition,  cruelty,  and  folly.  Was  the  com- 
monwealth, at  this  time,  fully  purged  from  her  old  sins,  we  might  ex- 
pect to  see  a  pure  representative  democracy,  which  will  never  be  the  case, 
while  religion  is  considered  an  adjective  that  cannot  stand  of  itself. 
When  will  this  great  truth  be  acknowledged,  that  neither  the  legislative, 
executive,  nor  judicial  arms  of  government,  in  their  official  capacities, 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  souls  of  men,  conscience,  or  eternity  ?  That 
the  whole  design  of  civil  government  is  to  protect  the  lives,  liberties,  and 
property,  of  all  the  citizens  ?  Where  this  is  believed  and  acted  upon,  re- 
publicanism will  flourish,  but  where  it  is  not  believed  it  cannot  breathe  ; 
and,  if  any  call  themselves  republicans,  and  yet  make  use  of  the  law  as 
the  sinews  of  the  gospel,  (instead  of  the  sinner's  gospel,)  they  are  like  the 
ferry-men,  looking  one  way,  and  rowing  another. 

Jackson  is  certainly  the  president  of  the  people  ;  for,  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  the  people  gave  him  their  votes;  and,  he  has  been,  and  is  still 
doing,  the  very  works  that  he  was  chosen  for.  When  Mr.  Jefferson  was 
minister  to  France,  he  wrote  to  a  friend  in  the  United  States,  that  it  was 
necessary  that  there  should  be  in  every  government,  periodically,  a. rev- 
olution and  civil  war,  to  purge  the  government  of  oppressive  laws  and 
usages,  and  cast  off  the  drones,  that  sucked  all,  and  gathered  none  of  the 
honey.  This  he  said  before  he  had  tested  the  force  of  free  suffrage. 
Now  it  is  seen  that  little  bits  of  paper,  will  effect  that  which  has  hereto- 
fore been  gained  by  sword,  cannon,  and  streams  of  blood.  Jackson  is 
now  the  agent  in  the  hands  of  the  people  to  execute  the  purgation.     His 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  605 

vigilance  to  secure  the  rights  of  the  people — the  authority  of  the  state 
governments,  and  the  defined,  supreme  powers  of  the  general  government, 
is  manifest  in  all  his  communications  and  actions.  For  his  removals,  hovi'^- 
ever,  he  is  abused  by  some,  who  like  dogs,  bark  most  when  the  moon  is 
rising,  which  they  cannot  help.  So  it  was  in  Bible  times  ;  the  shepherds 
and  young  lions  howled,  when  their  glory  and  spoil  were  taken  away. 
The  bitter  complaints  of  dismissed  officers,  are  proofs  of  the  correctness 
of  the  principle  of  removals ;  they  prove  that  the  complainants  were 
in  possession  of  a  prize  which  they  themselves  wished  exclusively  to  en- 
joy.  When  those  who  are  out  of  office,  and  were  never  in,  complain  of 
removals,  it  is  generally  because  they  themselves  are  overlooked,  or  en- 
tertain a  prepossession  of  opposition  against  the  administi'ation. 

The  communications  of  the  president  evincing  such  a  depth  of  thought, 
justice,  and  humanity,  as  pedantry,  with  all  its  puffs  cannot  gainsay.  But, 
say  his  enemies,  Jackson  is  not  the  author  of  those  messages ;  Van  Buren 
is  premier,  he  does  all.  Be  it  so  :  Jackson  had  wisdom  enough  to  appoint 
him  secretary  ;  and  how  the  creature  can  have  more  wisdom  than  the  cre- 
ator, is  not  as  plain  as  Euclid.  This  same  Van  Buren  has  been  called 
the  little  regent — the  magician — the  cat  that  often  fell,  but  always  upon 
the  feet ;  and  yet  he  has  been  honored  by  thd  most  populous  state  in  the 
Union  with  the  highest  offices  in  her  gift.  I  cannot  see  how  these  high 
encomiums  will  strengthen  the  party  opposed  to  the  present  administration. 
Supposing  Jackson  should  die,  or  decline  serving  another  term,  or  live 
through  another  term  ;  in  a  few  years  another  president  must  be  selected  ; 
and,  "  if  the  safe  precedent"  should  be  acted  upon,  all  the  encomiums 
now  given  to  the  secretary,  would  aid  in  his  promotion  to  the  presidency. 

JVIr.  Hamilton  has  informed  us,  that  when  Washington  had  formed  his 
documents,  he  would  say,  "  pray,  Mr.  Hamilton,  correct  this  document 
and  fix  it  in  proper  order;"  and  what  harm  was  there  in  this?  When 
Col.  Tarlton  was  degrading  Col.  William  Washington,  in  a  company  of 
ladies,  he  said  that  he  did  not  believe  that  Woshington  could  write  his 
name.  "  It  may  be  so,"  said  one  of  the  ladies,  "  but  I  dare  say  he  can  set 
his  mark."  This  Tarlton  knew,  for  Washington  had  cut  off  one  of  Tarl- 
ton's  fingers.  Who  does  not  remember  how  boldly  it  was  affirmed,  for  a 
long  time,  that  Jefferson  never  drew  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ? 
How  common  it  is  for  men  to  make  lies  their  refuge,  and  hide  themselves 
under  falsehood  !  I  have  no  scruples  but  what  all  the  messages  and  com- 
munications  that  have  the  signature  of  the  president  affixed  to  them,  were 
substantially  written  by  himself;  and,  if  better  state  papers  are  to  be  found, 
I  know  not  where  to  look  for  them. 

I  was  in  the  vigor  of  life  when  the  national  constitution  was  formed, 
and  gave  my  vote  for  a  friend  to  its  ratification,  and  have  never  repented 
it.     I  have  watched  the  course  of  the  government  for  more  than  forty 


606  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

years,  and  believe  it  to  be  the  best  in  the  world.  There  have  been,  how- 
ever, dark  clouds  in  our  polii^i^al  1  orizon,  which  filled  the  sons  of  liberty 
with  dark-boding  fears.  The  clouds  which  had  been  gathering  for  several 
years  settled  together  and  seemed  to  cover  the  heavens,  about  1797— S. 
But  soon  the  light  broke  out,  under  the  administration  of  the  apostle  of 
liberty.  But  in  his  administration,  the  encroachments  of  foreign  powers 
became  insufferable.  Neither  an  appeal  lo  justice,  embargo,  nor  non-in- 
tercourse, could  prevent  a  rupture.  Under  the  administration  of  his  suc- 
cessor, war  was  declared.  In  addition  to  the  common  evils  of  war,  some 
of  the  states  refused  aid,  and  cast  all  the  embarrassments  in  the  way 
that  they  could,  to  make  the  war  unpopular,  and  either  dissolve  the  gov- 
ernment, or  change  the  administration.  The  war  at  length  closed  tri- 
umphantly for  the  United  States,  and  peace  spread  her  balmy  wings  over 

the  land. 

Those  who  had  been  in  opposition  before,  without  any  conviction  or 

confession  of  error,  or  any  change  of  opinion,  now  changed  their  mea- 
sures, and  tried  the  other  lug  of  the  boat.  Now  flattery  became  the  order 
of  the  day.  The  cry  was,  "  Federalism  is  defunct — we  are  all  one — the 
era  of  good  feeling  has  come — come,  let  us  build  together."  By  these 
good  words  and  fair  speeches,  they  deceived  the  hearts  of  the  simple. 
Those  republicans  who  were  dyed  in  the  cloth  followed  them  at  once ; 
those  dyed  in  the  yarn  soon  joined  their  ranks — those  dyed  in  the  wool 
were  rather  untractable — but  those  who  were  yearned  black  lambs,  (like 
Paul,  free  born,)  were  as  stubborn  as  the  oaks  of  Bashan,  and  firm  as 
the  mountains  about  Jerusalem.  This  heterogeneous  mass — this  image  of 
iron  and  clay,  became  great,  and  exercised  all  the  authority  of  the  first 
beast  of  1797,  and  the  shout  was,  "  who  is  like  unto  this  beast — who  is 
able  to  make  war  with  him  ?"  At  length  a  little  stone  was  found  in  Ten- 
nessee, which  was  cut  out  of  the  mountain,  without  the  hands  of  Congress, 
that  smote  the  image  whose  feet  were  Clay  •  who  bound  the  strong  man, 
and  is  now  destroyiug  his  goods. 

Yes,  Mr.  President,  kind  Providence  has  hitherto  been  gracious  to  the 
United  States  in  war  and  in  peace ;  and  our  hope  is  strong  that  he  will 
yet  save  us  from  civil  tyranny — religious  hierarchy — sword,  famine  and 
pestilence — and  that  from  the  school  of  America  many  Lafayett's  may 
rise,  and  spread  light  and  freedom  throughout  the  world. 
I  close,  fellow-citizens,  with  the  following  section: 
I  was  a  man  grown  when  the  grand  dramma  opened  at  Lexington,  and 
lived  through  the  revolutionary  war.  The  most  prominent  defeats  and 
victories  are  yet  fresh  in  my  mind.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  the  confed- 
eration was  found  insuffic  lent  to  protect  the  states  from  anarchy.  A  more 
energetic  government  superseded.  Under  the  new  government,  I  have 
witnessed  eleven  presidential  elections,  and  twenty-two  elections  for  mem- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  607 

bers  of  Congress.  And  now  in  the  eve  of  a  life  very  poorly  spent,  I  would 
say  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  "  Let  no  man  deceive  you.  Only 
will  to  be  free,  and  you  will  hold  your  freedom.  Place  confidence  enough 
in  your  rulers  to  enable  them  to  act  sentimentally — give  a  fair  interpre- 
tation to  their  measures,  and  time  for  their  operation  ;  but,  always  hold 
the  reins  of  responsibility  in  your  own  hands.  Never  surrender  the  right 
of  free  suffrage,  which  is  the  strong  hold  of  i-epublicanism.  Adhere  to 
the  vital  principle  of  free  government ;  that  the  voice  of  a  majority  is  the 
voice  of  the  whole.  Shun  that  rock  of  considering  religious  opinions 
objects  of  civil  government.  Believe  and  act  for  yourselves,  and  guaran- 
tee the  same  to  your  neighbors. 

"  Remember  that  Christianity  is  of  divine  origin — the  only  religion  that 
ever  brought  pardon  to  a  guilty  world  ;  but,  it  has  suffered  more  injury  by 
its  pretended  friends,  who  have  undertaken  to  regulate  it  by  law,  than  it 
has  from  all  its  enemies." 

I  shall  finally  conclude  with  expressions,  in  which  I  am  confident  every 
heart  here  present  will  respond. 

May  the  life  and  health  of  Andrew  Jackson  be  long  preserved  ;  and 
when  he  shall  go  the  way  of  all  the  earth,  may  the  principles  that  guide 
his  administration  flourish  in  immortal  bloom. 


608 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


LETTER  TO  THE  REV.  0.  B.  BROWN. 


The  report  that  Elder  Leland  had  been  excluded  from  the  church,  etc., 
induced  the  Rev.  O.  B.  Brown  to  write  to  him.  The  following  is  a 
copy  of  the  reply  : — 

My  Brother — It  has  often  struck  my  mind,  that  if  a  constitution  of 
government  was  now  to  be  formed  for  a  nation  unborn,  it  might  border 
on  perfection ;  but,  in  this  I  meet  with  a  check,  for  it  is  hard  to  con- 
ceive how  government  is  anything  but  the  contrivance  of  individuals  to 
secure  what  they  possess  by  nature  and  acquisition.  It  must,  therefore, 
be  formed  in  a  mode  to  answer  those  ends.  For  the  first  eighteen  centu- 
ries,  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  had  no  government,  (that  we  have  any 
account  of,)  but  patriarchal  ;  but,  in  the  days  of  Nimrod,  the  awful  ex- 
periment was  made  of  leaping  into  the  gulf  of  absolute  monarchy.  From 
that  period  until  the  present  time,  there  has  been  a  perpetual  war  between 
the  claims  of  governmentals,  and  the  rights  of  the  people.  In  the  most 
successful  struggles  for  the  rights  of  man,  in  the  final  close,  the  people 
have  gained  but  little,  except  the  change  of  masters  to  ride  them.  The 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  I  consider  the  best  that  was  ever  formed. 
Energy  and  liberty  walk  hand  in  hand  together  ;  but,  such  is  the  thirst  of 
man  for  power  and  wealth,  that  it  requires  all  the  vigilance  of  the  people 
to  prevent  usurpation.  If  men  sleep,  the  enemy  will  sow  tares.  The 
usurpation  begins  with  a  strained  construction,  proceeds  as  precedent, 
which  soon  becomes  doctrine;  a  sacrifice  of  the  rights  of  the  people  fol- 
lows, and  a  field  for  ambition,  is  opened. 

The  character  of  a  tolerable  statesman  is  far  boyond  my  claim.  My 
talents,  my  education,  my  low  circumstances  in  life,  and  my  avocation, 
have  all  admonished  me  to  be  little  ;  and,  my  disposition  perfectly  accords  ; 
for  I  never  desired  a  civil  oflSce  in  my  life.  But  I  rejoice  that  my  country 
contains  the  men  which  are  needed.  A  noble  Spartan,  who  expected  to 
be  elected  one  of  the  fifty  men  that  were  wanting,  and  was  left  in  the 
back-ground,  went  rejoicing  home,  exclaiming  to  his  wife  with  joy,  "  Sparta 
contains  fifty  men  more  virtuous  than  myself."  The  origin  and  outlines 
of  civil  government  I  have  paid  some  attention  to,  in  order  to  give  that 
ordinance  of  God  its  proper  reverence,  and  maintain  that  religious  opin- 
ions are  inalienable  in  nature,  and  should  be  forever  excluded  from  the 


ELDER    JOHN     LELAND.  609 

civil  arm.  For  this  opinion,  I  have  often  been  represented  a  Deist  j  and, 
for  this  opinion,  contended  for  in  some  remarks  on  the  Sunday  mail  ques- 
tion, I  am  published  in  gazetts,  as  renouncing  the  faith,  and  being  excluded 
for  it.  If  those  gentlemen  who  petition  Congress  to  interfere  in  the  con- 
troversy  of  religious  opinions,  should  be  asked,  "  who  hath  required  this 
at  your  hands  ?"  could  they  turn  to  the  text  in  the  New  Testament  and 
say,  "  there  is  our  authority  ?"  Is  it  possible  for  man  to  give  greater 
evidence  that  he  is  ignorant  of  the  precepts  of  Christianity,  and  destitute  of 
the  spirit  of  it,  then  he  does  when  he  makes  use  of  the  arm  of  the  law  to 
force  others  to  believe  as  he  does,  or  compel  them  to  support  what  he  be- 
lieves ?  All  such  renounce  Christianity,  and  are  excluded  from  the Yel- 
lowship  of  the  gospel. 

If  I  were  a  man  of  influence,  I  should  suppose  that  the  hue  and  cry 
after  me  was  designed  to  degrade  my  character,  and  thereby  destroy  my 
influence  ;  but,  as  it  is  otherwise  with  me,  the  words  of  an  old  book  oc- 
cur ;  "  after  whom  is  the  king  of  Israel  come  out  ?  after  a  dead  dog  ? 
after  a  flea  ?" 

Had  the  accusation  which  has  gone  the  rounds,  stated  that  I  did  not 
possess  that  full  portion  of  the  Christian  spirit,  or  live  equal  to  the  holy 
precepts  of  the  gospel,  although  the  charge  should  prove  me  perverse,  yet, 
in  honesty  I  must  have  responded  to  its  truth.  But,  to  affirm  that  I  have 
renounced  the  only  scheme  that  Jehovah  ever  made  known  to  man,  which 
met  the  guilly  sinner's  wants  and  brought  relief  to  his  woes,  is  not  true. 
And  if  Christianity  is  divinely  true,  as  1  believe,  the  first  editor  who  set 
the  charge  afloat,  or  his  informers,  may  remember  the  doom  therein  given 
to  all  liars. 

That  kind  of  Christianity  which  calls  in  the  aid  of  law,  sword,  or  the 
college  for  its  support ;  which  puts  on  the  mask  of  sanctity  to  cover  in- 
justice and  cruelty,  and  acquire  pre-eminence  and  wealth  ;  that  forces  its 
dogmas  on  others,  or  asks  for  any  thing  more  than  a  dispassionate  hear- 
ing, and  a  corresponding  faith,  on  rational  evidence,  I  do  renounce  from 
the  bottom  of  my  heart ;  and,  if  I  am  excluded  for  denying  the  faith,  I 
shall  glory  in  my  lonely  solitude,  and  take  more  delight  in  the  tub  of 
Diogenes,  than  I  otherwise  should  in  the  court  of  Ahasuerus.  That  the 
blessed  Jesus,  who  is  God  over  all,  the  ancient  of  days,  the  everlasting 
.  Father,  the  first,  the  true  God,  and  eternal  life  ;  without  beginning,  the 
creator  of  all  things,  the  Lord  God  of  the  holy  prophets,  who  was  in  heaven 
when  instructing  Nicodemus  on  earth,  whose  name  is  wisdom ;  should  be 
deficient  in  his  laws  to  govern  his  church,  or  any  ways  dependent 
on  the  rulers  of  this  world  to  defend  his  people,  prevent  error,  and  de- 
scribe and  protect  the  truth,  is  not  likely.  If  any  orders  are  left  in  the 
New  Testament  for  such  interference,  in  more  than  fifty  years  search, 
they  have  escaped  my  notice.     The  laws  of  men  should  recognize  every 

77 


610  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

man  as  a  citizen,  but  none  as  religionists — should  protect  the  rights  of  all, 
the  opinions  of  none.  If  any,  under  a  pretence  of  religion,  commit  overt 
acts,  punish  them  for  their  crimes,  and  pity  them  for  their  delusion. 

I  am  aware  you  will  see  a  great  sameness  in  my  several  commu- 
nications ;  and  one  reason  is,  I  cannot  get  out  of  my  shell.  Should  I  try  ta 
expand  like  the  silly  frog  that  swelled  to  be  as  big  as  an  ax,  like  him  I  should 
burst  myself.  Another  reason  I  borrow  from  a  Dutch  priest,  who,  having 
severely  flogged  one  of  his  hearers  with  his  fists,  exclaimed,  "  my  hear- 
ers are  such  numb-sculls,  that  I  was  obliged  to  beat  it  into  them." 

I  conclude  by  wishing  the  present  session  of  Congress  may  be  pleasant 
to  the  members,  and  acceptable  to  their  constituents. 
With  due  respect, 

JOHN  LELAND. 

P.  S.  I  am  well  pleased  with  the  administration ;  it  'is  as  good  as  I  eve? 
knew,  or  ever  expect  to  know. 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  611 


ADDRESS 

DELIVERED  AT  NORTH  ADAMS,  ON  THE  4TH  OF  MARCH,  1831. 

SENTIMENT. 

Inconsistency. — A  refuge  for  ignorance — a  covert  for  hypocrisy,  and 
a  prop  for  disappointed  ambition. 

Our  calender  year  begins  on  the  1st  of  January,  but  the  political  year 
of  the  United  States  begins  on  this  day,  the  4th  of  March.  From  this 
day  the  representatives  of  Congress  begin  their  two  years  service,  the 
senators  their  six  years,  and  the  president  his  four  years  administration. 

It  is  usual,  on  days  like  this,  to  reflect  on  past  events,  and  look  forward 
to  future  emergencies.  Observation  and  history  assist  us  in  the  retro- 
spect. The  connection  between  causes  and  effects,  with  uncertain  politi- 
cal prophecy,  is  what  we  have  to  direct  us  in  prospect. 

The  Indian  Question  has  lately  been  much  discussed  ;  highly  approved 
by  some,  and  as  highly  reprobated  by  others.  I  have  waited  with  some 
inquietude  to  hear  the  question  developed  from  the  root. 

Did  Hot  the  Creator  of  the  earth  give  the  whole  of  it  to  all  the  inhabit- 
ants of  it  ?  Does  the  law  of  nature  give  to  an  individual  any  more  of  the 
earth  than  his  body  can  cover?  What  gives  men  a  moral  right  to  any 
portion  of  the  earth,  except  the  improvement  which  they  have  put  upon  it? 
If  one  improves  a  section  of  the  earth,  by  building  on  it,  or  fencing  it,  how 
far  does  his  claim  extend  ?  to  the  sea — to  the  mountains — to  a  certain  de- 
gree of  latitude,  or  how  far  ?  If  two  settlements  begin  at  the  same  time, 
being  a  thousand  miles  distant,  do  their  claims  run  to  the  centre  ?  or  has 
another  an  equal  right  to  build  and  posse-ss  between  them  ?  I  am  still 
waiting  for  an  elucidation  of  these  and  similar  questions. 

In  the  days  of  Peleg,  about  eighteen  hundred  years  after  the  creation, 
the  earth  was  divided.  Some  centuries  after  this,  the  Edomites,  the  Mo- 
abites,  the  Ammonites  and  the  Israelites  had  portions  of  the  earth  given 
to  them  by  a  divine  charter.  But  such  has  been  the  population  of  the 
earth,  and  so  short  the  history  of  ancient  things,  that  we  are  at  a  loss  how 
to  decide  what  has  been  considered  a  just  claim  of  territory.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  half  the  age  of  the  world  has  elapsed  under  the  belief  that  con- 
quest gave  the  conquerors  a  right  to  all  the  land  of  the  conquered. 


612  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Who  were  the  first  settlers  in  America  ?  Whether  white,  red,  or 
black  men,  is  no  more  known  than  it  is  how  they  came  here.  The  first 
emigrants  from  Europe  found  the  country  in  possession  of  red  men,  who 
lived  by  the  chase.  A  great  part  of  their  forest  has  been  purchased  of 
them,  and  some  taken  by  conquest.  The  plan  of  their  present  removal, 
contemplated  by  Jeffei-son,  Madison,  Monroe,  Adams  and  Jackson,  ap- 
pears as  just,  humane  and  politic,  as  any  that  can  be  devised.  The  crisis 
is  come  that  something  must  be  done ;  and  what  can  be  done  better  ?  To 
have  a  state  set  up  within  the  boundary  of  another  state,  is  unconstitu- 
tional ;  and  yet  all  treaties  are  the  supreme  laws  of  the  land.  If  it  should 
be  conceded,  too,  that  there  is  a  clash  between  the  provision  of  the  consti- 
tution and  the  treaties  made  with  the  Indians,  it  would  be  rather  ungener- 
ous to  blame  the  present  administration  for  treaties  made  before  the  ad- 
ministration began. 

When  cases  arise  that  have  evils  on  both  sides,  the  least  possible  evil  is 
the  greatest  possible  good>  Among  all  the  complaints  that  are  made  against 
the  removal  of  the  Indians,  I  have  seen  no  scheme  proposed  to  do  justice 
to  Georgia,  and  deal  truly  with  the  Indians,  equal  to  the  course  now 
pursuing.  ' 

The  Negro  Question,  in  one  view  of  it,  has  been  quiet  ever  since  the 
admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union  ;  but,  in  another  view,  it  agitates  the 
public  mind.  Some  of  the  negroes  in  the  United  States  have  been  im- 
ported from  Africa,  but  most  of  them  are  American  born  ;  some  have  de- 
scended from  American  parents  more  than  ten  generations.  America  is 
all  the  country  they  know  ;  in  which  the  bones  and  dust  of  their  ancestors 
lie  buried.  All  their  relations  and  attachments  are  here  ;  why  then  ship 
ihem  to  Liberia  ?  How  sacrilegous  ?  Why  not  liberate  them,  and  let 
them  form  into  states  within  the  limits  of  other  states,  and  treat  them  as  . 
sister  states  ? 

It  is  said  that  all  religious  sects  are  sacrificing  their  peculiar  sentiments 
to  become  one  ;  and  why  should  the  color  or  bruit  of  a  negro  prevent  this 
happy  union  ?  It  will  certainly  cost  considerable  to  move  the  Indians,  but 
not  more,  perhaps,  than  a  war  with  them.  So  also  with  the  negroes  ;  for 
who  does  not  know  that  application  is  made  to  the  legislature  of  Massa- 
chusetts for  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  transport  the  negroes  to  Liberia. 
The  number  of  negroes  in  the  United  States  is  (say  one  million)  esti- 
mated  at  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  If  government  should  purchase 
them  of  their  masters,  it  would  create  a  large  debt,  but  less  than  the  debt 
of  the  last  war  ;  and,  if  a  national  debt  is  a  national  blessing,  who  would 
flinch  at  it  ? 

It  is  probable  that  a  number  of  the  slave-holders  would  freely  give  up 
their  slaves,  and  others  take  a  reduced  price  for  them,  which  would  di- 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  613 

minish  the  price  of  their  ransom.  If  any  of  the  slave-holders  will  neither 
give  nor  sell  their  slaves,  here  will  be  a  great  door  opened  for  missionary 
labors.  The  pious  youth,  who  are  waiting  for  a  gap,  will  now  have  a  loud 
call  to  go  and  preach  to  the  hard-hearted  mastes,  and  flatter  them  to  give, 
and  threaten  them  if  they  will  not.  And,  as  the  young  heralds  cannot  do 
it  for  nothing,  societies  must  be  formed  to  raise  money,  and  mendicants 
employed  to  solicit  aid — each  one  paying  himself  out  of  what  he  col- 
lects. 

When  the  grand  emancipation  is  accomplished,  and  the  black  citizens 
have  formed  into  a  state,  or  states,  within  the  existing  states,  or  in  the 
western  hemisphere,  there  will  be  no  need  to  send  any  among  them  to 
teach  them  how  to  till  the  land,  raise  flocks  and  herds,  or  use  the  tools 
of  mechanism  ;  for  these  things  they  understand.  As  many  of  them 
are  good  readers,  they  can  keep  their  own  schools  ;  and  the  good  gos- 
pel preachers  among  them  will  supersede  the  necessity  of  costly  mis- 
sionaries. 

But  my  fancy  is  carrying  me  too  far.  The  design  of  this  little 
meeting,  is  a  declaration  of  the  approbation  and  satisfaction  entertained 
in  the  wisdom,  firmness,  economy  and  humanity  of  the  present  adminis- 
tration. 

To  lead  on,  it  may  be  noticed,  that  the  salaries  of  civil  officers  should 
always  be  competent,  but  never  extravagant.  When  officers  have  done 
well,  esteem  them  highly  in  love  for  their  works'  sake,  and  pay  them 
promptly  for  their  services,  and  never  owe  them  an  official  debt.  Never 
think  that,  when  a  man  has  served  you  an  agreed  term,  you  are  under 
bonds  to  continue  him  longer  or  raise  him  higher-  With  this  view  of  the 
subject,  you  may  look  every  man  boldly  in  the  face,  and  vote  for  him  whose 
talents  and  integrity  you  prefer. 

Andrew  Jackson  passed  through  many  changes,  and  filled  many  offices, 
until,  from  an  orphan  boy,  he  rose  to  the  highest  seat  in  the  gift  of  the 
people.  This  promotion  he  received,  not  as  a  reward  for  past  services, 
but  because  the  people  saw  in  him  those  talents  and  virtues  which  they 
conceived  necessary  to  purify  the  government,  check  extravagances,  and 
adhere  to  the  constitution  in  its  simplicity,  without  strained  constructions. 
Rather  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  people  voted  for  him,  and  I  ask,  has 
he  deceived  their  expectations  ?  Has  he  not  rather  exceeded  their  most 
flatte-ing  hopes  ? 

It  is  generally  understood  that  he  has  consented  to  be  voted  for  as  presi- 
dent at  the  next  presidential  election.  In  one  of  his  messages  to  Congress 
he  recommended  an  amendment  of  the  constitution,  so  far  as  to  declare  a 
man  ineligible  for  more  than  one  term,  and  that  in  every  doubtful  case  it 
was  safest  to  refer  to  the  sovereign  people. 


614 


THE    WRITINGS    OP 


This  recommendation  is  explained  by  some  as  a  virtual  refusal  to  serve 
as  president  another  term,  and  for  him  now  to  agree  to  it,  is  a  manifest 
inconsistency.  Washington,  in  his  farewell  address,  informs  us  that 
before  the  close  of  his  first  term  he  had  made  arrangments  to  decline 
serving  any  longer;  but  the  persuasions  of  his  friends,  and  the  unset- 
tled state  of  things,  induced  him  to  continue.  Was  Washington  incon- 
sistent? 

When  the  angels  of  heaven  visited  Sodom,  on  the  first  request  of 
Lot,  they  solemnly  refused  his  hospitalities,  and  said  nay  ;  but,  on  his 
strong  persuasion,  they  turned  into  his  house.  Who  ever  lamented  for 
the  inconsistency  of  these  celestial  visitants  ?  Their  inconsistency  cer- 
tainly eventuated  in  the  salvation  of  Lot  and  his  family.  If  Jackson  has 
imitated  Washington  and  angels,  let  the  accusations  of  his  enemies  be 
modest. 

But,  after  all,  there  is  no  inconsistency  in  the  affair.  An  amendment 
of  the  constitution,  and  an  appeal  to  the  people  at  large,  in  doubtful 
cases,  are  the  two  things  here  that  have  bearings  on  the  question.  By 
inaction.  Congress,  and  of  course  all  the  people,  have  decided  that  it  is 
not  best,  at  present,  to  alter  the  constitution.  The  constitutional  voice 
of  the  sovereign  people,  therefore,  is  that  a  citizen  is  re-eligible  to  the 
presidency.  This  voice  Jackson  reverences  ;  and,  contrary  to  his  own 
inclination,  for  the  good  of  his  country,  consents  to  bear  the  burden  longer, 
if  he  is  fairly  elected.  That  he  will  bargain,  or  use  any  art  or  manage- 
ment to  gain  the  post,  his  enemies  do  not  believe. 

We  have  our  political  as  well  as  our  calendar  leap  year.  One  year 
from  next  autumn  the  race  will  be  run  for  the  presidential  prize.  As 
the  anti-masonics  join  in  their  nomination  with  those  who  are  opposed  to 
Jackson,  it  is  most  likely  that  but  two  candidates  will  be  brought  upon  the 
hippodrome. 

In  this  commonwealth,  there  is  an  overwhelming  majority  of  men, 
talents,  wealth  and  aristocracy  opposed  to  Jackson  ;  but.  if  things  re- 
main stationary,  as  they  now  are,  the  opposition  in  all  the  United  States 
cannot  safely  calculate  on  more  than  eighty  electoral  votes,  while  Jack- 
son will  be  far  ahead  on  the  vantage  ground.  And  who  would  not  wish  to 
see  the  last  revolutionary  character  that  will  ever  be  in  the  United  States, 
fill  the  presidential  chair  until  the  last  cent  of  the  national  debt  is  dis- 
charged— the  Indians  all  removed  and  pleased,  and  the  tongue  of  slander 
cease  to  abuse  ? 

From  what  has  taken  place  in  America,  and  what  is  taking  place  in 
Europe,  there  is  some  prospect  that  long  lost  liberty  is  returning  to 
bless  the  world — liberty  that  a  great  part  of  men  have  been  robbed  of 
by  the  flattery  and   frowns — good    words   and    fair   speeches — art    and 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  615 

cunning — lies  and  hypocrisy  of  wicked  tyrants  and  covetous  priests. 
Should  the  halcyon  days  spring  up  when  every  cruel  yoke  should  be 
broken,  and  the  oppressed  go  free — when  there  should  be  an  equal  distri- 
bution of  labor,  wages  and  food — when  all  the  liberty  that  good  laws,  free 
from  licentiousness,  affords  to  all  equally  alike  should  be  enjoyed,  how 
would  every  benevolent  heart  rejoice  at  the  change. 


616  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


LETTER   TO   THOMAS   BUCK. 


Cheshire,  Oct.  25,1831. 

My  Good  old  Friend  : — Your  friendly  letter  of  the  30th  of  August 
came  safe  to  hand  in  due  time.  While  the  young  are  looking  forward 
in  hopes  of  brighter  scenes,  the  old  are  retrospecting  past  events  ;  your 
letter  reminds  me  of  days  and  circumstances  long  past.  The  last  time  I 
saw  you,  was  at  Waterlick,  April,  1790.  At  your  meeting-house  I  preach- 
ed from  a  text  that  has  been  of  use  to  me  until  this  moment;  it  was, 
"  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  The  confession  is  yet  true  with  me, 
and  the  prayer  of  it  has  been  answered  until  now.  I  have  been  travel- 
ling and  preaching  from  that  date  until  the  present,  through  infirmity  of 
flesh  and  heaviness  of  spirit ;  but,  have  never  risen  to  that  sublime  state 
of  wisdom  and  zeal,  which  I  anticipated  at  my  beginnings.  I  have  had  my 
summers  and  winters,  praises  and  reproaches,  prosperity  and  adversity; 
and,  having  attained  the  help  of  God,  I  remain  until  this  time  enjoying 
good  health.  My  heaviest  trials  have  been  of  that  character,  that  a  com- 
munication of  them  to  others,  (if  indeed  that  could  have  been  done,)  would 
only  have  added  to  their  weight,  so  that  the  darkest  part  of  the  way  I  have 
had  to  walk  alone. 

I  have  seen  a  number  of  religious  revivals  within  the  limits  of  my  min- 
istration, and  at  this  present  time  there  is  a  shower  falling  in  these  parts. 
I  have  lately  baptized  forty,  and  others  stand  waiting.  How  it  may  ap- 
pear  to  the  solemn  line  of  spectators,  on  the  banks  of  the  water,  to  see 
an  old  man,  whose  locks  have  been  frosted  with  seventy-seven  winters, 
baptizing  without  any  inconvenience,  I  cannot  say  ;  to  himself  there  is  a 
solemn  pleasure.  I  never  baptized  more  than  twenty-four  persons  at  one 
time,  and  abundance  of  times  no  more  than  one  ;  and,  as  I  have  baptized 
one  thousand  five  hundred  and  twelve  in  all,  I  judge  that  I  have  been  in 
the  water  for  baptism  more  times  than  any  man  in  the  United  States. 

The  excitement  of  Campbellism  and  anti-masonry,  does  not  rage  in  this 
section  of  the  country,  but  the  missionary  principle  has  strong  advocates 
and  bold  opponents;  whether  one  will  completely  triumph  over  the  other, 
or  whether  there  will  be  a  settled  division,  I  cannot  determine.  Wiihout 
ony  aid  from  missionary  boards  or  funds,  I  have  followed  the  missionary 
work  fifty-seven  years  ;  in  which  time  I  have  travelled  a  distance  that 
would  girdle  the  globe  four  tinnes,  and  still  have  health  and  spirit  to  per- 
severe. 


EI/DGR    JOHN    LELAT>fD.  617 

In  many  revivals  of  religion  that  I  have  seen,  something  singular  (in 
extraneous  forms)  has  always  been  seen,  so  that  no  two  of  them  have  been 
alike  ;  nor  is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  when  we  consider  the  infinite  means  ia 
Jehovah,  and  the  constant  changes  in  the  fashions  of  the  world.  Taking 
my  own  judgment  for  a  standard,  some  revivals  are  much  more  pure  than 
others.  The  present  excitement  among  us  has  many  muddy  appendages ; 
such  exertions  are  made  by  many,  to  unite  the  exertions  of  natural  po.vers 
with  the  energies  of  grace,  as  are  not  common.  When  souls  boast  alone 
in  the  Lord,  the  humble  hear  thereof  and  are  glad  ;  but,  when  they  are 
taught  to  boast  of  any  thing  else,  the  humble  are  sad.  I  confess  that  I 
have  not  acquired  the  art  of  welding  cold  iron  and  hot  together.  But  we 
should  always  make  allowances  for  the  difference  that  exists  between  the 
wisdom  and  truth  of  God,  and  the  weakness  and  corruptions  of  men. 

He  who  is  so  fearful  of  gathering  chaff  that  he  will  not  reap,  will  cer- 
tainly fail  in  gathering  wheat. 

You  inform  me  that  all  the  old  preachers  are  dead,  or  past  labor,  and 
that  a  new  set  have  risen  up  in  their  stead.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
young  will  improve  upon  the  old,  by  shunning  their  defects  and  imitating 
their  virtues.  Preachers  should  always  be  little  enough  for  the  meek  and 
lowly  Jesus,  who  made  himself  of  no  reputation.  A  great  preacher  of 
the  gospel  of  humiliation  and  self-abasement,  is  a  monstrous  character. 
Be  ye  not  called  Rabbi — be  servant  of  all — be  thou  an  example  to  believ- 
ers— let  nothing  be  done  through  strife  and  vain-glory,  etc.  ;  are  admoni- 
tions that  I  daily  need,  and  perhaps  my  young  brethren  may  need  the 
same. 

The  invitation  which  you  gave  me  to  come  and  visit  Virginia,  is  full  of 
Christian  politeness.  The  kind  reception  and  good  success  I  have  had 
among  the  people  of  Virginia,  has  endeared  the  very  name  to  me  ;  nor 
have  I  known  a  minute  for  forty  years,  that  my  attachment  to  the  place 
and  people  has  been  chilled.  My  age  forbids  me  to  comply  with  your  re- 
quest,  but  my  will  says,  "  go,"  and  which  will  finally  prevail  will  be  de- 
cided in  the  course  of  next  summer.  The  wife  of  my  youth  is  yet  living; 
we  have  lived  together  in  the  connubial  relation  fifty-five  years.  We 
have  nine  children,  seven  of  v/hom  have  made  a  profession  of  religion. 

I  try  to  preach  about  four  times  a  week  in  average.  My  health  and 
strength  will  admit  of  travelling  twelve  miles,  and  preaching  every  day. 
In  this  course  of  life  I  have  been  announcing  Christianity  for  more  than 
fifty-seven  years,  having  more  reverence  for  that  preaching  which  shows 
how  the  Lord  draws  sinners,  than  I  have  for  that  which  shows  sinners  how 
to  drive  the  Lord. 

The  salutation  of  John  in  my  own  hand, 

JOHN  LELAND. 

Thomas  Buck,  Esq.,  Frederic  Co.,  Virginia. 

78 


618  THE    WRITINGS    OP 


ADDRESS  AT  SOUTH  ADAMS,  JULY  4,  1832. 


Fellow-Citizens  : — This  day  completes  fifty-six  years  since  the  United 
States  shook  off  the  shackles  of  nionarchy,  and  declared  themselves  free 
and  independent.  Bold  and  hazardous  was  the  attempt,  for  a  feeble  band 
of  three  millions  to  rise  up  against  the  strongest  monarch  on  earth.  Long, 
expensive,  and  bloody  was  the  conflict  between  the  rights  of  man  and  the 
claims  of  hercditaries ;  but,  with  the  aid  of  the  God  of  armies,  and  the 
bravery  and  patriotism  of  the  sons  of  liberty,  after  a  seven  years  contest 
the  object  was  gained — the  slates  were  acknowledged  free  and  independent 
by  Great  Britain,  and  treated  with  as  one  of  the  sovereign  powers  on 
earth. 

To  pay  up  the  expenses  of  the  revolution  ;  to  organize  the  state  gov- 
ernments, and  the  colossus  of  a  general  government ;  to  define  the  rights 
that  miy  be  surrendered  to  government  by  individuals,  and  what  quantum 
of  sacrifice  was  called  for,  and  those  rights  which  are  inalienable  in  na- 
lure,  and  cannot  be  surrendered — to  secure  the  states  from  the  inroads 
and  depredations  of  the  Indian  tribes,  and  the  European  powers,  etc.  ; 
have  been  laborious  tasks  for  the  halls  of  legislation,  the  chair  of  the  ex- 
ecutive, and  the  bench  of  the  judiciary.  What  has  added  to  the  burden, 
has  been  difference  in  principle — difference  in  measures,  and  the  torment- 
ing ambition  of  some,  who  i-erve  not  the  Lord  Jesus,  but  their  own  bellies  ; 
seek  not  the  good  of  their  country,  but  their  own  elevation. 

The  costume  of  every  American,  should  be  a  continental  coat — a  state 
jacket — a  cap  of  liberty  on  his  head — a  sword  of  justice  at  his  side — an 
independent  mind  for  a  shield,  and  the  good  of  his  country  at  heart. 

Such  are  our  institutions,  that  our  political  years,  like  those  of  the  cal- 
endar, have  their  bissextile;  every  fourth  year  is  leap;  of  course  this 
present  year  is  the  period  of  leaping  and  running  races  for  a  chief  magis- 
trate. That  the  partialities  and  prejudices  of  the  people  should  produce 
strife  for  pre-eminence,  is  to  be  expected ;  but,  it  should  never  lead  to 
false  statements,  deception,  or  defamation  of  character.  Men  and  mea- 
sures should  be  animadverted  upon  with  prudence,  and  results  formed  upon 
them  with  candor.  Each  individual  should  acknowledge  the  right  of  his 
neighbor  to  think  and  act,  as  well  as  claim  the  right  for  himself.  While 
I,  with  pleasure,  recognize  and  guarantee  to  all  others  their  rights,  as  an 
obscure  individual,  I  claim  my  own. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  619 

That  our  present  chief  magistrate  was  greatly  admired,  and  always 
triumphant  in  the  field  of  battle,  is  acknowledged  by  all  ;  and,  by  a  majoi*- 
itv  of  the  people,  his  firmness,  patriotism,  wisdom,  and  economy  in  the 
chair  of  state,  have  appeared  equally  splendid  to  himself,  and  advanta- 
geous to  his  country.  His  successes  in  negociations  and  treaties,  have 
equaled,  have  exceeded  the  success  of  any  of  his  illustrious  predecessors. 
His  friends  consider  him  a  Washington  in  the  field — a  Jefferson  in  the 
chair  ;  and  can  his  enemies  deny  it  and  substantiate  the  charge  1  And 
now,  '•  shall  Jonathan  die  who  has  wrought  this  great  salvation  for  Israel  ? 
God  forbid  !."  If  he  must  be  crucified,  why  ?  "•  What  evil  has  he  done  ? 
We  have  examined  him,  and  find  no  fault  in  him."  Is  there  a  branch  of 
Adam's  line,  under  whose  shadow  we  may  expect  more  delight,  or  gather 
richer  fruit  than  the  Hickory  produces?  Have  the  people  grown  weary 
of  the  manna  of  equal  rights,  and  freedom  from  bondage  and  debt,  and 
long  to  return  to  Egypt,  the  iron  furnace,  to  dig  in  Clay,  and  make  their 
full  tale  of  brick  without  straw  to  burn  it  with — to  rear  up  lofty  and  use- 
less pyramids?  Would  they  forsake  the  waters  of  Shiloah  that  flow  soft- 
ly, and  rejoice  in  Rezin  and  Remaliah's  son  ?  Do  they  wish  to  see  another 
reign  of  terror,  when  a  man  may  be  persecuted  for  speaking  or  publish- 
ing his  opinion  on  men  or  measures ;  or  when  aliens  may  be  banished  on 
suspicion,  without  proof  or  trial  ?.  Will  they  say  to  the  bramble,  "  come 
thou  and  reign  over  us  ?"  The  subject  reminds  me  of  an  instance  that 
took  place  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1783.  A  German,  by  the  name  of  Nathan- 
iel, had  removed  from  his  native  country  into  Pennsylvania;  but,  after 
the  close  of  the  war,  he  had  a  strong  desire  to  return  to  Germany;  his 
wife,  however,  was  otherwise  inclined,  and  addressed  her  husband  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Nathaniel,  why  would  you  go  back  ?  In  Germany  I  took  my 
kent  (child)  upon  my  back,  and  went  into  the  field,  and  labored  five  days 
in  a  week  for  the  Prince  ;  and  here  1  have  all  the  time  to  work  for  myself; 
why  would  you  go  back,  Nathaniel  ?" 

It  is  said  by  some,  that  General  Jackson  is  old,  worn  out,  and  super- 
annuated ;  unfit  for  the  duties  of  an  executive  chief.  It  is  true  he  is  four 
months  older  than  Mr.  Adams,  of  whom  there  is  no  complaint.  And  it 
is  as  true,  that  he  is  twelve  years  younger  than  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
who  is  still  considered,  by  some,  as  the  light  of  the  world.  He  has  borne 
much  for  his  country,  but  has  not  been  intemperate  with  wine,  broken  his 
rest  at  the  gaming  table,  nor  impaired  his  lungs  to  run  down  others,  and 
rise  upon  their  ruins.  Moses  spent  forty  years  at  school  and  at  court ; 
forty  years  in  the  bush  keeping  sheep  ;  and  forty  years  as  chief  magis- 
trate of  the  tribes.  After  all,  when  he  was  one  hundred  and  twenty  years 
old,  his  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force  abated.  The  messages, 
communications,  and  despatch  of  business  performed  by  Jackson,  warrant 
the  attempt  to  try  him  a  little  longer. 


620  THE    WHITINGS    0?5 

The  Reverend  gentleman,  who  now  sits  by,  and  who  officiat&s  as  chaplain 
of  the  day,  is  a  stranger  to  me  ;  of  course  I  know  not  his  politics,  nor 
his  particular  tenets  of  religion.  His  prayer  bespeaks  the  goodness  of 
his  heart,  ami  his  regard  for  the  rights  of  man.  It  manifests  that  the 
heavens  do  rule.  The  religion  which  he  professes,  is  the  only  religion 
that  ever  met  the  guilty  sinners  wants,  and  brought  relief  to  his  woes; 
that  ever  gave  assurance  of  the  pardon  of  sin  and  the  resurrection  from 
the  dead.  The  part  in  it  which  he  has  taken,  admonishes  him  to  be  an 
example  to  the  flock,  and  not  to  lord  it  over  God's  heritage.  The  pre- 
cepts of  it  are  pure  and  the  best  calculated  for  the  good  of  m^en,  even  in 
this  world,  of  any  code  of  ethics  ever  known  ;  the  morals  of  Seneca,  and 
the  golden  verses  of  Pythagoras  not  excepted.  The  spirit  of  it  is  peace- 
able— thinketh  no  evil,  and  works  no  ill  to  his  neighbor.  May  his  life  be 
preserved,  and  his  labor  be  blest — may  he  be  faithful  unto  death,  and  at 
last  receive  a  crown  of  life,  with  a  "  well  done  good  and  faithful  servant, 
enter  thou  into  the  joys  of  thy  Lord." 

The  gentleman  appointed  to  read  the  Declaration- of  Independence, 
has  discharged  his  trust  with  dignity,  distinctness,  and  volubility.  The 
pen  of  Jefferson,  perhaps,  never  appeared  to  better  advantage.  We  are 
all  of  us  acquainted  with  the  soundness  of  his  judgment,  and  the  correct- 
ness of  his  life.  With  his-  honored  father  we  had  the  same  acquaintance, 
but  ah !  he  is  gone  the  way  of  all  the  earth  ! 

"■  H6vv  wise,  how  useful  once,' avails  thee  not, 
To  whom  related,  or  by  whom  begot ; 
A  heap  of  dust  alone  remains  of  thee — 
'Tis  all  thou  art,  and  all  we  soon  muet  be.'?^ 

Excluding  at  this  time,  all  ideas  of  the  glories  and  miseries  of  the  other 
world,  and  tending  only  to  the  state  of  death  abstractly — the  land  of  dark- 
ness without  order ;  we  will  suppose  that  the  spirit  of  some  departed  pa- 
triot, dressed  in  the  costume  of  this  world,  should  appear  among  us  to-day, 
and  supply  the  place  of  him,  now  on  the  floor  ;  his  language,  we  presume, 
would  be  as  follows:  "  My  old  acquaintance,  I  come  orran  embassy  from 
the  land  of  silence,  where  the  king  of  terrors  reigns  ;  but,  notwithstand- 
ing, he  is  called  king,  yet  his  subjects  are  all  on  a  democratical  level. 
The  golden  crown,  the  sacredotal  robe  and  mitre,  and  glittering  wealth, 
which  distinguisli  the  inhabitants  of  your  world,  have  no  influence  in  the 
regions  of  the  dead.  There,  the  servant  is  free  from  his  master,  and  the 
voice  of  the  oppressor  is  not  heard.  There,  the  king  and  the  beggar 
sleep  side  by  side,  and  men  have  no  pre-eminence  above  the  beasts." 

This  reverie  reminds  me  of  an  anecdote  respecting  Brutus.  The  night 
before  he  fought  his  last  battle,  as  he  lay  on  his  bed,  his  evil  genius  ap- 
peared at  his  bedside,  and  drew  the  midnight  curtain,  to  whom  Brutus 
said,  "who  art  thou?"     The  ghost  replied,  "  I  am  thy  evil  genius ;   meet 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND. 


621 


me  to-morrow  in  the  field  of  battle." — "  I'll  meet  thee  there,"  said  Brutus. 
If  this  account  be  true,  Brutus  had  stronger  nerves  than  the  President  of 
Persia  (Daniel)  had ;  for  when  an  angel  appeared  to  him,  he  lost  all  his 
strength. 

In  looking  before  me,  I  notice  some  who,  by  their  hoary  heads,  declare 
that  they  are  old.  My  brothers,  some  of  us  have  known  the  hardships  of 
the  tented  field  to  defend  our  rights,  and  all  of  us  have  endured  the  priva- 
tions and  burdens  that  war  imposes.  Thousands,  who  never  armed  them- 
selves for  the  field  of  battle,  lost  all  or  a  great  part  of  their  property  by 
the  depreciation  of  paper  money.  Thousands  were  stripped  of  their  flocks 
and  furniture  by  the  invading  enemy.  Thousands  had  their  houses  burnt  to 
ashes,  who  had  to  wander  where  they  could  to  find  shelter,  etc.  It  is  but 
taking  a  very  partial  view  of  the  subject,  to  conclude  that  the  troops  were 
^he  only  sufferers  in  gaining  our  independence.  Among  ourselves  there 
were  tories,  who  favored  the  cause  of  Great  Britain,  and  aided  them  with 
supplies ;  and  there  has  been  an  aristocratic  party  always  embarrassing 
our  government,  and  lying  in  wait  to  trick  the  people  out  of  their  rights; 
but,  when  the  people  have  been  almost  swallowed  up,  they  have  risen  in 
their  strength,  and,  arming  themselves  with  little  bits  of  paper,  have  dis- 
comfitted  their  adversaries  and  saved  themselves. 

The  clouds  were  not  more  threatening  to  the  sons  of  liberty,  in  1777, 
at  the  north,  and,  in  1781,  at  the  south,  than  they  we-re,  in  1797,  at  Wash- 
ington ;  but  the  same  kind  hand  that  saved  us  from  the  lion  at  Saratoga, 
and  the  bear  at  York,  delivered  us. from  the  uncircumcised  Philistines  at 
Washington.  These  things,  my  elder  brethren,  must  be  fresh  in  your 
minds,  for  they  tried  the  souls  of  men,  and  made  indelible  impressions  on 
their  hearts.  He  who  has  wrought  so  great  salvation  for  us,  we  trust, 
will  not  suffer  us  to  perish  with  thirst,  but  will  create  a  hollow  in  the  jaw 
of  some  ass,  and  give  us  water  to  drink.  The  TariffiLes  and  Nullifiers 
tnake  some  noise  at  present,  but  time  and  cool  reflection  may  evaporate 
the  acrimony  in  hot  air,  without  letting  of  blood  or  anaputation.  At  seve- 
ral periods  of  our  national  existence,  affliirs  have  appeared  more  gloomy 
than  at  this  present,  and  the  clouds  dispersed :  and,  if  we  have  vanquished 
the  lion,  we  will  not  fear  the  whelps. 

The  young  men  here  present,  who  are  now  rising  up  to  take  control 
of  the  destinies  of  the  nation,  I  wish  to  address  on  the  subject  of  govern, 
ment. 

Every  nation,  and  every  generation  of  the  same  nation,  has  an  undoubt- 
ed right  to  form  their  frame  of  government',  and  code  of  laws,  and  alter 
them  at  pleasure.*  Those  of  you,  therefore,  who  are  coming,  into  action, 
will  have  no  embarrassment  in  departing  from  the  rules  which  your  fathers 

*  The  laws  given  by  Moses  are  the  only  exception. 


622  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

preferred,  whenever  you  are  convinced  that  those  rules  were  defective  and 
better  can  be  substituted.  But,  as  nnost  of  the  writings  and  speeches  of 
the  present  day  are  about  men  and  nneasures,  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of 
communicating  a  few  thoughts  on  the  designs  and  principles  of  civil  gov- 
ernment. 

Some  found  government  on  birth.  The  son  of  a  reigning  king  must 
hold  the  sceptre  at  the  decease  of  his  father — being  born  with  a  sceptre  in 
his  hand,  booted  and  spurred,  and  that  the  mass  of  the  people  are  born, 
saddled  and  bridled  for  him  to  mount  and  ride. 

Others  ground  it  on  power  :  that  the  conqueror  is  entitled  to  the  crown 
as  an  inheritance  to  dispose  of  at  pleasure. 

A  third  class  build  government  on  grace,  or  what  they  call  by  that 
name.  The  papal  kingdoms  and  states  adhere  to  this  principle  ;  and 
wherever  a  religious  test  is  required  to  qualify  the  right  of  suffrage,  or  the 
right  to  hold  an  office,  the  same  principle  is  acknowledged. 

But  the  true  principle  of  all  legitimate  government  is  mutual  agreement, 
commonly  called  compact.  To  illustrate  this,  let  us  suppose  that  an  indi- 
vidual is  residing  on  a  lonely  island,  not  knowing  there  is  another  on 
earth.  In  this  case,  he  is  absolute  sovereign  ;  his  will  is  his  law,  which 
he  repeals  or  amends  at  pleasure.  The  soil  he  claims  by  occupancy  ;  and 
what  improvement  he  makes  on  any  part  of  it,  gives  him  a  moral  right  to 
what  he  has  improved.  In  a  course  of  time,  the  individual  has  ten  sons  : 
what  now  ?  If  all  those  sons  are  honest,  each  of  them  may  be  as  inde- 
pendent and  sovereign  as  the  father:  each  may  settle  himself  on  some 
part  of  the  soil,  and  honestly  enjoy  all  the  fruit  of  his  labor.  But  one  of 
the  ten  is  quarrelsome  and  knavish,  what  shall  be  done  with  him  ?  The 
vagrant  is  strong,  and  is  able  to  handle  the  nine,  one  by  one,  and  rob 
them  of  their  earnings  and  deprive  them  of  life.  Here  social  compact, 
called  government,  begins.  The  nine  unite  to  withstand  the  aggresion  of 
the  villain,  and  secure  their  lives,  liberty  and  property.  A  shady  tree  is 
their  state  house,  where  they  meet  from  time  to  time,  to  adopt  measures 
of  safety  ;  and,  in  case  they  do  not  all  agree,  four  must  give  up  to  five.  This 
is  simple  democracy.  After  a  lapse  of  years,  from  these  ten  no  less  than 
ten  thousand  proceed.  What  next?  The  government  must  now  assume 
a  new  shape.  It  would  not  be  practicable  now  for  all  to  assemble.  Each 
family  or  section  must  choose  their  agent  to  act  for  them,  and  to  receive 
a  reasonable  reward  for  his  time.  This  is  not  a  simple  but  a  representa- 
tive democracy.  From  this  abbreviated  miniature  of  the  rise  and  use  of 
government,  we  learn  that  the  vices  of  some,  and  the  weakness  of  indi- 
viduals to  defend  themselves,  gave  the  first  impetus  for  social  compact. 
Consider  government  in  its  various  ramifications,  and  it  takes  a  great 
scope,  and  calls  for  abundance  of  laws  ;  but  simplify  it,  and  bring  it  to  its 
original  bearings,  it  amounts  to  no  more  than  a  simple  confederacy  of  in- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  623 

dividuals  to  secure  life,  liberty  and  property,  for  which  they  have  to  sacri- 
fice a  part  of  their  native  liberty,  some  of  their  acquired  property,  and,  in 
certain  cases,  hazard  their  lives,  for  the  protection  of  all.  It  is  said  by 
some  that  all  the  expense  of  the  British  government,  by  land  and  sea,  is 
to  support  the  twelve  judges. 

The  ladies  here  present  deserve  peculair  notice  ;  and  with  abundance 
of  pleasure  I  address  them,  for  almost  all  the  xoomen  are  Jackson-men. 
How  can  it  be  otherwise?  When  New  Orleans  was  ready  to  be  swal- 
lowed up,  the  women  hung  around  the  general  with  weeping  eyes,  to 
whom  he  said  :  "  Fear  not,  the  city  must  and  shall  be  protected  ;"  and  he 
was  up  to  his  promise.  And  can  the  women  forget  this  1  No ;  never. 
The  very  temper  of  the  women  towards  the  men  is,  "  you  protect  and 
provide  for  us,  and  we  will  honor  and  nourish  you."  Nor  can  I  believe 
that  the  ladies  in  this  section  of  the  country  are  less  grateful  than  those  at 
the  south.  A  stranger,  once  travelling  through  this  state,  said  it  was  "a 
hell  for  horses — a  purgatory  for  men — but  a  paradise  for  women."  Faith- 
ful history  hands  down  to  us  the  exploits  of  women,  patriotic,  military  and 
pious.  Deborah,  who  judged  Israel,  drew  the  plan  of  military  operation 
for  Gen.  Barak,  and  went  with  him  to  battle.  Jael,  with  a  nail  and  ham- 
mer, slew  Sisera,  who  commanded  a  vast  host  with  nine  hundred  chariots 
of  iron.  A  woman  in  Thebes  broke  the  skull  of  King  Abimelech  with  a 
piece  of  a  mill-stone.  Huldah,  the  prophetess,  gave  instructions  to  King 
Josiah.  Judith  cut  off  the  head  of  Holofernes.  Priscilla  taught  Apollos 
the  way  of  God  more  perfectly.  Phebe  was  a  succorer  of  many.  Philip 
had  four  daughters  that  prophesied,  etc.  In  latter  times,  when  the  Saxons 
were  invaded  by  the  Danes,  the  Saxon  women,  by  a  secret  movement,  cut 
off  the  heads  of  thirty  thousand  Danes  in  one  night.  To  reward  them  for 
this,  the  Saxons  decreed  that  the  woman  should  sit  at  the  head  of  the  table 
— be  first  served,  and  walk  at  the  man's  right  arm. 

Adam  was  refined  out  of  the  earth,  and  the  woman  was  refined  out  of 
man,  consequently,  the  woman  is  like  a  double  refined  loaf  of  sugar — the. 
farthest  removed  from  clay  of  any  part  of  the  creation.  Indeed,  so  great 
is  the  influence  of  woman,  that  the  innocency  of  Adam — the  faith  of  Abra. 
ham — the  strength  of  Samson — the  bravery  of  David  and  the  wisdom  of 
Solomon  bowed  before  it. 


624  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


ANONYMOUSLY  TO  ELDER  JAMES  WHITSITT/ 


If  Christ  died  for  all  the  human  family,  with  one  and  the  same  view, 
why  is  it  the  greater  part  of  tliem  live  and  die,  without  ever  hearing  of 
his  name  ?  If  hearing  of  it  is  not  necessary  to  salvation,  why  should  so 
much  time,  expense,  and  affliction,  be  imposed  on  the  world  ?  If  Christ 
has  suffered  all  that  is  necessary  to  make  reconciliation  to  God,  what 
has  chilled  his  love,  that,  either  by  withholding  the  means  for  men  to  use 
to  save  themselves,  or  by  limiting  the  displays  of  regenerating  grace, 
by  which  he  saves  them,  he  should  not  save  with  ease,  those  who  cost 
him  pain  and  blood  ?  If  Christ  has  not  died  for  all,  those  for  whom  he 
did  not  die,  have  no  more  cause  to  complain  than  the  fe'on  has,  because 
no  other  appears  to  die  for  his  crimes ;  and  yet,  to  a  spectator,  this  looks 
like  a  respecting  of  persons. 

The  law  of  eternal  right,  will  always  be  binding  on  rational  beings,  as 
long  as  the  perfections  of  God,  and  the  faculties  of  men  exist.  This  law 
enjoins  on  all  men  to  believe  all  that  God  reveals,  and  do  all  that  he  com- 
mands. That  God  revealed  the  true  M(3ssiah,  and  the  Messiah  gave  infal- 
lible  proofs  that  he  was  the  anointed,  is  certaii) ;  therefore,  all  who  saw 
him  and  his  works,  and  did  not  believe  in  him  gave  God  the  lie  ;  and,  all 
who  do  not  believe  the  record  that  God  has  given  of  his  Son,  make  him  a 
liar.  It  is,  moreover,  true,  that  all  who  do  not  believe  shall  be  damned  ; 
are  condemned  already.  The  light  is  not  the  condemnation,  only  by  ex- 
posing the  evil  deed,  of  breaking  the  law.  To  believe  that  men  will  be 
condemned  for  simply  not  believing  that  Christ  died  for  them,  is  prepos- 
terous  ;  and,  if  he  did  not  die  for  them,  it  would  condemn  them  for  not 
believing  a  lie.  If  a  prince  falls  in  with  a  family  of  vicious  habits,  and 
marries  one  of  them,  and  frees  her  from  her  debts,  and  reclaims  her  from 
her  vices;  does  this  deliver  the  rest  of  the  family  from  the  restraints  and 
penalties  of  the  law  ?  Can  they  justify  themselves,  by  pleading  that  the 
prince  has  married  one  of  the  family  ?  That  men  were  made  good  at 
first,  is  clear ;  and,  that  God  requires  them  to  be  as  good  as  he  made 
them;  and,  in  case  they  have  relapsed,  to  cast  away  all  their  sins,  make 
themselves  new  hearts,  and  renew  right  spirits  within  them,  is  also  clear; 
but,  from  this,  does  it  follow,  that  men  are  bound  to  be  better  than  Adam 
was,  to  posses  eternal  life — the  unction  from  the  holy  one — new  covenant 

«  Published  in  183;2. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  625 

blessings,  which  came  not  by  Adam,  Abraham,  or  Moses,  but  by  Jesus 
Christ  ?  A  question  here  arises,  whether  a  destitution  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
of  the  grace  of  eternal  life,  is  a  sin?  That  men  will  be  condemned  for 
their  sins  without  it,  is  certain  ;  but,  will  they  be  condemned  because 
God  has  not  granted  unto  them  repentance  unto  life,  and  given  unto  them 
the  water  that  springs  up  to  eternal  life  ? 

A  word  of  experience.  In  the  years  1772-73,  etc.,  when  my  mind  was 
so  solemnly  impressed  with  eternal  realities,  as  to  turn  me  from  the  power 
of  Satan,  unto  the  living  God  ;  whether  from  the  Bible  I  read,  the  preach- 
ing I  heard,  the  teachings  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  some  other  cause,  I  did 
as  firmly  believe  the  following  articles,  as  I  believed  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
the  Saviour  of  sinners. 

1.  That  all  men  were  guilty  sinners,  and  that  God  would  be  just  and 
clear,  if  he  damned  them  all. 

2.  That  Christ  did,  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  predestinate 
a  certain  number  of  the  human  family  for  his  bride,  to  bring  to  grace  and 
glory. 

3.  That  Jesus  died  for  sinners,  and  for  his  elect  sheep  only. 

4.  That  those  for  whom  he  did  not  die,  had  no  cause  to  complain,  as 
the  law  under  which  they  were  placed  was  altogether  reasonable. 

5.  That  Christ  would  always  call  his  elect  to  him  while  on  earth,  before 
they  died. 

6.  That  those  whom  he  predestinated,  redeemed  and  called,  he  would 
keep  by  his  power,  and  bring  them  safe  to  glory. 

7.  That  there  would  be  a  general  resurrection,  both  of  the  just  and  the 
unjnst. 

8.  That,  following  the  resurrection,  judgment  would  commence,  when 
the  righteous  sheep  would  be  placed  on  the  right  hand  of  Christ,  and  ad- 
mitted into  life  eternal ;  and  the  wicked  on  the  left  hand,  doomed  to  ever- 
lasting fire. 

In  the  belief  of  those  articles,  and  what  was  collateral  therewith,  I  be- 
gan my  ministerial  career  in  1774.  with  but  very  little  thought  how  many 
and  weighty  the  consequences  of  these  premises  were.  But,  now,  after 
an  experiment  of  fifty-seven  years,  and  after  going  over  the  ground  thou- 
sands of  times,  with  all  the  research  and  candor  in  my  power,  I  dare  not 
pull  up  stakes  and  make  a  new  start.  Many  uncertainties  arise  in  my 
mind,  many  questions  spring  up  that  I  cannot  answer  ;  but,  every  other 
system  that  1  explore,  has  greater  difficulties,  and  worse  conclusions. 

Sometimes  a  query  arises  in  my  mind,  whether  a  gracious  God  could 
not  have  revealed  his  designs  in  a  manner  so  clear,  that  there  could  be  no 
doubts  or  disputations  about  them  ?  But,  here  I  am  checked.  If  reve- 
lation  were  otherwise,  or  if  my  capacity  were  so  enlarged  that  I  could 
solve  every  question  that  ever  arose  in  my  mind,  that  same  enlargement 

79 


626  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

of  mind  would  unfold  ten  thousand  more  questions,  which,  as  yet,  I  have 
no  stretch  of  thought  to  conceive  of.  There  would  be  no  getting  through 
the  dark  place,  unless  creatures  should  be  omniscient. 

The  doctrine  of  the  trinity  is  too  profound  far  my  intellect.  That  there 
are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven,  God  has  said,  and  I  believe  ;  and 
that  is  all.  The  Holy  Ghost,  in  some  places,  seems  to  take  the  lead  of 
the  Father;  see  Phil.  iv.  20  ;  Col.  i.  8  ;  ii.  2  ;  iii.  17.  Why  should  not 
the  Arians,  from  this,  believe  that  the  Father  was  appointed  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  do  what  he  does  ?  That  Christ  is  the  first — God  over  all — Ubiquity 
itself,  I  believe  ;  and,  I  have  wished  that  those  who  deny  that  Jesus  is  Je- 
hovah, would  begin  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  alphabet,  and  tell 
how  a  virgin  could  conceive  and  bear  a  child  ;  if  they  can  do  that,  they 
will  as  easily  understand  how  the  same  child  can  be  the  mighty  God  and 
everlasting  Father. 

The  doctrine  of  redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  is  the  only  founda- 
tion for  the  hope  for  pardon  that  I  have ;  and  yet,  in  all  its  ramifications, 
it  absorbs  me.  Why  should  God  admit  ofa  vicarious  atonement  in  the 
Christocracy,  and  forbid  it  in  the  Theocracy,  and  indeed  in  all  civil  gov- 
ernments ?  Is  it  possible  for  the  guilt  of  criminals  to  be  transferred  to 
one  who  is  innocent?  If  Christ  had  no  guilt,  in  what  did  his  sufferings 
consist?  The  principle  of  universal  atonement  and  limited  grace,  which 
is  now  very  popular,  gives  no  relief  to  but  one  hitch  of  the  mind.  When 
the  mind  is  burdened  with  the  thought,  "  why  docs  God  love  Jacob  more 
than  Esaw  ;"  to  answer,  "  a  general  atonement  is  made  for  all  alike," 
may  ease  the  first  thought ;  but,  when  we  are  told  that  many  will  gain 
nothing  by  the  atonement  but  an  aggravated  curse,  the  heart  sickens  to 
think  that  God  would  be  at  so  mueh  expense  to  get  a  pretence  to  con- 
demn men.  In  the  8,  9,  10,  11,  of  Romans,  Paul  rests  the  subject  log- 
ically. He  vindicates  the  sovereignty  of  God  with  the  hand  ofa  master ; 
but,  when  he  undertook  to  wade  into  the  goodness  and  equity  of  Jeho- 
vah, he  found  the  waters  swell  from  the  ancles  to  the  knees — to  the 
loins — to  the  heart ;  and,  ri&ing  to  the  chin,  before  his  mouth  was  stop- 
ped, he  cried  out,  "  Oh !  the  depths  of  the  riches,  both  of  the  wisdom 
and  knowledge  of  God  !  how  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his 
ways  past  finding  out."  And  there  he  has  left  me  to  grovel  still.  Not- 
withstanding I  find  myself  at  great  loss  about  many  things,  yet,  in  one 
point  of  light,  I  rejoice  that  the  ministration  of  life  is  hidden  from  the 
wise  and  prudent,  and  many  of  its  essentials,  or  stronger  points,  from 
the  saints  of  God.  Sin  has  sunk  men  into  such  guilt  and  pollution 
that  any  scheme  which  human  minds  can  understand,  would  be  utterly  in- 
competent  to  restore.  It  requires  a  plan,  formed  in  infinite  wisdom,  and 
executed  in  infinite  wisdom  and  love,  to  meet  the  sinner's  wants,  and  re- 
lieve his  woes  ;  and,  if  thus  founded  and  executed,  how  incompetent  the 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAIfD.  627 

lim-ted  wisdom  of  man  must  be  to  comprehend  it.  In  this  view  of  the 
subject,  if  I  could  comprehend  the  gospel  system,  I  should  not  dare  to  trust 
in  it. 

I  have  personally  known  more  than  one  thousand  Baptist  preachers  in 
my  life  ;  nearly  one  half  of  ihem  have  gone  the  way  of  all  the  earth  ;  but 
few  remain  who  have  been  in  the  ministry  as  long  as  myself;  and  the 
time  of  ray  departure  is  at  hand.  Soon  I  must  test  the  reality  of  the  re- 
ligion I  have  preached  to  others,  aod  feebly  labored  to  possess  myself. 
My  only  hope  of  acceptance  with  God,  is  founded  on  the  mercy  of  God, 
flowing  through  Christ.  Unless  my  soul  and  my  services  are  washed  in 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  perfumed  by  the  intercession  of  the  great 
High  Priest,  they  will — they  ought  to  be  rejected. 

Farewell,  my  friend  ;  we  arc  strangers  to  each  other  ;  nor  do  I  expect 
to  see  your  face  in  this  world.  Should  we  both  be  so  favored  of  the  Lord 
as  to  be  admitted  into  Paradise,  perhaps  some  friendly  angel  or  kindred 
spirit  may  point  you  out  to  me,  and  say,  "  this  is  James  Whitsitt ;"  or  will 
the  knowledge  of  disembodied  spirits  be  so  intuitive,  that  they  will  know 
each  other  without  introduction  ? 

Many  things  have  crov/ded  into  my  mind  while  1  have  been  writing, 
which  I  have  entirely  suppressed.;  and,  those  articles  ihat  I  have  touched 
upon,  have  been  so  concisely  handled,  thut.I  find,  by  review,  they  are  left 
obscure  ;  but,  I  never  copy  off,  but  trust  to  the  original  draught. 

In  unknown  regions  days  and  dates  are  unknown. 

Ask  not  after  my  Name,  seeing  it  is  Secret. 


628  THE    WRITINGS    OP 


ADDRESS 

DELIVERED  AT  CHESHIRE,  ON  THE  EIGHTEENTH  ANNIVERSABT  OF  THE 
BATTLE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS,  JANUARY  8,  1833. 


The  die  is  cast — the  game  is  won.  The  people  have  met  their  aris- 
tocratical  enemies,  and  have  conquered  them.         *         *         *         * 

The  late  proclamation  of  the  president  carries  all  before  it  in  these 
parts.  No  one  peeps  or  mutters  against  it.  The  late  meeting  at  Fa. 
neuil  Hall  was  full  of  its  praise.  The  speakers  at  that  meeting  eulogize 
the  president  and  his  proclamation  in  all  tlie  pomp  of  diction.  The  pure 
principles  of  government,  and  the  genius  of  our  constitution,  they  de- 
scribe with  great  precision.  But,  while  we  respond  to  their  sentiments, 
we  regret  that  they  had  not  learned  their  politics  sixteen  years  sooner, 
and  reduced  them  to  practice  :  had  that  been  the  case,  the  convention 
of  pure  spirits  at  Hartford  would  never  have  taken  place.  That  there 
was  some  difference  in  form,  will  be  granted  ;  but  the  dull  spirits  can 
see  no  radical  difference  between  the  tendency  of  the  Hartford  conven- 
tion and  the  ordinance  of  South  Carolina. 

While  a  great  majority  in  the  United  States  are  rejoicing  that  Jack- 
son is  continued  in  the  chair  of  state,  the  secession  of  South  Carolina 
from  the  Union  gives  them  great  scarchings  of  heart.  It  is  a  generally 
received  opinion  that,  when  two  or  more  parties  form  a  compact,  one 
party  cannot  disannul  the  covenant  without  the  concurrence  of  the 
others  :  and  if  the  parties  have  pledged  their  lives,  property  and  sacred 
honor  to  abide  by  the  contract,  a  withdrawal  of  one  of  the  parties  must 
be  perfidious.  If  one  state  in  the  Union  has  the  right  of  secession,  it 
follows  all  of  them  have  the  same.  Supposing  Louisiana  should  with- 
draw from  the  Union,  under  a  pretence  that  the  laws  of  Congress  re- 
duced the  price  of  sugar,  would  the  other  states  (South  Carolina  among 
the  rest)  peaceable  give  up  the  fifteen  million  dollars  which  it  cost,  and 
the  sole  control  of  the  Mississippi?  The  western  states  were  formerly 
the  property  of  the  United  States  :  now,  can  it  be  supposed  that  Con- 
gress would  have  given  the  settlers  of  those  lands  the  liberty  of  framing 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  629 

constitutions  of  government,  and  then  have  them  received  into  the  Union, 
if  they  had  entertained  the  most  distant  idea  that  any  or  all  of  them 
might  at  any  time  withdraw  from  the  Union  1  The  constitution  gives 
Congress  the  right  of  declaring  war  and  regulating  trade — and  is  it  not 
as  preposterous  for  South  Carolina  now  to  rise  up  against  the  govern- 
ment for  a  supposed  abuse  of  the  last,  as  it  was  for  the  eastern  states 
to  rise  against  the  first,  in  the  time  of  the  last  war  wilh  Great  Bri- 
tain ?  It  is  ardently  hoped  that  the  advocates  of  the  Hartford  conven- 
tion will,  in  the  looking-glass  of  South  Carolina,  see  their  own  faces — 
repent  of  their  errors,  and  do  so  no  more. 

If  my  information  is  correct,  the  tariff  law  was  a  southern  and  wes- 
tern measure,  and  the  representatives  of  the  eastern  stales  generally  voted 
against  it ;  but,  after  it  was  established,  the  eastern  capitalists  placed 
their  capital  in  manufacturing  establishments,  the  profits  of  which  exceed 
the  profits  of  the  cotton  growers,  (as  the  southern  planters  think,)  by 
which  the  manufacturing  class  of  citizens  are  become  a  privileged  or- 
der. I  have  no  data  to  judge  by,  but,  from  observation,  it  is  a  question 
whether,  from  the  first  factory  set  up  by  Mr.  Slater  unto  the  present 
time,  (considering  the  depreciation  of  prices  at  several  times — the  im- 
mense losses  by  fire,  and  the  fear  of  having  their  buildings  and  machinery 
lie  dead  upon  their  hands,)  those  who  have  devoted  capital  and  labor 
to  manufacturing  have  acquired  more  wealth  than  an  equal  number  of 
men,  of  equal  enterprise,  who  have  followed  planting,  merchandise,  or 
other  professions. 

If  I  understand  what  is  called  the  protective  system,  it  consists  in  lay- 
ing such  heavy  duties  on  imported  goods  as  will  stop  their  importation, 
and  thereby  encourage  home  manufacturing.  Much  can  be  said  on  both 
sides  of  the  question.  To  say  that  all  nations  give  this  protection,  is 
only  saying  that  all  nations  have  a  (ew  capitalists,  increasing  their  capi- 
tal by  the  labor  of  thousands  of  poor,  hungry,  dependant  creatures. 

Whether  the  principle  of  protection  be  right  or  wrong,  it  is  and  has 
been  adopted  and  acted  upon  in  these  states  without  opposition.  To  en- 
courage and  protect  education,  colleges  have  been  endowed — in  South 
Carolina  as  well  as  in  the  other  states — and  why  ?  Because  education 
is  for  general  good,  and,  therefore,  must  be  protected.  The  health  of  the 
body  is  of  great  importance,  and,  therefore,  medical  institutions  must  be 
endowed,  and  quacks  fined.  Christianity  is  tl^e  best  religion  in  the 
world,  and,  therefore,  it  must  be  established — its  preachers  be  paid  and 
treated  as  a  privileged  order,  and  its  days  of  devotion  sanctified.  The 
manufacturers  of  cloth  are  of  immense  value,  and  must  be  peculiarly 
nourished.  And  why  not  add,  the  sweeps  are  of  the  utmost  consequence 
to  the  city,  and  deserve  great  rewards  for  cleaning  the  chimneys  and  pre. 


630  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

venting  the  destructive  fire  ?  It  will  run  in  my  mind  that  the  profession 
that  cannot  support  itself  by  its  own  merit  and  influence,  without  the  aid 
of  govenment,  is,  in  some  respects,  a  nuisance.  But  one  thing  is  certain: 
if  our  manufactures  do  not  flourish  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  people,  we 
shall  never  be  independent  in  times  of  peace,  and  in  times  of  war  our  situ- 
ation will  be  deplorable. 

I  close  this  part  of  the  address  by  adding  that,  if  the  tariff  was  a  south- 
ern and  western  measure,  and  if  South  Carolina  protects  education,  etc., 
as  has  been  stated,  her  present  opposition  comes  with  a  poor  grace. 

Fellow. citizens — We  are  called  to-day  to  drink  a  mingled  cup  of 
pain  and  pleasure.  When  we  reflect  on  the  secession  of  South  Carolina- 
— the  ordinance  of  their  convention — the  language  of  their  governor — the 
course  of  their  legislature,  and  the  contempt  shown  to  the  president  and 
his  proclamation,  we  hang  our  harps  upon  the  willows  and  veil  our  faces 
in  sackcloth. 

Tiiat  the.e  is  a  clashing  of  interests  among  the  states,  is  true  ;  not  so 
great,  however,  but  what  a  litile  sacrifice  meets  with  a  tenfold  reward* 
In  the  confederation,  the  state  of  Maryland  stood  out  for  awhile,  but  at 
length  found  it  was  safest  to  join.  When  the  Federal  Constitution  was 
adopted,  the  state  of  Rhode  Island  retained  her  separate  standing,  until 
she  got  cured  of  the  phrenzy  of  a  paper-tender  law,  and  then  joined  the 
Union.  And  is  there  a  single  state  in  the  Union,  but  what  (as  far  as  we 
can  see)  is  safer,  happier,  and  aquiring  wealth  faster,  than  she  would  in  a 
separate  standing  ? 

Let  the  experiment  be  tried — let  all  the  states  secede,  like  South-Car- 
olina, and  the  twenty-four  states  be  as  many  sovereignties  ;  what  next  ? 
Let  each  individual  be  displeased  with  some  laws,  and  absolve  himself 
from  the  restraints  of  government;  we  should  then  have  thirteen  millions 
of  little  sovereigns  among  us,  uncontrolled  by  any  others.  If  this  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  Nullifiers,  and  if  they  carry  it  into  effect,  the  negroes  of 
South  Carolina  and  other  states,  will  hail  the  year  of  their  jubilee.  Nolh-. 
ing  will  be  said  of  slave-holding  states  thereafter. 

I  proceed  to  the  important  question,  "  what  is  to  be  done  in  this  crisis  ?" 
The  president  has  taken  his  stand,  and  we  respond  to  his  views,  and  pledge 
him  our  personal  and  pecuniary  aid  to  carry  them  into  effect ;  but,  let  it 
be  imprinted  in  every  mind  that  our  government  was  formed  by  mutual 
concessions,  and  can  only  be  preserved  by  the  same  conciliatory  princi- 
pies.  Such  are  the  changes  in  the  United  States,  and  more  particularly  in 
those  nations  with  whom  we  have  commercial  treaties,  that  the  market 
will  always  be  fluctuating,  of  course  ;  at  one  time  the  pioducts  of  one 
section  will  be  most  lucrative,  and  at  another  time  the  prospered  section 
will  be  the   most  depressed  ;  but,  what  man  who   has  an  American   soul, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  631 

will  run  frantic  because  his  own  enterprise  is  not  crowned  with  the  great- 
est success  ?  Let  it  also  sink  deep  in  every  heart,  that  when  individuals 
or  collective  bodies  have  their  minds  highly  irritated,  either  by  real  or 
supposed  abuse,  all  reasoning  with  them  is  lost ;  time  must  be  allowed, 
and  sober  reflection   resorted  to,  to  calm  the  raging   billows.     Seceders 

'  DO 

may  be  too  hasty  in  their  opposition,  and  government  may  likewise  be  loo 
precipitate  in  chastising.  "  He  that  would  rule  well,  must  never  rule  too 
much  nor  to  quick."  Moreover,  let  every  individual,  and  every  state,  be 
willing  to  suffer  in  turn,  and  not  blame  the  government  for  those  changes 
over  which  government  has  no  control.  It  was  said  by  many  in  the  rev- 
olutionary struggle,  that  if,  at  the  close  af  the  war,  they  could  gain  their 
independence,  and  save  one  half  ot  their  intni  est,  they  should  be  satisfied  ; 
and  will  any  friend  of  American  institutions  now  murmur  if  he  has  to  suf- 
fer a  little  for  the  good  of  the  whole  ?  I  wish  every  state  and  every  pro- 
fession to  have  equal  justice  done  them  by  the  laws  ;  but,  for  one  of  them 
(from  a  belief  that  it  is  injured)  to  form  '"'self  into  a  court  of  judge 
and  jury,  and  condemn  all  the  rest,  must  be  preposterous.  If  the  stale  of 
South  Carolina  will  refrain  from  resisting  the  laws  of  Congress  in  prac- 
tice, until  the  sitting  of  the  23d  Congress,  I  feel  satisfied  their  complaints 
will  be  relieved,  as  far  as  the  dignity  of  the  national  government  and  an 
equal  regard  for  the  other  states  will  admit ;  that  they  will  extend  the  cup 
of  conciliation  until  every  drop  is  gone.  And  if  the  constitution  is  ob- 
scure or  deficient  in  drawing  the  line  between  the  powers  of  the  general 
government  and  state  rights,  the  population  of  the  United  Stales  will  har- 
monize, in  submitting  it  to  a  convention  or  conventions  for  amendment. 
Every  principle  of  patriotism  and  philanthropy,  plead  for  an  amicable  ad- 
justment without  resorting  to  force.  ^ 
While  I  am  speaking,  my  heart  sickens  with  grief  at  the  idea  of  having 
the  fruitful  fields  of  Carolina,  which  are  covered  every  year  with  cotton, 
rice,  indigo  and  corn,  turned  into  slaughter  pens  for  human  victims.  Yes, 
the  anticipated  groans  of  the  dying,  and  lamentations  of  widows  and  or- 
phans, are  almost  too  much  for  my  nerves  to  bear.  May  heaven  prevent 
this  possible — this  loo  probable  event.  To  this  request,  I  feel  confident 
that  millions  of  my  fellow-citizens  respond.  But  let  us  not  despair.  The 
insurrection  in  Pennsylvania,  while  Washington  was  president,  was  quelled 
without  the  shedding  of  blood.  And  we  have  now  a  president  who  is  a 
lion  in  war  and  a  lamb  in  peace ;  who  mixes  mildness  with  majesty  in 
all  his  measures  ;  as  great  a  stranger  to  cuelty  as  he  is  to  fiiar ;  who  was 
never  circumvented  in  the  field  of  battle,  nor  confused  by  the  arts  of  dem- 
agogues. His  wisdom,  we  trust,  with  the  aid  of  Congress  and  the  sup- 
port  of  the  people,  will  safely  steer  the  ship  between  Sylla  and  Charybdis, 


632  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

and  land  it  safely  in  the  port  of  peace.  But  our  first  and  greatest  depend- 
ence is  on  the  supreintendence  of  that  Divine  Being  who  has  hitherto  ap- 
peared for  our  relief  in  the  darkest  periods,  both  in  the  field  and  in  the 
cabinet. 

"  After  so  much  mercy  past. 

Will  he  let  us  sink  at  last." 

No — he  that  hath  saved  us  in  six  troubles,  we  trust,  will  deliver  us  in 
the  seventh.  With  this  reliance,  fellow-citizens,  I  wish  you  a  happy  8th 
of  January — closing  in  modern  style: 

Jackson,  the  Constitution,  and  the  Union  of  the  States  forever. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  633 


ADDRESS, 

DELIVERED  AT  WESTFIELD,  MARCII  4,  1833. 


******** 

When  the  British  Colonies  in  America  resorted  to  arnns  to  vindicate 
their  rights,  a  Washington  was  prepared  to  lead  their  untutored  troops  to 
battle  and  to  victory.  When  a  Declaration  of  Independence  becanne  ne- 
cessary, a  Jefferson  appeared,  who  did  it  in  a  document  that  will  outlive 
wasting  ages.  When  a  government  more  energetic  than  the  confedera- 
tion was  indispensable,  a  Madison  stepped  forth,  who  was  foreman  in  giv- 
ing birth  to  the  Federal  Constitution.  When  the  course  of  administration 
under  the  constitution,  was  warping  to  aristocracy,  the  same  Jefferson  who 
drew  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was  called  to  the  helm  to  steer  the 
ship  in  the  democratic  sea.  And  when,  by  little  and  little,  the  government 
degenerated  from  its  virgin  purity,  and  construction,  expediency  and  inci- 
dentals supplied  the  place  of  constitutional  text,  and  ambition  and  conten- 
tion for  the  highest  offices  became  the  order  of  the  day,  a  Jackson  was 
searched  out  and  placed  in  the  high  chair.  His  military  talents  were 
acknowledged  by  all,  but  his  cabinet  abilities  were  known  to  but  few.  He 
was  in  the  world  and  the  world  knew  him  not.  He  sought  not  his  own 
promotion,  nor  did  office-hunters,  who  loved  to  be  in  the  highest  seats  and 
feast  on  treasury  pap,  seek  after  it ;  but  the  body  of  the  people,  gaining 
more  and  more  acquaintance  with  his  character,  became  convinced  that  no 
man  was  so  likely  to  suppress  abuses,  purge  out  the  drones  and  peculators, 
break  up  monopolies,  check  useless  expenses,  turn  the  revenue  of  the  nation 
into  a  channel  that  would  extinguish  the  debt,  and  administer  the  govern- 
ment in  all  things  according  to  the  true  and  literal  meaning  of  the  consti- 
tution, as  Andrew  Jackson.  And  here,  I  ask,  has  he  disappointed  them  ? 
Has  he  not  done  all  they  elected  him  for,  and  much  more  ?  Does  not  the 
energy  of  his  mind,  and  his  moral  courage  appear  more  evident  by  every 
trying  circumstance,  and  every  snare  that  is  laid  for  him  ?  Has  he  not 
been  blind  to  every  thing  personal,  and  sought  the  good  of  his  country  ? 
Three-fourths  of  the  voters  in  the  United  States  have  answered  these  three 
last  questions  in  the  affirmative,  b)'  electing  him  the  second  time  for  four 
years,  which  begin  to-day  ;  n9twithstanding  all  the  dinner  speeches  and 
publications  to  prevent  it. 

80 


634  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

A  very  trying  scene  is  now  before  us.  The  novel  doctrine  of  nulli(i< 
cation  calls  for  all  the  foresight,  fortitude  and  forbearance  of  a  great  mind 
to  meditate  and  reconcile.  The  powers  of  the  three  co-ordinate  arms  of 
the  general  government,  the  state  authorities  and  the  patriotism  of  the 
people  are  all  put  in  requisition  :  and  to  whom  can  the  control  of  the  des- 
tinies of  the  nation  be  committed,  as  executive  head,  with  more  safety  than 
to  Andrew  Jackson  ? 

Should  his  life  and  health  be  preserved  during  the  second  term  for  which 
he  is  elected,  and  he  continue  to  administer  the  government  in  the  same 
wise,  republican  manner  that  he  has  in  his  first  term,  and  be  as  successful 
in  all  his  negotiations  and  treaties,  he  would  then  leave  the  noisy  world 
and  return  to  the  Hermitage,  with  ten  thousand  blessings  of  the  people  on 
his  head,  and  would  be  viewed  thereafter  as  a  prodigy  in  the  world. 

The  history  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  has  recently  been  published,  and  is  now 
in  circulation,  which  precludes  the  propriety  of  saying  much  of  his  biog- 
raphy.  When  he  first  began  his  career  in  the  law  department,  he  adopted 
the  Jeffersonian  system  of  policy,  and  consequently  bad  to  rise  abreast  of 
all  the  brilliant  talents  in  New  York,  who  were  of  the  Hamiltonian  system. 
Without  mentioning  many  of  his  defeats  and  triumphs,  he  was  chosen  Sen- 
ator  in  Congress,  then  Governor  of  the  state  of  New  York — thence  ap- 
pointed  by  .Tackson,  Secretary  of  State.  Here  he  found  out  the  conspiracy 
of  the  cabinet  to  prevent  the  re-election  of  Jackson  :  to  clear  himself,  and 
assist  in  the  election  of  Jackson  for  his  second  term,  he  tendered  bis  resig- 
nation and  went  into  private  life. 

His  worth  was  too  highly  appreciated  by  the  President  to  let  him  remain 
Jong  in  passivity,  and  he,  therefore,  appointed  him  minister  to  Great  Brit- 
ain ;  but  before  he  had  lime  to  effect  the  objects  for  which  he  was  sent,  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  rejected  his  nomination  by  the  casting  vote  of 
the  Vice  President.  Many  things  were  laid  to  his  charge  by  several  of 
the  senatov-s,  from  which  the  President  has  fully  acquitted  him.  Indeed, 
in  that  mad  session  of  the  Senate,  what  little  men  call  false  statements — 
false  accusations,  and  heated  abuse,  seemed  to  be  more  manifest  than  a 
eincere  desire  to  do  their  country  good.  On  the  rejection  of  the  nomina- 
tion, Mr.  Van  Buren  returned  to  America  with  as  much  composure  and 
pleasantness  as  if  no  adverse  occurrence  had  taken  place.  Had  he  been 
disposed  to  right  himself,  and  cast  dismay  on  his  enemies,  there  was  no 
need  of  it ;  his  country  did  it  for  him,  and  have  promoted  him  to  the  second 
office  in  the  nation.  Whenever  the  Senate  meet,  after  this  day,  they  will 
see  the  Mordccai  whom  they  sought  to  hang,  sitting,  not  in  the  king's  gate, 
but  in  the  senatorial  chair  to  preside  over  them.  Whether  they  will  have 
any  thoughts  of  the  gallows  which  they  prepared — whether  they  will  wish 
to  have  some  one  cover  their  faces,  like  Ha  man — or  whether  they  have 
taught  their  countenances  (like  Brutus)  to  never  betray  their  hearts,  1  can- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  635 

not  say,  Mr.  Van  Buren  has  never  been  accused  of  immorality — never 
been  reproached  for  Iceeping  a  Black  Sail,  or  murdering  ^ce  mililia  men ; 
but  has  been  perpetually  represented  as  a  great  intriguer — an  arch  magi- 
cian. No  particular  action  is  specified  in  his  whole  life,  and  for  want  of 
units  they  take  a  universe,  and  loudly  proclaim,  "  the  little  regent  is  agreat 
magician."  When  I  go  into  an  orchard  for  fruit,  I  bend  my  course  to  the 
tree  that  has  the  most  clubs  around  it,  expecting  there  to  find  the  best. 

Fellow-citizens,  we  are  drawing  to  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  age. 
When  Jackson  shall  have  finished  his  course,  there  will  be  no  man  living, 
but  who  will  be  too  old  and  obscure  to  fill  the  presidential  chair,  who  had 
any  hand  in  the  Revolution.  Others  may  arise  with  as  clear  views  of  the 
rights  of  man  and  the  nature  of  government,  but  can  never  have  the  same 
feeling.  What  course  the  next  generation  may  take  with  respect  to  the 
constitution  and  code  of  laws,  I  know  not ;  the  right  will  be  theirs  to  alter 
or  destroy  what  now  exists.  That  our  constitution  is  susceptible  of  im- 
provement, there  exists  no  doubt:  but  it  is  greatly  doubted  whether  a 
change  in  its  radical  features,  would  not  lead  to  anarchy,  "  which  is  the 
licentiousness  of  little  men,  or  tyranny,  v/hich  is  the  licentiousness  of  great 
men.'^ 

Our  liberty  and  independence  cost  seven  years  war — much  destructlott 
of  property — one  hundred  thousand  lives,  and  after  all  the  taxes  of  vari- 
ous  kinds,  to  support  the  army,  there  remained  a  debt  of  more  than  seventy 
millions  of  dollars.  Immense  purchases  of  territory  have  been  made. 
The  last  war  continued  one  hundred  and  thirty  weeks,  and  cost  as  many 
millions  of  dollars  as  it  lasted  weeks  ;  and  yet  since  the  Federal  govern- 
ment was  established,  all  tha  debts  have  been  paid,  and  the  inhabitants  have 
increased  from  three  to  twelve  millions.  Those  who  wish  for  a  dissolutioa 
of  the  Union,  and  the  establishment  of  a  government  of  a  different  kind, 
either  at  the  present  time  or  when  another  generation  shall  succeed,  will 
do  well  to  ask  themselves,  whether  a  government  of  different  features  gives 
them  assurance,  that  the  people  under  it  will  be  more  happy  or  wealthy 
than  they  are  at  present.  Those  who  wish  to  crush  the  present  govern, 
ment,  (from  their  attachment  to  aristocratical  principles,  or  because  the 
people  do  not  gratify  their  ambition,)  ought  to  be  marked  as  enemies  to  the 
liberties  of  men;  and  while  common  feeling  wishes  them  nothing  better 
than  degradation  and  detestation,  the  pious  Christian  will  pray  for  them, 
"  Father  forgive  them,  they  know  not  what  they  do." 

The  freedom  of  speech,  and  of  the  press,  cannot  be  too  highly  appreci- 
ated, nor  the  licentiousness  of  either  of  them  too  much  lamented  :  both 
should  be  employed  as  vehicles  of  truth  to  convey  information,  and  not  as 
a  talisman  to  mislead  and  bewilder.  Let  gentlemen  of  the  type  and  press 
observe  the  following  rules,  viz  : 

1.  Never  publish,  of  your  own  composition,  any  article  that  you  donofc 


63G  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

conscientiously  believe  is  true,  and  that  a  connmunication  of  it  will  be  of 
service  to  others. 

2.  Never  extract  from  other  papers  any  articles  which  do  not  contain  in 
themselves  some  internal  evidence  of  their  veracity. 

3.  Never  pollute  your  columns  to  blacken  one  man  for  the  promotion 
of  another.  Be  not  puffed  up  for  one  against  another,  and  be  very  cau- 
tious of  holding  up  any  man  to  public  contempt,  unless  the  public  safety 
calls  for  a  hue  and  cry. 

4.  If,  for  want  of  information,  you  have  published  that  which  proves  to 
be  false,  hasten  to  retrace  your  steps  and  correct  the  error. 

5.  Let  Truth  be  your  pole  star,  which  will  give  your  consciences  the 
greatest  pleasure — increase  the  character  of  your  paper,  and  finally  bring 
the  most  money  into  your  coffers. 

6.  Never  condescend  to  the  mean  artifice  of  impressing  the  minds  of 
others  by  publishing  great  and  false  things  from  abroad,  under  the  fiction 
of  "  I  have  it  from  undoubted  authority — my  information  may  be  relied 
on,"  etc.  Your  faith  we  leave  with  yourselves;  but  our  faith  is  that  the 
wondrous  things  related,  came  from  a  distance  no  farther  off  than  your 
own  brains,  and  as  they  generally  prove  to  be  false  alarms,  you  had  better 
keep  them  at  home. 

Instinct  in  beasts,  in  some  of  its  operations,  exceeds  the  reason  of  man  ; 
but  on  a  broad  scale  men  are  the  noblest  work  of  God  in  this  lower  world, 
and  the  power  of  speaking,  and  logical  reasoning,  are  the  items  of  that 
superior  glory.  The  tongue  is  the  organ  of  speech,  and  though  a  little 
member,  does  great  things :  therewith  bless  we  God,  and  therewith  curse 
we  men.  It  is  such  an  unruly  member,  that  no  man  ever  has,  or  ever  can 
tame  it:  and,  therefore,  it  should  always  be  kept  in  bridle;  for  when  it 
runs  at  large,  it  sets  on  fire  the  course  of  nature,  and  is  set  on  fire  of  hell. 
A  false  tongue  wounds  like  sharp  arrows  of  a  mighty  warrior,  and  burns 
like  the  coals  of  Juniper.  Very  frequently  cases  occur  in  which  men,  by 
saying  or  doing  something,  are  brought  into  a  sad  dilemma.  A  little  lie 
will  offer  its  services  to  give  relief.  By  saying  that  which  they  know  is 
false,  or  denying  that  which  they  know  is  true,  they  seek  to  extricate  them- 
selves. As  wicked  and  preposterous  as  this  course  appears,  yet  some  good 
men  have  tried  the  experiment  to  their  sorrow.  When  Peter  had  commit- 
ted an  overt  act  in  cutting  off  the  ear  of  Malchus,  to  prevent  an  arrest,  he 
made  lies  his  refuge,  to  escape  punishment ;  but  afterwards  he  wept  bit- 
terly, and  I  presume  he  never  forgave  himself.  The  plain  path  of  speak- 
ing the  truth  runs  thus,  "  let  your  conversation  be  without  covetousness — 
let  every  one  of  you  speak  the  truth  to  his  neighbor — lie  not  one  to  an- 
other,'* etc.  For  want  of  talent  to  enlarge,  I  shall  sum  up  in  saying  that 
my  object  is,  to  persuade  editors  to  publish  nothing  but  truth,  and  for  speak- 
ers of  every  grade  to  observe  the  same  rule. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  637 

We  are  now  risen  to  a  point  which  forty  years  past  I  did  not  expect  to 
live  to  witness — the  liquidation  of  all  our  dehts.  Yes,  the  United  States 
present  a  picture  to  the  world,  of  thirteen  millions  of  inhabitants,  enjoying 
a  government  which  stands  firm  in  peace  and  war ;  securing  the  rights  of 
men,  both  civil  and  religious,  (excepting  the  slaves,)  and  yet  owe  nothing 
for  the  whole.  So  far  as  pride  is  excusable,  I  feel  proud  that  I  am  an 
American.  If  ever  the  time  shall  arrive  when  our  black  brethren  shall 
enjoy  the  same,  and  I  am  living,  my  joy  will  be  unspeakable. 

The  public  debt  being  now  off  our  hands,  the  question  is,  how  shall  the 
revenue  be  disposed  of.  The  revenue  arising  from  the  sale  of  public  lands 
is  somewhat  permanent,  but  the  greatest  part  of  it  arising  from  imposts  is, 
in  its  nature,  and  will  be  in  its  course,  var  able  and  somewhat  contingent. 

The  rate  of  impost,  I  judge,  must  vary  to  meet  the  duties,  with  which 
other  nations,  with  whom  we  have  treaties  of  commerce,  may  see  cause 
to  burden  their  wares. 

My  project  is  as  follows :  let  the  rate  of  duties  be  reduced  equitably  on 
all  articles,  regarding  every  class  of  citizens,  to  a  standard  of  revenue 
that  will  leasonably  support  the  government  in  all  its  constitutional  mea- 
sures. Whenever  the  revenue  shall  leave  a  considerable  surplus  in  the 
treasury,  let  the  surplus  be  divided  among  ail  the  states,  according  to  their 
numbers,  and  let  these  sums,  in  the  several  states,  be  inaccessible  to  all 
applicants  :  the  interest  only  to  be  distributable,  and  that  only  to  aid  in 
payment  of  state  taxes. 

By  this,  or  a  similar  appropriation,  the  property  of  all  will  be  distribu- 
ted among  all,  and  colleges,  railroads,  etc.,  be  erected  and  supported  by 
individuals  or  self-erected  associations. 

I  have  not  to  read  history  to  know  that  X\\e  main-spring  in  the  revolution 
was,  "  Liberty,  and  the  sole  disposal  of  our  property ;  deducting  as  much 
of  both,  as  will  be  necessary  to  protect  the  main,  and  no  rnore."  And  this 
I  consider  the  true  standard  ot  democracy,  let  the  names  and  professions 
of  men  be  what  they  may. 

As  for  those  men  who  wish  to  make  the  government  and  the  people  two 
parties — who  wish  to  limit  the  right  of  suffrage — who  advocate  monopolies 
and  privileged  orders — who  are  seekers  of  offices — who  are  seeking  more 
after  national  splendor  than  national  tranquillity — who  are  constantly  expo- 
sing the  measures  of  government  to  scorn,  unless  they  themselves  are  the 
agents — who  wish  to  have  Christianity  established  bylaw,  to  make  amends 
for  their  being  destitute  of  the  spirit,  and  opposed  to  the  practice  of  it — 
from  such  turn  away.  For  they  that  are  such,  serve  not  the  Lord  Jesus, 
nor  their  country,  but  their  own  bellies  ;  and  by  good  words,  fair  speeches, 
and  sleight  of  hand,  deceive  the  hearts  of  the  simple.  From  all  such  with- 
draw yourselves,  and  place  no  confidence  in  them.  But  honor  those  men 
with  your  suffrages  and  confidence,  who  honor  your  rights  and  seek  your 


638  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

wealth  by  their  measures.  In  selecting  a  nnan  for  public  trust,  ask  the 
questions,  does  he  understand  and  appreciate  the  rights  of  men  ?  Is  he 
honest?  Has  he  confidence  to  vole  against  a  majority  ?  And  from  among 
those  of  this  description,  prefer  the  man  who  lias  the  brightest  talents  and 
most  information. 

The  redemption  of  the  soul  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  and  the  dominion 
of  sin,  is  an  object  of  the  first  magnitude,  for  the  loss  of  the  soul,  the 
whole  world,  in  exchange,  would  be  no  equivalent.  This  has  been  an  ob- 
ject of  the  highest  solicitude  with  me  for  nearly  si.xty  years :  but  I  have 
to  confess  that  my  ardor  to  gain  the  object,  both  for  myself  and  others,  has 
not  been  equal  to  its  merit. 

Next  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul,  the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  men 
have  summoned  my  attention,  more  than  the  acquisition  of  wealth  or  seats -- 
of  honor.  To  see  a  great  part  of  the  human  family  tricked  out  of  their 
rights  and  liberties  by  the  oilier  part — chained  down  to  lasting  subjugation, 
without  any  regard  to  those  rights  which  are  inalienable,  has  stimulated 
what  little  benevolence  I  have,  with  the  small  talents  that  I  possess,  to  burst 
the  prison  doors,  and  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives.  Many  meetings, 
like  the  present,  I  have  attended,  and  many  pieces  have  I  written,  with  a 
view  of  pleading  the  rights  of  man  against  the  claims  of  aristocrats.  And 
now  after  a  life  of  almost  four-score  years,  poorly  spent,  I  am  like  an  old 
weather-worn  sailor,  yet  on  deck,  in  a  boisterous  sea,  not  at  the  helm  steer- 
ing the  ship,  but  before  the  mast,  sounding  the  deep  with  a  short  line — 
watching  the  winds  and  pirates — fearing  the  rocks  and  looking  out  for  the 
breakers — bearing  at  mast  head,  ^^free  trade  and  sailors  rights,""  deduct- 
ing from  their  profits  an  equitable  tax  to  pay  for  their  security. 

Gentlemen,  your  object  is  my  object,  and  your  joy  my  joy  in  the  late 
triumph  of  democracy,  which  begins  its  operation  to-day.  Perhaps,  while 
I  am  speaking,  the  President  and  Vice  President  elect,  are  taking  the  oaths 
of  their  offices  for  the  four  ensuing  years.  May  the  now  begun  presiden- 
tial term  be  full  of  the  same  wisdom  and  justice  of  the  last  term,  and  free 
of  the  scum  of  the  ambitious  pot  that  has  boiled  over  in  shameful  froth. 

I  am  highly  gratified  in  seeing  so  many  young  men  in  this  assembly,  for 
it  is  for  the  rising  generation  to  control  the  future  measures  of  govern- 
ment. A  common  voter,  with  a  sound  judgment  and  liberal  mind,  will 
legislate  better  for  the  cause  of  humanity  and  self-government,  than  the 
high  pampered  statesman,  who  considers  himself  of  \.\\e  genii  order  of  be- 
ings, born  to  rule  over  man. 

Fellow-citizens,  I  wish  you  all  a  happy  fourth  of  March.  I  hope  we 
shall  never  have  cause  to  regret  that  we  have  placed  confidence  in  the 
two  distinguished  citizens  who  are  raised  to  the  two  highest  offices  in  the 
United  States. 


ELDER    JOUN    LELAND.  639 


A  DIALOGUE. 


Sinner,  I'm  come  with  power  to  let  you  know 
How  much  to  God,  for  sinful  debts,  you  owe: 
Ten  thousand  talents  now  against  you  lie, 
And  payment  must  be  made  or  you  must  die. 


Have  patience  with  me  and  I'll  do  my  best; 
Accept  good  will   and  cancel  all  the  rest ; 
My  prayers  and  alms  and  what  I  mean  to  do 
Will  partly  pay  the  sum  I  owe  to  you, 
And  where  I  fail  let  pity  pay  the  rest — 
That  pity  which  your  sov'reign  has  profess'd. 


The  law  is  holy,  just  and  clear  as  light, 

And  claims  no  more  of  you  than  what  is  right; 

That  law  you've  broken  twice  ten  thousand  times, 

And  all  your  debts  assume  the  rank  of  crimes. 

The  law  knows  neither  pity  nor  respect, 

Justice  is  all  the  culprit  can  expect: 

Your  prayers  and  alms  and  what  yon  mean  to  do 

Will  not  secure  you  from  eternal  wo  ; 

The  righteous  law  can  no  abatement  show. 

Prepare  to  meet  thy  doom  and  take  the  blow  ; 

Behold  God's  executioner  I  stand, 

Array'd  in  vengeance  with  my  sword  in  hand  1 

REFLECTION. 

At  this  the  trembling  sinner  stood  amaz'd, 

The  heavens  grew  black  !  the  forky  lighi'nings  blaz'd  I 

The  mountains  shook  !   the  sun  and  nuon  grew  pale  ! 

The  whole  creation  mourn  I  the  angels  wail  ! 

Stern  Justice  then,  with  flaming  swoid  in  hand, 

Stepp'd  forward  to  perform  the  dire  command ; 

But,  ere  he  gave  the  blow,  a  voice  was  heard, 

"  Hold  !  hold  your  hand  !  the  sinner  shall  be  epar'd  ! 

D<;liver  him  from  going  to  the  pit ; 

I've  found  a  ransom  which  will  him  acquit." 


640  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

At  this  eventful  moment  Christ  appeared, 
Whose  plea  with  justice  was  distinctly  heard. 


Are  any  of  my  precepts  too  austere  ? 
Or  is  the  penalty  annexed  severe? 
Has  not  the  sinner  sinn'd  with  open  eyee? 
Can  justice  live  without  the  sinner  dies  ? 


Thy  precepts  are  all  holy  and  divine ; 

The  penalty  proportion'd  to  the  crime; 

The  sinner  has  no  just  complaint  to  make, 

If  vengeance  sinks  him  in  the  burning  lake. 

As  God,  I'm  universal  legislator  ; 

As  man,  I'm  under  law  to  the  Creator ; 

As  mediator,  I  have  work  to  do — 

To  drink  the  bitter  cup,  to  sinners  due  ; 

Justice  I  honor,  law  I  magnify. 

But  still  the  guilty  sinner  shall  not  die: 

I've  been  his  surety  long — from  ancient  times, 

I'll  pay  his  debts,  and  suffer  for  his  crimes. 

O  sov'reign  Justice  !  search  your  records  through. 

And  see  how  much  the  sinner  owes  to  you; 

Keep  nothing  back,  let  a  full  charge  be  brought 

For  ev'ry  wicked  action,  word  and  thought. 


The  sinner's  debts  swelled  to  a  pond'rous  load. 

His  crimes  most  henious,  calls  aloud  for  blood. 

The  fulness  of  the  time  is  come  for  pay ; 

The  debt  I  claim,  and  can  no  longer  stay  ; 

The  debtor  or  his  surety  must  comply. 

And  for  the  crimes  must  bleed,  and  groan,  and  die. 


The  time  has  come  !  the  payment  must  be  made  ! 
I  neither  spare  my  blood  nor  screen  my  head  ; 
I've  proved  the  God  by  words  and  works  before  ; 
I'll  prove  the  man  by  dying  in  my  gore  ; 
Strike,  Justice  strike  !  take  all  you  can  desire ; 
But  save  the  sinner  from  eternal  fire. 


No  fault  I  find  in  thee,  but  thou  art  bound, 
And  must  endure  a  mortal  bruise  and  wound. 
Awake  !  O  sword  of  justice  !  now  awake  ; 
And  pierce  the  Saviour,  for  the  sinner's  sake  ! 
Spare  not  God's  only  son,  nor  be  afraid ; 
One  ofl'ring  only  will  for  sin  be  made. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  641 

Awake  !  O  sword!    and  smite  God's  fellow  through  ; 
His  blood  alone,  remits  me  all  my  due. 
The  red  blade  fell — the  vengeful  fiery  sword 
Was  plung'd  into  the  heart  of  Christ  the  Lord. 
Behold,  he  bled  and  pray'd  upon  the  cross, 
Then  bow'd  his  head  and  yielded  up  the  Ghost. 
'*  Enough,"  cried  Justice,  "  now  I  sheath  my  sword;" 
And  Christ  ascended  to  his  father,  God. 
The  keys  of  death  and  hell  were  in  his  hand, 
When  he  ascended  to  the  heav'nly  land ; 
Angels  attended,  filled  with  burning  love, 
With  shouts  and  trumpets  to  the  world  above  ; 
"Lift  up  your  heads,  ye  gaies,  ye  doors  make  room, 
The  King  of  Gloiy  from  below  is  come, 
The  Lord  of  Hosts  assumes  his  native  throne  ; 
Let  all  the  heav'nly  hosts  the  conqueror  meet, 
And  fall  with  rev'rence  at  his  sacred  feet." 
Now  tho'  he  reigns  in  heaven  exalted  high, 
He  ne'er  forgets  tlie  blood  of  Calvary. 
"  Father  forgive  !"    he  cries,  "  for  I  have  died, 
And  paid  the  purchase  of  my  ransom'd  Bride. 
Justice  demanded  ev'ry  whit  of  me. 
And  ev'ry  whit  I  paid  upon  the  tree  ; 
Now  all  is  finished,  let  the  sinner  live. 
Sinners  of  ev'ry  clime  who  do  believe." 
In  gospel  revelation  thus  we  see 
How  boundless  love  and  justice  can  agree. 
This  new  and  living  way  brings  into  view. 
How  sinners  can  be  sav'd,  and  God  be  true  ; 
How  sin  can  be  condem'd,  and  sins  forgiv'n  ; 
How  sinners,  doom'd  to  hell,  may  go  to  hea'vn. 
No  other  scheme  to  save  has  yet  been  found 
By  grave  philosophers  and  men  renown'd  : 
The  blood  of  Christ  alone  atones  for  sin. 
His  truth  and  grace  destroy  the  plague  within ; 
His  watchful  eye  and  powerful  arm  defend — 
Who  can  but  love  and  rev'rence  such  a  friend  ? 
Salvation  cost  the  Saviour  blood  and  smart — 
It  costs  the  sinner  only  all  his  heart. 
O  sinner,  can  you  think  of  Jesus'  love. 
And  never  feel  one  soft  affection  move  ? 
Never  resolve  to  be  for  God  alone. 
And  reigu  with  Christ  forever  on  his  throne  t 
81 


G42  THB    WRITIKGS    OW 


LETTER  TO  THOMAS  BINGHAM,  ESQ.  JULY,  1833, 


SiK  : — I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  what  idea  to  affix  to  the  sentence,  that 
baptism  is  an  initialing  ordinance  into  the  church.  Those  who  believe  that 
the  sprinkling  of  infant  children  is  gospel  baptisnri,  and  those  who  believe 
that  none  should  be  baptized  bul  repenting  believers,  and  that  dipping  the 
body  aH  over  in  water  is  the  only  mode  of  Christian  baptisno,  are  equally 
in  the  habit  of  calling  baptism  an  initiating  ordinance. 

If  baptism  is  the  door  into  a  Christian  church,  how  was  it  possible  for  a 
church  to  rise  in  the  first  plice  ?  The  members  must  Jirst  have  been  bap- 
tized before  they  could  form  into  a  church,  and  must  Jirst  have  been  a 
church  before  there  could  be  any  initiation  into  it.  Let  a  preacher  go  into 
a  heathen  country,  and  be  successful  in  winning  souls  j  be  cannot  baptize 
them  until  there  is  a  church  lo  initiate  them  into,  and  there  cannot  be  a 
church  until  the  constituents  are  baptized. 

If  children,  without  their  consent  or  knowledge,  are  initiated  into  the 
church  by  baptism,  it  follows,  of  course,  that  they  arc  members  of  the 
church,  and  should  be  dealt  with  and  disciplined  like  other  members ;  nor 
can  they  ever  stand  propounded  and  be  admitted  afterwards  j  because  they 
are  already  in  the  church. 

John  the  Baptist  was  of  the  priestly  tribe,  but  never  sacrificed,  or  in  any 
way  officiated  as  a  Jewish  priest.  He  came  as  the  forerunner  of  the  Mes- 
siah, in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias,  to  make  ready  a  people  prepared  for 
the  Lord.  The  scribes,  priests,  elders,  and  pharisees  were  the  principals 
of  the  Jewish  church,  in  his  day.  He  was  sent  by  God  to  preach  repent- 
ance for  sin,  and  faith  in  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  stood  among  them  ;  and 
to  baptize  with  water  those  who  brought  forth  the  fruits  of  repentance. 
But  is  there  any  thing  in  the  course  of  John  that  looks  as  if  he  was  build- 
ing on  the  Jewish  church  ?  Did  he  ever  advise  with  the  rulers  of  that 
church  ?  Did  they  not  reject  the  counsel  of  God  against  themselves,  in 
rejecting  his  doctrine  and  baptism  ?  And  is  it  likely  that  John  would  unite 
his  followers  with  those  wliom  he  calls  a  "  generation  of  vipers  ?"  Let 
common  sense  answer. 

If,  by  the  term  church,  we  understand  the  whole  Zion  of  God,  which 
includes  all  who  fear  God  and  work  righteousness  in  every  nation,  Individ- 


BLDER    JOHN    LBLAND.  643 

uals  are  initialed  into  it,  not  by  water-baptism,  but  by  the  choice  of  Christ, 
and  tlse  application  of  the  unction  of  the  Holy  One.  This  initiation,  (the 
Baptists  believe,)  precedes  the  right  to  water-baptism. 

But  if,  by  church,  is  understood  any  given  number  of  pious  saints,  whose 
local  situation,  agreenaent  of  sentiment,  and  gracious  affections,  lead  them 
to  unite  together  as  a  church,  it  is,  in  the  first  instance,  a  nnatterof  mutual 
agreement;  and  when  other  individuals  wish  to  be  added  to  them,  to  help 
and  be  helped,  the  satisfaction  and  reception  of  the  church  is  the  iniliation. 
If  water  baplisnti  is  the  door  into  the  church,  it  must  be  the  door  out  ofihQ 
church,  in  case  of  criminal  disorder. 

Preaching  and  baptizing  are  ministerial  works  ;  initiation  and  excision 
belong  to  the  church.  The  minister  baptizes  the  penitent  believers  INTO 
CHRIST; — the  church  receives  them  into  fellotcship. 

John  baptized  multitudes  (into  Christ)  saying  unto  them  that  they  should 
believe  in  him  who  should  come  after  him  ;  that  is,  on  Christ  Jesus  ;  but 
he  formed  no  churches. 

Jesus  made  and  baptized  more  disciples  than  John  ;  but  only  one  hundred 
and  twenty  of  them  were  together  when  they  elected  Matthias.  On  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  they  who  gladly  received  the  word,  were  baptized,  and 
three  thousand  were  added  to  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  ;  many  of  whom, 
it  is  most  probable,  had  been  baptized  by  John  or  Jesus  before.  After- 
wards, multitudes,  both  of  men  and  women,  were  added  to  the  Lord.  The 
result  seems  to  be,  that  baptism  does  not  initiate  into  the  whole  church,  nor 
into  any  of  the  churches. 

That  the  Eunuch  was  initiated  into  any  church,  when  Philip  baptized 
him,  is  hard  to  believe;  and  that  there  was  any  church  in  Pliillippi,  for 
Lydia  and  the  jailer,  with  their  households,  to  be  initiated  into,  when  they 
were  baptized,  drowns  our  senses  to  conceive  of. 

Wherever  the  apostles  found  proper  subjects,  they  baptized  them,  although 
their  local  situation  prevented  them  from  church  relation.  To  such  scat- 
tered saints  Paul  wrote  in  both  of  his  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians.  See  the 
dedications.  "  Unto  the  church  of  God  which  is  at  Corinth,  with  all  that 
in  every  place  call  upon  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ."  "  Unto  the  church 
of  God  which  is  at  Corinth,  with  all  the  saints  which  are  in  all  Achaia." 

If  baptism  initiates  into  the  church,  and  if  sprinkling  infant  children,  or 
dipping  them  is  gospel  baptism,  it  follows  that  the  British  children  who 
were  compelled,  and  the  South  Americans  who  were  forced,  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  subject,  and  against  the  will  of  the  parents,  were  all 
made  members  of  the  church. 

In  these  days  there  is  a  great  variety  of  minor  opinions  among  nominal 
Christians.  All  who  are  casting  out  devils,  do  not  follow  together  in  the 
same  way.  Uniformity  of  sentiment  is  not  grounded  by  local  situation. 
In  the  same  section,  pious  individuals  are  found,  who  hai'e  not  a  sentimental 


644  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

agreement  with  their  neighlx)rs.  These  individuals  are  bound  in  conscience 
to  be  baptized,  but  cannot  unite  in  doctrine  and  modes  of  worship  with  those 
among  whom  they  live.  Ought  not  such  persons  to  be  baptized  ?  Would 
not  a  gospel  preacher  address  them  thus  ?  '•  And  now,  why  tarriest  thou  ? 
Arise,  and  be  baptiz^ed."  This  being  done,  I  ask,  wlmt  church  such  per- 
sons are  initiated  into  by  it  ?  Not  the  whole  church  of  the  redeemed,  for 
they  were  in  tiiat  before.  Not  the  church  in  their  vicinity,  for  bow  can 
two  walk  together,  except  they  are  agreed  ? 

When  ministers  and  churches  are  together,  and  act  in  concert,  and  the 
candidates  wish  to  unite  witii  the  church,  as  well  as  to  be  baptized,  one 
declaration  of  what  the  Lord  has  done  fn'  their  souls,  and  of  their  belief 
in  Christ,,  nvny  answer  both  purposes  for  adinission  to  baptism,  and  rscepti&n 
into  the  church. 


Lines  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Miss  Laura  Whitmarsh,  of  Cheshi"re>, 

who  died  December  7,  1833,  in  her  19ih  year.     A  part  of  them  were 

repeated  at  her  funeral.. 

Farewell,  my  Laura,  for  a  little  space. 

Soon  we  shall  meet  and  see  each  other's  face  ; 

One  after  one  we  die  and  waste  away^ 

But  the  last  trump  shall  raise  our  sleeping  clay. 

With  what  amazing  joy  the  saints  wifl  meet. 

When  death  lies  bruised  and  vanquished  at  his  feet*- 

Their  bodies  all  refined  like  crystal  stone, 

Their  happy  so»iJs  shall  put  the  bodies  on: 

TJic  souJs  and  bodies  then  will  be  complete,. 

And  in  the  kingdom  take  a  royal  seat, 

A  crown,  prepared  for  each,  will  then  be  given, — 

A  go'rden  harp,  to  praise  and  sound  in  heaven. 

Can  the  sad  parents  mourn  with  anxious  pain,. 
Since  their  great  loss  is  Laura's  greater  gain  ? 
.Before  her  lifeless  body  had  grown  cold, 
The  soul  had  flown  ten  thousand  leagues  twice  tojd^ 
Nor  stopped  her  course,  till  she  had  joined  the  ihrong^^ 
Of  all  the  biood-wash'd  choir,  and  learn'd  the  song; 
A  long  protracted  meeting  there  to  hold, 
Clotli'd  in  fine  linen,  and  adorn*d  with  gold. 

Children,. your  sister  Laura  has  no  breath  ;. 
You'll  naver  hear  her  speak  agaia  on  earth, 
She's  gone  before,  and  you  must  follow  on  ; 
Prepare  for  death,  for  soon  your  turn  will  come. 

Young  people,  look,  and  see  where  Laura  lies  f 
Here  is  a  looking-glass  before  your  eves ; 
Here  you  may  see  your  likeness  and  your  end: — > 
Sooa  death  the  fatal  javelin  will  send,. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 

And  you  must  go,  whether  you  will  or  no. 
To  heav'n  above,  or  to  the  gulf  below. 
O,  may  you  all  repent  and  live  so  well, 
That  you  may  die  without  the  fears  of  hell  I 
Repent  of  sin,  and  turn  to  God  to-day ; 
Return  with  all  your  hearts — make  no  delay  ; 
The  vilest  sinner  that  repents  of  sin, 
And  turns  to  God,  the  Lord  will  take  him  in; 
The  blessed  Jesus  stands  with  open  arms 
To  save  the  humble  soul  from  all  alarms. 
Sinners,  are  you  of  such  hell-hardened  steel, 
That  neither  wrath  nor  love  can  make  you  feel? 

But,  oh,  my  gracious  God,  must  I  be  still  ? 
Sinners  are  void  of  strength  as  well  as  will ; 
They  will  not  come  to  thee  for  life  and  peace, 
They  cannot  come  without  they're  drawn  by  grace. 

The  law  is  holy,  pure,  and  clear  as  light. 
And  claims  no  more  of  men  than  what  is  right, 
The  Sovereign  has  a  right  to  all  his  dues. 
Though  subjects  are  insolvent,  or  refuse  ; 
The  law  requires  of  men  perfection  still, 
And  every  failure  is  a  moral  ill. 
Here  then,  I  find  I've  work  enough  to  do, 
To  preach  to  all,  "  be  faithful,  just  and  true  ; 
Make  clean  your  hands  and  hearts,  and  be  as  good 
As  Adam  ere  he  ate  forbidden  food ; 
Believe  in  God,  and  kiss  his  equal  Son  ; 
Take  up  the  cross,  and  after  Jesus  run." 

But  ah  I  I  preach  what  every  one  should  do, 
But  sad.  experience  proves  what  they  pursue. 
There's  none  that  doeth  £ood — all  leave  the  way — 
Soon  as  they're  born,  like  beasts  they  go  astray; 
Guilty,  polluted,  both  without  and  in. 
Haters  of  holiness,  in  love  with  sin. 

Here  then  the  work  increases — more  to  do — 
To  tell  what  Jesus  does  for  men  below  ; 
He  finds  them  in  the  wilderness  of  death, 
Or  in  the  open  fields  exposed  to  wrath  ; 
No  eye  to  pity — none  to  take  them  in, 
Nor  do  they  wish  to  be  redeemed  from  sin.. 
But  by  his  quick'ning  grace,  he  makes  them  see 
The  dangers  they  are  in  except  they  flee  ; 
He  works  in  them  to  will,  and  gives  them  strength  to  do, 
Then  they  repent  of  sin,  and  after  Jesus  go  ; 
He  draws  them  with  the  cords  of  love  and  grace, 
They  run  to  see  their  dear  Redeemer's  face  ; 
He  bids  them  go  their  way  with  sins  forgiv'n  ; 
They  follow  him,  and  go  the  way  to  heaven. 
He  leads  them  in  a  way  they  never  knew, 
Makes  darkness  light,  and  every  object  new. 


645 


646  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

They  see  that  God  is  just,  and  wonder  why 
Mercy  should  spare  them,  when  they  ought  to  die  ; 
The  holy  law  is  lovely  in  their  sight, 
Although  to  keep  it  they  are  void  of  might. 
They  trust  in  Christ's  redeeming  blood  alone. 
And  cry,  "gtace,  grace,"  unto  the  living  stone. 

The  saints  collectively,  are  all  but  one, — 
The  Bride  of  Christ,  his  married  wife  alone ; 
Their  Maker  is  their  Husband,  guide  and  friend, 
Whose  love  is  strong,  and  lasts  unto  the  end  ; 
This  flock  of  God  he  bought  with  his  own  blood, 
His  claim  to  all  his  sheep  must  then  be  good ; 
He  died  that  they  might  have  eternal  life. 
And  none  can  pluck  them  from  his  hands  by  strife. 


The  following  lines  were  read  at  the  funeral  of  Miss  Emeline  Witmarsb, 
(sister  of  the  preceding,)  December  21,  1836. 
Here  we  behold  the  mortal  part  of  one 
Whose  days  are  finish'd,  and  whose  work  is  done ; 
But  ere  she  died,  she  learned  the  hcav'niy  art 
To  trust  in  Christ,  and  give  him  all  her  heart. 
When  she  lay  struggling  in  death's  iron  arms, 
Laura  descended,  filled  with  heav'niy  charms. 
Sent  from  above,  to  wait  and  watch  the  lime, 
When  she  should  live  again  wiih  Emeline. 
Invisible  to  mortals — plain  to  faith  ; — 
Wc  then  attend  to  hear  what  Laura  saith. 

"  My  sister  Emeline,  did  you  but  know 
The  joys  that  flow  where  you  will  quickly  go. 
You'd  long  to  be  released  from  cumbrous  clay, 
And  to  the  upper  regions  wing  your  way. 
Sent  from  the  Saviour,  full  of  love  and  grace, 
I'm  come  to  guide  you  to  that  heavenly  place. 
Oh,  that  my  father,  mother,  every  friend. 
Might  know  the  jo)'s  that  have  no  bound  nor  end  !" 

This  said,  she  beckon'd  ;  "  sister,  come  away  ;'' — 
Her  sister  died  and  went  without  delay : 
Upward  they  steer'd  their  course  to  heaven's  high  wall, 
The  gates  flew  open,  and  they  heard  the  call, 
"  Come  in,  come  in,  ye  pilgrims  of  the  Lord, 
And  take  a  crown  of  life  for  your  reward." 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  647 

Lines  occasioned  by  the  death  of  the  Reverend  Justus  Hull,  and  sung  at 

his  funeral  : 

Prostrate  before  our  weepingr  eyes, 
Greatness  in  humble  ruin  lies  ; 
For  more  than  fifty  years  he  stood, 
A  faithful  witness  for  his  God, 
Proclaiming  Christ's  redeeming  blood  ; — 
But  he  is  gone. 

Nothing  below  the  skies  he  sought, 
For  heaven  above  he  ran  and  fought, 
A  glittering  crown  before  his  eyes 
Laid  up  in  heaven  above  the  skies; 
He  labor'd  hard  to  win  the  prize ; 
But  he  is  gone. 

The  work  of  prayer  was  his  delight, 
He  called  on  God  both  day  and  night ; 
How  oft  we've  seen  the  herald  stand. 
Imploring  mercy  for  the  land  ; 
That  God  would  stay  his  vengeful  hand : 
But  he  is  gone. 

Could  skill'd  physicians,  friends  and  saints, 
Have  sav'd  him  from  his  dire  complaints,    ■ 
Instead  of  meeting  here  to-day, 
To  look  with  sadness  on  his  clay, 
We  might  have  heard  him  preach  and  pray  ; 
But  he  is  gone,  5 

In  him  was  found  the  heavenly  art. 
To  lead  the  mind  and  melt  the  heart ; 
Soon  as  his  solemn  voice  was  heard, 
The  saints  rejuic'd,  the  einners  feared^ 
And  all  the  holy  man  rever'd ; — 
But  he  is  gon«. 


648  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


LETTER  TO  HON.  R.  M.  JOHNSON,  JUNE  9,  1834. 


Hon.  Sir  : — Whether  events  lake  place  pursuant  to  an  unalterable  de- 
cree, or  whether  they  are  contingent,  they  have  had  their  course,  and 
brought  the  world  into  its  [)resent  condition.  Somewhere,  in  creation,  be- 
tween the  highest  angel  and  smallest  insect,  there  was  a  gap  for  myself; 
but,  whether  that  gap  would  have  been  a  greater  defect  than  the  supply, 
is  a  question.  The  term  of  time  that  I  have  filled  has  astonished  the  world 
with  its  events.  As  I  was  twenty-one  years  old  between  the  battles  of  Lex- 
ington and  Bunker  Hill,  I  have  not  to  learn  the  course  of  things  in  the  field  or 
cabinet  from  history,  having  lived  tiirough  the  whole  term  from  '75,  to 
1834.  As  you  have  passed  through  the  scenes  of  the  present  century, 
(some  of  which  have  been  bloody,  and  many  of  them  hot  and  windy,)  and 
well  know  what  contests  there  was  for  ten  years  before  the  present  cen- 
tury began,  it  would  be  an  insult  on  your  knowledge  to  say  anything  about 
them.  But  like  other  old  men,  I  will  say  a  little  about  myself.  1  never 
desired  a  civil  office  in  my  life,  nor  have  I  ever  thought  that  my  talents, 
with  their  small  cultivation,  qualified  me  to  fill  any  office,  even  a  middling 
grade  ;  but,  some  how  or  other  I  have  been  a  republican  (dyed  in  the  skin, 
before  the  wool  was  grown,  which  cannot  be  sheared  off)  both  in  church 
and  slate.  To  acknowledge  his  Holiness  the  Pope,  my  Lord  Bishop,  his 
Highness  the  Synod,  his  Excellency  the  Presbytery,  his  most  Christian 
Majesty,  the  Association,  or  his  Grace  the  Brotherhood,  to  hold  dominion 
over  my  faith  and  direct  my  conscience,  is  making  a  bow  too  great  for 
my  stiff  neck.  As  well  might  I  bow  to  a  hereditary  Monarch,  a  life  leased 
Aristocracy,  or  a  jockey  made  President.  Let  the  church  be  formed  (not 
of  many  masters,  but)  of  living  stones,  and  proceed  as  the  Bible  directs, 
and  I  will  be  subject,  and  not  set  up  my  will  as  a  standard  for  others ;  but 
let  them  not  crowd  into  the  empire  of  conscience  ;  for  the  little  busy 
Paul,  (whose  name  is  mentioned  one  hundred  and  sixty  times  in  the  New 
Testament,)  saith,  "  why  is  my  liberty  judged  by  another  man's  con- 
science ?"  My  religion  forbids  me  to  speak  evil  of  dignities — teaches  me 
to  be  subject  to  the  powers  that  be — to  obey  magiytrates,  etc.  Where  laws 
are  made  for  general  good,  I  would  cheerfully  submit ;  where  they  are 
oppressive,  I  would  bear  with  patience.  If  the  oppression  can  be  removed 
by  the  oppressed,  I  would  unite  with  them  to  gain  redress.  But  if  laws 
are  made  to  describe  what   God  I  shall  adore,  how  I  shall   worship  him, 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  649 

and  at  what  places  and  times  that  worship  shall  be  paid  ;  be  it  known  to 
all  that  I  will  not  fall  down  and  worship  the  innage  that  is  set  up.  "  Where 
conscience  begins,  empire  ends." 

But  stop  my  fugitive  pen,  come  back  to  your  bearings.     Our  constitu- 
tion of  government  was   formed  in   peace   for   peace ;  and   many  of  its 
warmest  friends  feared  it  would  not  sustain  the  shock  of  -war.     Mr.  Ran- 
dolph once  said,  "go  to  war,  Mr.  Chairman,  and  you  will  come  out  of  it 
without  a  constitution."     This  prediction,  however,  has  failed.     Mr.  Mad- 
ison said  to  me,  in   1788,  "  the  states  have  surrendered  to  the  general 
government  a  certain  quantity  of  their  rights  ;  but  it  is  most  likely,  if 
ever  the  general  government  is  dissolved,  it  will  proceed  from  the  jeal- 
ousy  of  state  authorities."     This  has  not  yet  taken  place.     The  present 
appearance  is  that  the  ambition  of  aspirants,  with   their   inflamed  parti- 
zans,  are  the    most  to  be  feared.     Why  all   this   strife  and  contention  ? 
What  is  there  in  high   offices  so  amiable  ?     Did    Milton   make   the  devil 
speak  a  truth,  when  he  said,  "better  reign  in  hell,  than  be  subordinate 
in  heaven?"     In  monarchies,  where  kings  have  their  agents  to  do  the 
thinking  and  acting  for  them,  a  throne  may  be  an  easy  seat ;  but,  in  the 
United  States,  the  presidency  must  be  a  laborious,  painful  and  perplexing 
office  ;  and  it  will  seem  to  me  that  the  president,  who  is  fairly  chosen  by 
the  people,  needs,  and  has  a  constitutional  right  to  expect  all  the  aid  thai 
the  co-ordinate  powers  and  the  people  can  afford,  (not  sacrificin<jf,  how- 
ever, the  right  of  private  judgment  and  the  open  disclosure  of  opinion.) 
This   would    be    practical    republicanism.     Some   time    past,    a   society 
agreed  to  build  a  meeting-house,  but  differed  widely  as  to  the  best  mea- 
sures of  erecting  and  disposing  of  it.     When  the  question  was  decided  by 
a  fair  vote,  a  man  who  was  in  the  minority  arose   and  addressed  the  so- 
ciety as  follows  :     "  Gentlemen,  the  vote  has  gone  against  me,  but  I  con- 
cur, and  shall  do  as  much  to  further  the  work  as  if  my  judgment  had  been 
honored.     It  is  my  will  that  a  majority  should  rule,  and  therefore,  in  this 
instance,  my  will  is  gratified."     This  republican  principle,  interwoven 
into  all  the  federal  states,  and  into  the  heart  of  every  officer  in  the  United 
States,  would  produce  more  good  work,  and  less  bad  talk,  than  is  now  the 
case  ;  for  oratory  has  overdone  itself.     The  question  now  is,  among  the 
middling  class  of  sober  men,  (who  in  fiict  are  the  bone  of  society,)  not 
"  what  does  the  man  say  ?"  but  "  what  does  he  do  ?"     Free  debate  must 
be  granted,  and  decent  time  allowed  fur  reflection  ;  but  it  is  presumed 
that  nearly  all  the   leading  questions  that  come  before  Congress,  are  cut 
and  dried  beforehand  ;  and,  if  the  previous  question  was  sustained  on  the 
first  day,  the  result  would  be  the  same  that  takes  place  after  two  months 
are  consumed  in  retailing  wind  ;  for,  the  members  are   not  sent  by  their 
constituents  to  be  converted,  but  because  they  are  covenanted,  and  will 
not  fall  from  grace. 

82 


650  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

It  would  be  a  criminal  impeachment  of  the  wisdom  of  the  constituenJ 
power,  to  question  the  disinterested  purity  of  motives  of  those  who  are 
chosen  representatives.  On  the  floor  of  Congress  it  would  not  be  ad- 
mitted. And  mean  suspicion  and  vain  surmisings,  are  not  to  be  nurtured 
in  our  fields,  shops  or  firesides.  But  when  men  give  rational  evidence 
that  their  object  is  to  disgrace  others,  and  direct  the  people  who  to  vote 
for,  manly  jealousy  and  love  of  country,  call  upon  the  people  to  mark 
such  men  and  avoid  them.  Such  men  bring  a  great  pressure  on  our  in- 
stitutions, and  unless  their  deposits  are  removed  to  the  bank  of  pi'ivate 
life,  contention  will  continue,  and  ruin  follow. 

With  due  respect  to  Uncle  Sam,  Old  Hickory  and  yourself,  I  sub- 
scribe, etc. 

JOHN  LELAND. 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  651 


ADDRESS 

AT    A    DEMOCRATIC    MEETING    HELD    AT    CHESHIRE,    AUGUST    28,    1834. 


Fellow-Citizens  : — Were  it  not  that  I  am  publicly  pledged,  that  "  as 
long  as  I  can  speak  with  my  tongue — ivield  a  pen — or  heave  a  cry  to  heaven, 
whenever  the  rights  of  men,  the  liberty  of  conscience,  or  the  good  of  my  coun- 
try were  invaded  ly  fraud  or  force,  my  feeble  efforts  should  not  lie  dormant,'^ 
I  should  decline  your  invitation  at  this  time  on  account  of  my  age  and  in- 
capacity. But,  on  your  request,  I  attend  with  you  to-day,  and  shall  cast 
in  my  two  mites  for  the  support  of  this  doctrine,  viz :  That  the  rights  of 
man  and  the  energy  of  law,  when  operating  in  their  proper  channels,  are 
aids  to  each  other ;  but  when  either  or  both  of  them  grow  licentious  and 
proclaim  war,  if  no  expedient  is  found  to  check  their  hostility,  either  des- 
potism or  anarchy  will  follow.  Tyranny  is  the  licentiousness  oi great  men  ; 
anarchy  the  licentiousness  of  little  men,  both  of  which  are  destructive  to 
rational  liberty.  Good  government  and  equal  laws  form  the  expedient  that 
sober  reason  has  prescribed  to  check  the  vicious  and  unwearied  propensi- 
ties of  the  human  heart,  and  bridle  those  desires  and  actions  which  cannot 
be  tamed.         ********** 

If  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  would  point  out  a  better  line  of  adminis- 
tration than  that  which  has  been  in  operation  for  the  last  six  years,  know- 
ing  that  they  themselves  were  not  to  be  the  agents  of  it,  they  would  render 
good  service  to  their  country.  This  new  light  we  would  receive  with 
great  avidity  and  thankfulness.  But,  for  this  we  have  hitherto  looked  in 
vain.  To  find  fault  with  what  is  done,  without  showing  what  could  be 
done  better,  is  no  mark  of  a  patriot  or  statesman.  Let  those  fault-finding 
chieftains  be  notified  now,  if  they  never  have  been  before,  that  their  op- 
position  is  viewed  by  democratical  republicans  to  be  the  child  of  hatred  to 
the  man  whom  the  people  have  delighted  to  honor  above  them,  and  who 
will  not  bend  before  them ;  as  well  as  the  effect  of  ambition  to  rise  into 
the  chief  seats  of  the  synagogue  themselves,  and  be  called  Rabbi — Presi- 
dent, and  Rabbi — Secretary.  On  the  legislative  floor  we  impeach  the 
motives  of  none  ;  but  at  home  and  at  the  polls  we  are  governed  by 
Lynch's  law,  and  not  by  parliamentary  fetters. 


652  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

When  Mr.  Jefferson  was  elected  president,  tlie  pulpits  rang  with  alarms, 
and  the  presses  groaned  with  predictions,  that  the  Bibles  would  all  be 
burned  ;  meeting-houses  destroyed  ;  the  marriage  bonds  dissolved,  and 
anarchy,  infidelity  and  licentiousness  would  fill  the  land.  These  clerical 
warnings  and  editorial  prophecies  all  failed.  Instead  thereof^  during  his 
administration,  the  national  debt  was  reduced  $40,000,000  ;  the  internal 
taxes  taken  off";  the  vast  territory  of  the  west  was  added  to  the  United 
States,  and  every  man  sat  quietly  under  his  vine  and  fig  tree,  enjoying  the 
freedom  of  his  religion  and  the  attachment  of  his  wife  and  children. 

So  with  respect  to  Gen.  Jackson.  Before  he  came  into  office,  the  alarm 
guns  were  fired  in  every  direction.  "  He  has  no  learning  ;  he  is  not  ex- 
perienced in  diplomacy  ;  he  is  only  a  military  chieftain;  he  is  lawless; 
he  is  a  murderer  ;  if  he  should  be  president,  the  members-  of  Congress 
must  go  armed  to  Washington  ;  better  be  cursed  with  war,  famine  or  pes- 
tilence, than  be  under  military  rule,"  &c.  But  the  nerves  of  the  people 
sustained  the  shock,  and  raised  him  to  the  highest  office  in  their  gift. 

But  a  heterogeneous  band  have  been  and  still  are  hunting  him  like  a 
partridge  on  the  mountains,  and  are  determined  to  neithereat  nor  drink  un- 
til they  have  killed  Paul.  But  he,  with  unruffled  temper,  like  the  horses 
in  Pharaoh's  chariot,  keeps  on  his  course  of  seeking  the  good  of  the  people, 
regardless  of  all  the  yelping  puppies  that  seek  to  snap  at  his  feet. 

During  his  administration,  the  national  debt  has  been  reduced  to  a  mere 
fraction;  duties  lessened  ;  treaties  formed  ;  rewards  for  spoliations  obtain- 
ed ;  vast  tracts  of  land  purchased  of  the  Indians,  &c.  For  more  than  sixty 
years  I  have  been  old  enough  to  observe  the  state  of  things,  and  can  honest- 
ly say,  that  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  I  have  never  seen  a  time  of  greater  pros- 
perity, among  every  class  of  citizens,  than  the  present:  look  which  way  I 
will,  the  proofs  of  prosperity  are  before  my  eyes.  Nor  can  I  conceive  how 
rational  beings  can  expect  more  from  government  than  we  enjoy. 

From  the  first  operation  of  our  government,  in  1789,  until  the  present 
time,  there  has  always  been  some  question  afloat  to  agitate  the  public 
mind  :  the  present  question  is  the  Bank  op  the  United  States. 

When  the  constitution  fi^rst  made  its  appearance,  in  the  autumn  of  1787,. 
Iread  it  with  close  attention,  and  finally  gave  my  vote  for  its  adoption; 
and  after  the  amendments  took  place,  I  esteemed  it  as  good  a  skeleton  as 
could  well  be  formed  (never,  however,  liking  the  Judiciary  Department  of 
it.)  I  had  then  no  thought  of  a  bank,  and  had  heard  nothing  said  about 
it.  When  the  bank  was  first  chartered,  it  was  an  act  I  had  never  looked 
for ;  but  being  ignorant  of  commercial  and  fiscal  concerns,  I  held  my 
peace,  concluding  that  other  men  knew  better  than  myself;  and  in  that 
acquiescence  Ihave  lived  until  this  time,  without  ever  studying  banking- 
principles.  Of  late,  however,  the  exteriors  of  the  bank  have  struck  my 
mind.. 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  653 

Very  soon  after  Gen.  Jackson  began  to  administer,  in  a  public  docu- 
ment he  made  an  avowal  of  the  intrinsic  evils,  dangerous  tendency  and 
party  application  of  the  bank,  in  his  view  of  it.  This  he  did  to  awaken 
the  attention  of  the  people,  and  give  the  directors  of  the  bank  time  to  set- 
tle their  accounts  before  the  expiration  of  the  charter,  in  case  it  should  not 
be  renewed. 

The  spirit  of  this  inquiry  he  kept  alive  during  his  first  term  of  adminis- 
tration. The  plain  language  of  which  was  :  "  Fellow-citizens,  I  give  you 
my  views  of  the  bank,  and  shall  act  upon  those  principles  ;  if  you  respond 
to  those  sentiments  I  am  ready  to  serve  you  ;  if  not,  elect  another  agent." 
The  people,  with  their  eyes  open,  again  elected  him  to  the  presidency, 
giving  him  more  than  two-thirds  of  their  votes ;  which  was  one  evidence 
that  they  were  opposed  to  the  bank,  under  its  present  regulations.  Soon 
after  this  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  (in  conformity  to  chartered  right) 
removed  the  national  deposites  from  the  bank  of  United  States  to  other 
banks.  This  has  occasioned  warm  feeling  and  inflammatory  harangues 
beyond  measure. 

The  Senate  have  passed  a  vote  of  censure  on  the  president,  and  will  not 
admit  his  protest  to  be  entered  on  their  journal.  The  reasons  of  the  secre- 
tary they  declare  insufficient,  and,  in  their  executive  capacity,  have  re- 
fused to  confirm  his  nomination.  The  House  of  Representatives  have  vo- 
ted that  the  bank  ought  not  to  be  re-chartered,  and  that  the  removal  of 
the  deposites  is  in  conformity  to  the  charter  of  the  bank,  and  expedient  as 
well  as  legal.  The  case  is  now  at  issue  between  the  advocates  for  the 
bank  and  its  foes ;  which  case  the  sovereign  people  will  decide  ;  and  if 
they  are  rightly  informed,  will  judge  uprightly.  What  I  have  seen  and 
heard  in  this  unusual  struggle  about  the  bank,  compels  me  to  say  that  if 
one  was  to  inform  me  that  the  president  and  directors  of  the  bank,  and  all 
its  warm  advocates,  were  disinterested  patriots,  and  had  only  the  good  of 
the  country  at  heart ;  that  they  really  believed  that  agriculture,  manufac- 
tures, and  commerce,  would  all  languish,  and  national  bankruptcy  follow 
unless  the  bank  should  be  continued,  I  should  find  myself  so  unbelieving 
that  I  should  have  to  pray,  "  Lord,  increase  my  faith,"  for  my  faith  in  this 
information  would  not  be  equal  to  a  grain  of  mustard-seed.  But  if  another 
was  to  tell  me  that  the  bank,  in  its  present  form,  was  a  dangerous  institu- 
tion ;  the  stockholders  a  privileged  class ;  that  the  directors  were  unsub- 
missive ;  and  that  the  warm  advocates  for  its  re-charter  are  either  stock- 
holders in  the  bank  or  receive  her  smiles  and  kisses,  I  should  believe  the 
report  without  requiring  signs  and  miracles  to  confirm  my  faith. 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  is  an  august  assemblage  ;  chosen  by  the 
legislatures  of  the  several  states;  holding  their  offices  for  six  years  ;  par- 
taking of  a  part  of  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judiciary  powers  :  how 
important !    An  ambassador  at  Rome  once  said,  "  The  Senate  of  Rom  j  is 


654  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

an  assembly  of  the  Gods,  but  my  own  countrymen  are  a  herd  of  Hydras." 
But  such  is  the  weakness  and  depravity  of  human  nature,  that  men  in  the 
highest  stations  may  do  wrong.  That  the  Senate  did,  at  their  last  session, 
abuse  the  president,  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  and  the  postmaster- 
general,  is  notorious  :  but  passing  that  by,  there  were  some  laws  passed  in 
the  session  that  bid  fair  to  be  of  great  utility. 

The  gold  bill  will  have  a  natural  tendency  to  stop  the  exportation  of 
American  eagles,  and  bring  back  many  of  the  fugitives  to  their  native  soil. 
Making  foreign  silver  current,  will  have  a  like  tendency  to  bring  much  of 
it  from  the  states  in  the  silver  regions.  Gold  mines  are  somewhat  prolific 
in  some  of  our  southern  states.  Add  to  this  the  twenty  millions  of  specie 
that  have  lately  been  shipped  into  the  United  States  ;  and  a  permanent  cur- 
rency, sufficient  for  a  medium  of  barter,  may  be  established. 

If  banks  shall  nevertheless  be  necessary  to  facilitate  commerce,  let  them 
be  chartered  in  the  states,  with  this  proviso,  that  no  bills  of  a  less  denomi- 
nation than  $10  shall  be  emitted.  This  scheme,  or  something  like  it, 
would  make  the  people  of  the  United  States  happy  in  their  fiscal  concerns. 
It  is  a  given  truth  that  there  is  no  intrinsic  value  in  paper  currency  ;  not 
as  much  as  there  is  in  a  paper  of  pins  or  an  iron  nail.  The  value  of  it  is 
nojninal,  not  real ;  it  is  the  evidence  of  wealth,  which  is  not  in  itself,  I 
here  close  my  superficial  remarks  on  the  exteriors  of  the  bank  of  the  United 
States,  and  leave  the  constitutionality  and  expediency  of  it  to  be  elucidated 
by  its  friends  and  foes  before  the  great  tribunal,  the  sovereign  people,  and 
shall  cheerfully  submit  to  the  decision. 

The  friends  of  the  present  administration  have  nothing  to  flatter  them  at 
present  in  this  commonwealth  at  large,  or  even  in  this  congressional  dis- 
trict, where  a  decided  and  overwhelming  majority  of  numbers,  wealth  and 
talent  are  against  it.  But  so  many  changes,  divisions,  subdivisions,  tri- 
sions,  quatrisions,  cleavings  ofT,  and  splicings  together,  take  place  ;  and  at 
every  new  jump  a  new  name  is  given  ;  that  he  who  follows  the  times  needs 
the  sagacity  of  a  hound,  to  follow  the  crooked  track  of  a  fox. 

Among  a  thousand  things  that  might  be  said  to  encourage  the  perseve- 
ring democratic  minority,  let  one  be  sufficient. 

The  early  settlers  of  New  England  had  a  strong  notion  of  a  Christian 
commonwealth  ;  that  Christians  had  the  same  pre-eminence  over  the  heath- 
en that  the  Israelites  had  over  the  inhabitants  of  Canaan  ;  that  as  God 
gave  the  tribes  the  land  of  the  Canaanites,  so  also  it  was  his  will  that  Chris- 
tians should  take  away  the  land  of  the  Indians.  Another  idea  they  enter- 
tained, that  although  diocesan  government  of  the  church  was  unscriptural 
and  cruel,  yet  each  town  should  (under  act  of  the  legislature)  by  a  major 
vote,  compel  all  to  attend  the  worship  and  Support  the  preacher  that  the  ma- 
jority preferred.  In  these  things  Roger  Williams,  minister  of  Salem, 
withstood   them  J  and  for  manfully  maintaining  that  religious  opinions 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  655 

were  not  articles  of  human  legislation,  and  that  it  was  unjust  to  take  the 
land  of  the  Indians  without  a  satisfactory  reward,  he  was  banished  from 
Massachusetts  Bay,  and  fled  south  to  the  Indians,  who  gave  him  a  tract  of 
land  which  he  named  Providence.  He  became  the  principal  founder  of 
the  state  of  Rhode  Island,  and  has  the  honor  of  founding  the  first  govern- 
ment, free  from  religious  oppression,  that  has  ever  been  since  the  days  of 
Constantine.  William  Penn  followed  his  example  in  founding  Pennsylva- 
nia  upon  the  same  principle.  And  in  1787  and  '88,  the  United  States  did 
the  same.  What  an  individual  contended  for  against  a  host,  and  for  which 
he  was  banished,  is  now  become  the  supreme  law  of  the  whole  United 
States.  What  has  been  may  be  again.  Democracy  runs  low  in  this 
state  at  present;  it  may  rise:  if  not,  democrats  can  bear.  In  the  United 
States,  democracy  had  a  commanding  voice  for  the  last  six  years  :  what 
changes  may  take  place  hereafter  I  cannot  say ;  every  spoke  in  the  wheel 
has  its  turn  in  being  uppermost.  Who  will  succeed  the  present  chief 
magistrate  in  the  presidency  is  yet  unknown  ;  many  seem  to  be  licking 
their  chops  for  it :  and  if  the  fever  does  not  intermit,  it  will  soon  be  with 
our  republic  as  it  once  was  with  Rome,  which  one  of  their  poets  describes 
thus :  "  Oh  what  a  many-headed  beast  is  Rome  !  How  many  horns  she 
bears !''  Let  the  presidency  fall  into  whose  hands  it  may  hereafter,  the 
democrats  have  this  to  say,  that  it  was  under  the  administration  of  their 
favorite  presidents,  Jefferson  and  Jackson,  that  the  debt  of  the  nation  was 
more  reduced,  and  greater  acquisitions  of  territory  made,  than  in  any 
fourteen  years  besides.  It  must  be  expected  that  in  an  elective  govern, 
ment  personal  attachments,  and  the  wish  of  a  different  line  of  measures, 
will  occasion  some  confusion  ;  but  as  long  as  the  contention  contains  only 
hot  wind  and  loud  noise,  free  from  the  smoke  of  powder  and  the  stain  of 
blood,  it  must  be  borne  with  as  a  tax  which  all  free  governments  have  to 
pay  for  their  liberty. 

Compare  the  condition  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  with  that 
of  the  subjects  of  European  monarchs,  and  you  will  felicitate  yourselves 
and  bless  God  that  you  are  Americans.  With  them  pomp  and  poverty  ; 
sumptuousness  and  starvation;  fulness  and  beggary ;  purple  and  ragged- 
ness  ;  oppression  and  depression  ;  haughtiness  and  cringing,  are  seen  at 
one  glance.  Splendor  of  courts  ;  the  aggrandizement  of  a  iew,  and  the 
wretchedness  of  many,  is  a  true  portrait  of  those  kingdoms.  But  in  our 
institutions  there  is  no  king  but  law,  and  every  man  has  a  voice  in  making 
it ;  no  hereditary  lords  ;  no  privileged  orders  in  church  or  state  ;  we  call 
no  man  master  ;  we  are  all  on  a  level,  minding  our  own  business,  making 
our  own  bargains,  and  seeking  our  own  happiness  in  our  own  chosen  way. 
Such  is  the  genius  of  our  institutions.  But  if,  under  some  peculiar  excite- 
ment, we  are  led  into  error,  time  and  reflection,  with  the  aid  of  the  all- 


656  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

correcting  weapon  eight  of  suffrage,  bring  us  back  to  our  natural  bear- 
ings and  peaceful  enjoyments. 

As  tlie  sentiments  of  this  concourse  can  be  better  expressed  by  resolu- 
tions than  by  my  feeble  address,  I  shall  give  way,  relying  on  the  goodness 
of  the  audience  to  pass  by  all  the  defects  of  limited  talents,  inexperience 
in  state  affairs,  and  weakness  of  age.  As  political  meetings  in  Cheshire, 
heretofore,  have  been  eulogized  for  sobriety  and  good  order,  an  emulation 
to  retain  the  character  will  stimulate  every  one  to  abstain  from  intempe- 
rance, riot,  and  strife ;  that  nothing  may  be  said  or  done  to  stain  the  fair 
character  of  the  town,  or  expose  democracy  to  disgrace  j  nothing  inconsis- 
tent with  the  principles  of  morality,  or  pure  and  undefiled  religion.  Let  it 
be  known  to  all,  that  while  we  contend  for  the  rights  of  man  against  the 
claims  of  aristocrats,  and  the  clamor  of  ambitious  would-be-ins,  we  act 
under  a  sense  of  our  accountability  to  the  King  of  all  nations.  Happiness 
and  prosperity  to  all  of  you. 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  657 


LETTER. 


'Siu : — I  respond  to  your  sentiments,  respecting  our  illustrious  chief 
Hiagistrate,  and  the  abuse  that  has  been  cast  upon  him,  by  a  heterogene- 
ous mob,  composed  of  Nullifiers,  Hartford  Convention  men,  Bankites,  and 
the  would-be-ins.  Supposing  they  should  succeed  in  their  wishes,  is  it 
probable  that  better  treaties  would  be  made  ;  more  land  purchased  ;  debts 
sunk  faster  ;  commerce  more  flourishing ;  public  credit  more  firm  ;  the 
hand  of  labor  more  eased  ;  state  rights  more  respected  ;  the  liberty  of  the 
-citizens  better  guarded,  or  any  blessing  that  may  reasonably  be  looked  for 
from  government  bettered  ? 

When  I  survey  the  administration  of  President  Jackson,  I  am  constrain- 
ed to  say,  "  he  has  done  all  things  well,"  and  would  ask  those  who  are 
seeking  to  run  him  down,  "  why,  what  evil  has  he  done  ?"  The  Almighty 
Being,  who  seems  to  have  a  peculiar  regard  for  the  United  States,  has 
raised  up  men  of  singular  qualities  to  meet  special  emergencies,  whose 
names  v/ill  live  in  admiration  as  long  as  history  endures ;  and  in  this  list 
of  names,  that  of  Andrew  Jackson  will  not  be  obliterated  :  for  what  other 
man  would  have  met  with  all  that  he  has,  with  the  same  personal  and  moral 
courage  and  prudence  ;  giving  uncontrovertible  evidence  in  every  measure 
that  the  good  of  the  people,  and  not  his  own  aggrandisement,  was  the  stimu- 
lus ?  But  stop !  I  am  no  statesman.  The  origin,  design  and  boundaries 
of  civil  government  I  have  studied  ;  its  interference  with  religion  I  have 
opposed  ;  the  equal  rights  of  all  I  have  plead  for  ;  but  the  minutia  of  law 
I  am  a  stranger  to. 

In  the  formation  of  our  constitution  of  general  government,  the  aristo- 
cratical  part  of  the  community  could  not  get  woven  into  the  letter  of  it  all 
that  they  desired  ;  but  after  its  ratification,  they  called  into  requisition  all 
their  energies  to  turn  the  administration  into  an  aristocratic  channel,  and 
by  construction  gave  it  an  irresponsible  tone  ;  and  were  so  successful  that 
in  ten  years  an  alien  act — a  sedition  act — a  stamp  act,  with  a  standing 
army,  etc.,  were  all  established  ;  and  the  doctrine  was  trumpeted  far  and 
loud,  ''that  a  national  debt  was  a  national  blessing,"  which  was  chorused, 
"  the  rulers  must  save  the  people  from  themselves."  None  but  those  who 
lived  at  the  time,  can  fully  conceive  how  much  it  cost  the  sober  democrats 
to  place  Jefferson  in  the  presidential  chair,  and  check  the  threatening 

83 


658  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

flood.  But  notwithstanding  the  fatal  wound  which  Federalism  then  receiv- 
ed, since  the  close  of  the  last  war  in  1815,  this  deadly  wound  has  been 
partly  healed  by  the  disguise  of  National  Republicanism,  and  old  Democ- 
racy has  been  obliged  to  arm  herself  with  ballot  box  weapons  to  vanquish 
the  same  old  enemy,  who  is  now  dodging  out  of  sight  under  the  covert  of 

Whig. 

If  individuals  were  always  governed  by  truth,  justice,  and  benevolence, 
few  laws,  and  few  magistrates  would  be  sufficient ;  but  government  took 
its  rise  from  the  wrongs  of  men.  Men,  finding  evil  propensities  in  them- 
selves, and  seeing  the  overt  acts  of  others,  called  in  the  aid  of  sober  rea- 
son to  establish  rules  to  prevent  the  mischief.  This  is  government,  which 
is  an  evil  of  itself,  because  it  costs  individuals  some  of  their  natural  rights  ; 
but  it  is  a  necessary  evil  to  prevent  a  greater. 

I  have  lived  under  the  administration  of  seven  presidents,  and  was  never 
better  pleased  with  the  measures  of  government  than  I  now  am.  I  have 
endeavored  to  serve  my  generation  according  to  the  clearest  light  that  I 
could  gain.  It  is  now  for  the  rising  generation  to  sustain  the  institutions 
which  their  fathers  have  left  them  ;  improve  upon  them,  or  radically  change 
them  ;  for  one  generation  has  no  right  to  control  that  which  succeeds. 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  659 


A  MEMORIAL. 


THE   FOLLOWING   WAS   WRITTEN   FOR   HIS   DAUGHTER,   AT   HER    BEQUEST,  AS 
A   MEMORIAL    OF    HIMSELF. 


Now,  in  the  eve  of  a  life  but  poorly  spent,  I  write  a  few  lines  for  you, 
that  you  may  have  a  token  to  remember  me  by,  after  my  decease.  But 
why  all  this  ?  A  century  from  this  time,  there  will  not  be  a  person  on 
earth,  that  ever  heard  there  was  such  a  man  as  myself;  nor  am  I  anxious 
to  perpetuate  a  name  associated  with  so  few  virtues  and  so  many  defects. 
If  my  name  is  found  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life — if  my  robe  is  washed 
and  made  white  by  his  blood — if  he  will  say  to  me  at  the  judgment  day, 
"  come,  ye  blessed  of  my  father,  receive  the  reward  of  a  crown  of  life, 
and  palm  of  victory,"  it  is— it  ought  to  be — my  greatest  desire  ;  never- 
theless, while  I  am  here  in  the  body,  living  on  the  bounties  of  heaven,  I 
have  a  feeble  desire  to  serve  my  generation  by  the  will  of  God,  like  David, 
knowing  that  shortly  I  must  fall  asleep. 

Sin  has  introduced  so  much  darkness  and  blindness  into  this  world,  that 
I  have  ever  found  it  a  hard  task  to  find  the  real  truth ;  and  notwithstanding 
the  true  light  has  been  shining  ever  since  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  arose, 
still  blindness  and  inattention  involve  me  in  ignorance.  Nor  is  this  all  ; 
sin  has  so  completely  ruined  men,  that  any  scheme  of  restoration  that  crea- 
tures  can  comprehend,  would  be  insufficient ;  a  scheme  founded  in  infinite 
wisdom,  and  executed  in  infinite  love  and  omnipotent  power,  was  necessary. 
This  scheme  the  gospel  reveals;  but  how  incompetent  are  men, or  angels, 
to  understand  it  in  all  its  parts.  The  wonders  hidden  in  this  plan,  will  be 
gradually  unfolding  to  the  saints  eternally,  but  will  never  be  exhausted. 
But, 

Tho'  of  exact  perfection  we  despair, 
Yet  every  step  to  virtue's  worth  our  care. 

Some  feeble  conclusions  that  I  have  formed  of  God's  truth,  here  fol- 
low : 

The  excellencies  of  human  life  consist  in  justice,  accommodation,  mercy, 
truth,  and  1  berality. 

Justice  has  just  weights,  measures,  and  balances,  will  never  deceive  or 


660  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

defraud  any  one,  and  will  not  extort  or  diminish  his  own  or  another^s,  for 
the  sake  of  advantage. 

Accommodation,  by  looking  not  on  our  own  things,  (exclusively,)  but  on 
the  things  of  others,  with  but  little  or  no  expense,  can  greatly  diminish  the 
troubles,  and  increase  the  comforts  of  the  world. 

Mercy  has  a  pitiful  eye  and  a  liberal  hand,  towards  all  the  distressed. 
It  feels  another's  wo,  and  will  not  say  to  the  needy,  "be  ye  warmed,  and 
be  clothed,"  without  giving  relief,  if  in  its  power. 

Truth,  without  disguise,  was  so  much  esteemed  among  some  of  the 
heathen,  that  they  had  a  goddess,  called  Truth,  stark  naked.  If  every  one 
would  speak  truth  with  his  neighbor,  we  might  believe  every  word  we  hear, 
and  grow  wise.  Many  times  men  are  brought  into  a  dilemma,  where  a 
little  lie  will  seem  to  help  them  out.  Such  was  the  case  with  Peter  ;  but 
a  good  man,  governed  by  goodness,  will  swear  to  his  own  hurt  and  not 
change, — that  is,  he  will  stick  to  the  truth,  if  it  injures  himself. 

Liberality  of  heart,  reduced  to  practice  for  the  public  good — useful 
institutions,  and  the  relief  of  individuals,  according  to  what  a  man  hath,  is 
approved  among  all  nations. 

All  these  excellencies,  with  their  corresponding  virtues,  may  be  perform- 
ed by  a  mere  man  of  the  world,  who  has  never  been  anointed  with  the 
"  holy  unction,"  or  drank  of  the  "  water  of  life."  And  if,  in  addition  thereto, 
he  has  abstained  from  all  overt  acts,  and  "  kept  all  from  his  youth  up,"  all 
together,  can  gain  no  hope  beyond  the  grave,  nor  show  one  sin  forgiven. 
One  thing  is  still  lacking. 

A  great  part  of  the  preceptive  addresses  given  in  the  Old  Testament, 
and  some  in  the  New,  were  given  to  men  as  citizens  of  state,  or  moralists 
in  human  society,  and  have  no  bearing  on  eternity :  of  course,  the  promi. 
ses  and  penalties  annexed  thereto,  are  contingent. 

That  children  do  that,  in  their  ancestors,  long  before  they  are  born,  for 
which  they  are  applauded  or  punished,  is  noticed  in  the  Bible :  see  Heb. 
vii.,  9,  10.  And  as  I  may  so  say,  Levi  also,  who  receiveth  tithes,  paid 
tithes  in  Abraham,  Luke  xi.,  50.  Tliat  the  blood  of  all  the  prophets,  which 
was  shed  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  may  be  required  of  this  gene- 
ration. Without  enlarging  here,  I  may  safely  say,  that  all  have  sinned, 
and  are  by  nature  children  of  wrath,  under  guilt  and  in  a  state  of  pollution. 
Neither  the  human  nature  of  heathens,  the  religious  rituals  of  the  phari- 
sees,  nor  the  smoking  altars,  and  bleeding  victims  of  the  Mosaic  institu- 
tution,  can  take  away  the  guilt  of  sin,  or  purge  the  conscience  of  dead 
works.  The  blood  of  Christ  alone  removes  the  guilt  of  sin, — his  holy 
anointing  frees  us  from  its  reigning  dominion.  Yes,  the  religion  that 
saves  the  soul  from  sin,  guilt,  and  condemnation,  includes  a  mediator,  who 
died  for  our  sins,  a  change  of  heart,  or  being  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the 
will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God,  (of  his  own  will  he 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  661 

begets  us  by  the  word  of  truth,)  not  by  works  of  righteousness  which  we 
have  done,  but  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  the  renewing  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  he  works  in  us,  both  to  will  and  to  do.  This  spirit  of  grace, 
shed  abundantly  on  the  soul,  causes  it  to  bring  forth  the  fruits  of  love,  joy, 
peace,  long  suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance, 
against  which  there  is  no  law.  This  immortal  seed,  which  abides  with  the 
saints,  not  only  produces  the  internal  fruits,  just  mentioned,  but  is  a  stronger 
stimulus  to  prompt  to  every  good  work,  both  religious  and  human,  than  the 
horrid  fear  of  punishment,  and  the  flattering  hope  of  reward. 

These  are  my  views  of  religion  ;  but  as  I  lay  no  claim  to  infallible  in- 
spiration, or  profundity  of  research,  I  cannot  tell  whether  any,  or  how 
much  error  may  be  incorporated  into  my  creed.  I,  therefore,  advise  every 
one  to  read,  pray,  and  examine  personally,  with  an  unbiased  mind,  re- 
membering that  an  honest,  humble  heart,  is  more  acceptable  to  God  than 
boasted  wisdom. 


662  THE    WRITINGS    OP 


I  WILL  ALSO  SHOW  MY  OPINION/ 


On  or  about  the  year  thirty  A.  D.,  Caiaphas  was  head  of  the  Jewish 
Sanhedrim  ;  a  court  of  priests,  scribes,  and  pharisees,  which  took  cognizance 
of  religious  crinnes,  and  awarded  the  punishnnents  to  the  offenders.  Herod, 
in  his  jurisdiction,  was  head  of  the  men  of  war.  Pilate  was  governor  and 
chief  justice  in  Palestine,  which  was  then  a  Roman  province.  Herod  and 
Pilate  were  at  variance ;  but  what  the  bone  of  contention  was,  is  uncer- 
tain. If  Herod  promised  the  people  to  make  it  known,  he  never  redeem- 
ed his  pledge.  Caiaphas  was  no  friend  to  either  of  them  ;  being  himself 
a  circumcised  Jew,  he  would  neither  eat  with,  nor  be  sociable  with  idol- 
aters. But  a  certain  event  took  place,  in  which  the  three  dropped  their 
hostility,  and  united  to  act  in  concert.  The  Saviour  of  the  world  was 
declared  worthy  of  death  by  Caiaphas  and  his  council — set  at  naught  by 
Herod  and  his  men  of  war — condemned  and  executed  by  Pilate  and  his 
band  of  soldiers.  These  events  belong  to  the  great  department,  and  took 
place  eighteen  hundred  years  ago.  Of  late,  however,  a  peculiar  fracas 
has  broken  out  in  the  United  States,  which  has  been  nineteen  years  brew- 
ing, which  naturally  leads  the  mind  to  reflect  on  the  past.  The  trium- 
virate of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  though  formerly  at  great  vari- 
ance, have  united  their  strength  to  degrade  and  run  down  Jackson  in  the 
esteem  and  confidence  of  the  people.  A  majority  of  the  senators  have  passed 
a  resolution  of  censure,  implicating  him  as  usurping  a  power  not  given  him  in 
the  constitution,  in  removing  the  deposits  of  the  United  States  bank.  Well, 
what  then  ?  The  resolution  and  the  record  of  it  on  their  journals  have  not 
changed  the  opinions  of  the  people — removed  the  deposits  back — nor  laid 
any  foundation  for  judicial  proceedings.  Whether  the  friends  of  the  resolu- 
tion were  sincere  or  malicious,  the  result  is,  "the  mountain  labored,  and 
brought  forth  a  mouse."  That  the  senators,  like  other  citizens,  had  a  good 
right,  in  a  self-created  convention,  to  pass  resolutions  on  men  and  measures, 
is  confessed  by  all  ;  but  men  of  black  paws,  ignorant  of  the  mystery  of 
profound  construction,  who  have  only  the  compass  of  common  sense,  and 
the  chart  of  plain  language  to  steer  by,  cannot  discern  by  what  authority 
the  Senate,  on  the  floor  of  legislation,  can  censure,  by  resolution,  any  man, 
"  »  Published  in  1835. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  663 

except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  in  which  the  senators  are  the  exclusive 
judges  and  the  prescribed  accusers. 

The  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  do  not  always  agree.  In  case 
of  disagreement,  should  the  House  of  Representatives  pass  a  resolution  to 
censure  the  Senate,  would  not  the  senators,  like  the  devils  in  Capernaum, 
cry  out  "let  us  alone — ne  sutor  ultra  crepidamV  Should  both  branches 
of  the  legislature  pass  resolutions  to  censure  the  judiciary  for  some  legal 
decision,  would  not  the  bench  reply,  Kke  Paul,  "  study  to  be  quiet,  and  do 
your  own  business."  The  resolutions  submitted,  after  the  expense  of  much 
time,  Herculean  speeches,  and  great  pain,  passed  the  Senate  ;  and  a  great- 
er nothing  was  never  seen.  Had  the  event  taken  place  in  the  days  of 
Hezekiah,  we  should  judge  that  the  reporter  of  those  times  (Isaiah)  had  it 
in  view  when  he  exclaimed,  "  we  have  been  in  pain,  we  have  as  it  were 
brought  forth  wind,  we  have  not  wrought  any  deliverance  in  the  earth." 
Some  of  my  political  brethren  (friends  of  Jackson  and  his  wise,  just  and 
economical  administration)  are  intent  to  have  the  record  of  the  vote  re- 
scinded, erased,  or  ex-punged  from  the  journals  of  the  senate.  I  wonder 
why  ?  My  views  are,  let  it  remain  on  the  journals  on  a  prominent  page, 
as  long  as  paper  and  ink  can  talk,  as  a  monument  of  what  party  rage, 
disappointed  ambition  and  political  insanity  can  do.  By  forming  the  es- 
timate of  men,  that  every  one  has  a  pope  in  his  belly,  (with  but  few  ex- 
ceptions,) it  is  highly  probable  that  the  senators  opposed  to  the  resolution, 
in  some  future  session,  will  exert  themselves  to  have  the  record  expunged 
from  their  journals.  Very  likely  the  question  will  be  the  hobby  for  a 
seven  month's  race ;  and  it  may  be  with  no  better  temper  than  has  at- 
tended it  heretofore.  Should  they  succeed  and  gain  a  vote  to  expunge 
the  record,  the  people  might  exclaim  as  a  rustick  boy^  David,  did  to  his 
mother,  that  his  brother  Jonathan  had  killed  a  dead  mouse.  For  the 
vote,  one  way  or  the  other,  does  Bot  weigh  an  ounce  of  lamp-black  in  the 
scale  of  the  judgment  and  prosperity  of  the  people,  nor  in  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  administration. 

The  charges  preferred  against  the  iLLUSTRioirs  character,  spoken  of 
in  the  head  of  this  essay,  were  "  that  he  was  a  devil,  and  worked  by  the 
power  of  Beelzebub — that  they  stoned  him  not  for  a  good  work  but  for  a 
bad  one — that  he  was  a  Sabbath-breaker — a  deceiver — a  seducer  and 
blasphemer — that  it  was  expedient  that  he  should  die  ;  otherwise  the  Ro- 
mans would  devastate  the  country."  These  were  the  accusations  ;  and 
although  his  friends  repelled  the  charges,  still  the  record  of  them  is  pre- 
served  in  the  most  durable  journals  ;  and  what  harm  has  it  done  ?  Has 
it  done  honor  to  the  accusers  or  injury  to  the  accused  ?  So  also  in  the 
case  in  view.  The  censuring  vote,  and  its  record  on  the  journals,  have 
never  made  one  enemy  of  the  president,  nor  one  friend  to  the  senators 
who  advocated  the  measure,  nor  altered  the  course  of  the  administration; 


664  THE   WRITINGS    OP 

and  if  the  record  should  be  expunged,  the  effect  would  be  as  passive. 
The  plea  for  expunging,  is,  that  a  vote  of  censure  against  the  president, 
if  left  on  record  in  the  journals  of  the  Senate,  vv'ill  be  a  dangerous  pre- 
cedent for  the  Senate  to  usurp  hereafter.  It  sounds  strange  to  hear  re- 
publicans plead  for  the  right  of  legislating  for  posterity  ;  but,  many  who 
are  republicans  in  their  judgments,  are  in  spirit  and  disposition  tyrants. 
What  can  precedent  do  to  withstand  determination  ?  Let  an  individual 
have  a  strong  will  to  do  anything,  and  precedents  to  the  contrary  have 
little  or  no  weight  with  him  ;  but,  if  he  has  power,  his  will  is  gratified, 
maugre  all  the  precedents.  So  it  is  with  nations;  and  so  it  is  with  legis- 
lative bodies. 


ELOER   JOHN    LEUA»D.  665 


THE  MOSAIC  DISPENSATION.* 


*'  I  will  give  thee  the  opening  of  the  mouth  in  the  tnidst  of  them." 

"  The  priests  bear  rule  by  their  means,  and  what  will  ye  do  in  the  end  thereof  ?''j 


In  a  world  where  the  power  of  God,  tlie  power  of  Satan,  and  the 
power  of  men,  have  their  respective  courses,  it  cannot  be  expected,  that 
religion,  in  all  its  purity,  will  be  possessed,  understood  and  practiced 
without  an  alloy  ofcrror.  From  the  entrance  of  sin  into  the  human  fa- 
mily, more  or  less  until  the  present  time,  darkness  has  covered  the  earth, 
and  gross  darkness  the  people.  From  creation  to  the  law  of  Moses, 
(almost  2500  years,)  except  what  was  known  of  God  by  his  works,  but 
very  small  gleams  of  light  were  given  unto  men  to  teach  them  the  moral 
character  of  God,  and  what  kind  of  worship  he  requires  of  them.  The 
Mosaic  ministration  v/as  glorious,  but  made  nothing  perfect,  except  by 
sacrificing  figures,  it  gave  no  hope  for  pardon  of  sin  and  eternal  life. 
When  the  writings  of  Moses,  and  of  the  prophets  who  lived  a  thousand 
years  after  him  were  read,  the  veil  remained  on  the  minds  of  the  readers. 
When  they  prophesied  of  the  coming  of  Christ  and  the  glory  that  would 
follow,  their  predictions  were  greatly  obscured  by  mystery  and  Judaism. 
God  had  provided  some  better  things  for  those  that  should  follow.  When 
John  the  Baptist,  like  the  morning  star,  came  before  and  introduced  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness,  the  dayspring  from  on  high  visited  the  world. 
The  true  light  then  shone.  The  examples  and  preaching  of  Christ,  with 
the  inspired  addresses  of  the  apostles,  recorded  in  the  New  Testament, 
form  a  perfect  creed  of  fuith  and  directory  of  life,  for  the  followers  of 
Christ  to  the  end  of  the  world.  No  man  may  add  thereto  or  diminish 
therefrom.  Those  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  which  are  brought  forward 
and  incorporated  into  the  New  Testament  are  binding  on  Christians. 
Other  parts  of  it  serve  to  show  the  conduct  of  men — the  changes  which 
have  taken  place  on  earth,  and  the  wonderful  works  of  God  in  the  world. 
The  remainder  are  purely  Jewish,  and  have  no  great  bearings  on  others. 
The  establishment  of  Christianity  introduced  a  change  of  the  priesthood — 
a  change  of  sacrifice  and  a  change  of  the  law  ;  of  course  the  divers  wash- 
ings  and  carnal  ordinances,  which  were  to  continue  no  longer  than  the 
reformation,  ceased  to  be  obligatory  ;  and  a  new  code  of  laws,  contained 
in  the  New  Testament,  became  binding  on  the  saints.     Here  was  a  radi- 

»  Published  in  1832. 
84 


666  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

cal  change  of  the  rituals  of  religion  appointed  by  God  himself.  Since  the 
close  of  inspiration,  through  the  weakness  of  some,  and  the  love  of  power 
and  wealth  of  others,  Chiisiianit}'^,  in  its  exterior  forms,  has  ever  been 
changing  its  measures  ;  but  no  length  of  time  ever  has  or  ever  will  change 
internal  religion.  From  the  righteous  Abel  to  the  last  sinner  that  shall  be 
brought  into  the  fold  of  Christ,  each  must  be  created  in  Christ — renewed 
in  the  spirit  of  his  mind — receive  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One — drink 
of  the  water  of  life — fear  God  and  work  righteousness  to  be  accepted  of  God 
and  be  admitted  into  the  everlasting  kingdom.  It  would  be  an  herculean 
task  to  give  a  history  of  the  various  sects  of  nominal  Christians,  and  their 
religious  creeds,  that  have  existed  at  the  same  time,  or  followed  in  succes- 
sion, since  the  close  of  inspiration.  The  present  state  of  things  calls  for 
our  attention.  The  religious  world  (particularly  in  the  United  States) 
seems  to  be  much  in  the  condition  that  it  was  in  Europe,  when  the  people 
protested  against  the  claim  of  the  Pope,  and  ran  hither  and  thither,  until 
the  civil  arm  settled  the  controversies. 

As  citizens,  it  is  our  joy  and  boast,  that  the  government  of  the  United 
States  proscribes  all  religous  tests,  and  guarantees  unto  every  citizen  his 
religious  opinions,  with  the  freedom  of  the  tongue  and  the  press  to  support 
them.  As  John  WicklifF  began  the  reformation  from  popery,  so  the  ban- 
ished Roger  Williams  began  the  reformation  from  hierarchy  :  he  estab- 
lished the  first  form  of  government  ever  known  in  Rhode  Island,  which 
excluded  religious  opinions  from  the  civil  code,  on  the  true  maxim,  "  That 
legal  rewards  should  never  be  given  for  religious  services."  This  novel 
nest-egg  was  soon  followed  by  the  illustrious  William  Penn,  in  the  go- 
vernment of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  inhabitants  of  New  York  pursued  the 
track.  The  principle  which  at  that  time  was  considered  so  dangerous, 
immoral  and  antichrislian,  is  now  interwoven  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
constitution  of  the  government  of  the  United  States.  The  beginning  was 
small,  but  the  latter  end  has  greatly  increased.  From  this  it  does  not 
follow,  that  from  our  liberality  and  benevolence  to  others,  we  are  under 
obligation,  or  have  any  permission  to  believe  all  that  others  say,  (though 
they  support  their  schemes  by  signs  and  lying  wonders  ;)  no  :  though  men 
or  angels  speak  not  according  to  the  law  and  testimony,  they  have  no  light 
in  them — we  are  forbidden  to  go  after  them,  but  ordered  to  consider  them 
accursed.  The  greater  sanctity  they  show,  the  more  they  are  to  be  dread- 
ed and  shunned  :  for  the  greatest  religious  errors  that  have  ever  been 
among  men,  have  crept  in  under  the  robe  of  superior  piety.  They  come 
with  a  great  pretence  of  universal  benevolence,  crying  aloud  against  big- 
otry  and  extolling  union  ;  but  as  soon  as  they  gain  influence  enough,  they 
forget  their  creed  and  draw  away  disciples  after  themselves.  The  cry  of 
some  of  them  is  "  Be  ye  reconciled  one  with  another  in  union,  that  we 
may  live  (and  make  a  gain  of  you)  while  another  voice  sounds  "  Be  ye 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  667 

reconciled  to  God  that  your  souls  may  live."  I  will  here  add,  that  the  uni- 
versal forgiveness  to  our  enemies  and  benevolence  to  all  men,  enjoined  on 
us  by  the  voice  of  God,  lays  us  under  no  obligation  to  sacrifice  our  judg- 
ments and  say  that  is  right  which  we  believe  is  wrong. 

It  is  now  sixty-three  years  since  my  attention  was  solemnly  engaged  to 
serve  the  Lord.  When  first  alarmed,  I  forsook  my  loose  behavior  and 
ran  to  the  law,  as  a  covenant  of  works,  in  hopes  of  being  delivered  from 
condemnation  by  my  reformation  ;  but  soon  found  that  by  the  deeds  of  the 
law  I  could  not  be  justified.  It  was  then  presented  to  my  mind,  that  re- 
pentance for  sin  and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  would  secure  my  salvation; 
and  I  was  assured  from  the  pulpit  and  from  the  Bible,  that  Jesus  would  re- 
ceive the  chief  of  sinners  that  came  to  him  with  all  the  heart ;  but  here  I 
found  that  I  could  no  more  repent,  believe,  come  to  Ciirist,  and  give  up 
my  whole  heart  to  him  than  I  could  create  a  world.  That  unless  I  was 
drawn  by  the  Father,  all  the  exertions  of  my  natural  powers  of  body  and 
mind  could  not  bring  me  to  the  Son.  That  unless  I  was  born,  not  of 
blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God, 
and  saved  by  grace,  I  must  sink  into  hell.  In  this  inquietude  of  mind  I 
continued  fifteen  months  ;  until  it  pleased  God,  by  his  truth  and  grace  to 
draw  me,  by  the  cords  of  love  (not  against  my  will,  but  with  my  will  and 
strong  desire)  unto  the  hope  of  the  gospel,  which  removed  my  guilt  and 
set  me  free. 

"  O,  what  immortal  joy  I  felt, 
And  pleasure  all  divine  ! 
When  Jesus  told  me  I  was  his, 
And  vvhisper'd  he  was  mine." 

Soon  after  this,  by  the  moving  of  my  spirit  and  application  of  several 
texts  of  scripture,  I  felt  myself  bound,  though  unacquainted  with  men,  man- 
ners,  and  books,  to  engage  in  the  ministry,  in  which  I  have  continued 
more  than  sixty-one  years.  From  the  prophecy,  that  many  should  run  to 
and  fro  ;  and  from  the  commission  of  Christ,  Go,  my  impressions  were,  that 
travelling  and  preaching  repentance  on  the  way  was  the  path  for  preach- 
ers. Accordingly,  without  going  to  Jerusalem,  or  any  presbytery  of  preach- 
ers, or  any  theological  school,  or  indeed  any  church,  for  licence  or  appro- 
bation, without  conferring  with  flesh  and  blood,  I  began  to  preach,  '•  Ye 
must  be  born  again."  And  the  third  chapter  of  John  has  been  text  for  me 
ever  since.  The  doctrine  I  have  preached  may  be  summarily  described 
in  two  words,  ''ruin  and  recovery."  There  are  many  commands  given 
and  many  promises  made  to  nations — to  them  in  relative  and  social  life, 
and,  to  individuals,  which  respect  their  happiness  or  misery  in  this  world  ; 
but  when  the  eternal  salvation  of  the  soul  is  treated  of,  three  things  are 
either  expressed  or  implied,  viz  :  redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ — re- 
newing of  the  Holy  Ghost — and  good  works.      In  preaching  this  doctrine, 


668  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

I  have  travelled  distances  that  would  more  than  girdle  the  globe  four  times, 
and  am  not  yet  weary  of  it.  In  my  journeyings,  I  have  marked  my  own 
destination  ;  observing  the  openings  of  providence — the  request  of  people — 
the  drawings  of  my  mind,  and  the  circumstances  of  things.  I  have  never 
received  any  thing  from  a  missionary  fund  to  aid  me ;  but  have  relied  on 
the  promise  of  God  and  the  benevolence  of  the  people  for  all  that  was 
necessary.  My  wants,  fatigues  and  persecutions  have  been  small,  com- 
pared with  what  many  have  sustained  ;  and  recede  to  nothing  when  placed 
in  competition  with  the  sufferings  which  Christ  endured.  I  have  baptized 
1,525,  by  immersion,  on  profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ.  My  success 
has  been  small  to  what  some  have  had  ;  but  when  Ireflect  on  my  barren- 
ness and  languor  of  soul,  I  wonder  more  that  God  ever  blessed  my  labors, 
than  I  do  that  he  has  blessed  them  no  more.  And  no-w^  in  the  eve  of  life, 
with  a  hoary  head— decrepit  limbs  and  a  faltering  tongue,  I  cry,  God  he 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner  f  Save,  Lord,  or  I  must  perish  ! 

In  these  days  of  novelty  we  are  frequently  addressed  from  the  pulpit  as 
follows  :  "  Professors  of  religion,  you  stand  in  the  way  of  God  and  sin- 
ners— give  up  your  old  hope  and  come  now  into  the  work — God  cannot 
convert  sinners  while  you  are  stumbling  blocks  in  the  way — sinners  are 
stumbling  over  you  into  hell.  Profane  sinners,  I-call  upon  you  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come — come  this  minute  and  give  your  heart  to  God,  or 
you  will  seal  your  own  damnation — God  has  given  you  the  jyjwer,  and 
will  damn  you  if  you  do  not  use  it — God  has  done  all  he  can  for  you  and 
will  do  no  more  —  look  not  for  a  change  of  heart;  a  change  of  purpose  is 
all  that  is  necessary — to  pray  the  Lord  to  enable  you  would  be  presump- 
tuous. Some  of  you  are  mourning  for  the  loss  of  a  friend — I  tell  you 
your  friend  is  in  hell,  and  has  gone  there  on  your  account — had  you  done 
your  duty  your  friend  would  now  be  in  heaven,  but  for  your  neglect  your 
friend  is  damned.  My  heai'ersj  you  may  have  a  revival  of  religion  when- 
ever you  please — begin  in  the  work,  and  the  work  will  begin  among  the 
people — continue  in  it  and  the  work  will  continue — keep  on  and  the  work 
will  become  universal."* 

Had  I  the  spirit  of  infallible  inspiration,  I  could  fix  a  standard  of  ortho- 
doxy ;  but  as  I  have  no  claim  to  that  high  attainment,  I' shall  only  remark, 
that,  "  I  have  not  so  learned  Christ  — I  do  not  understand  the  scriptures  iti 
that  light — it  is  not  the  voice  of  my  beloved," — it  sounds  like  the  voice  of 
a  stranger  and  I  dare   not  follow  it.     But,  my  brethren,  while  we  believe 

*  If  these  preachers  really  believe  what  they  preach,  we  commend  their  honesty  but 
doubt  their  religion.  But  if  they  do  not  believe  it  themselves,  but  do  it  to  terrify  their 
hearers,  to  immortalize  their  own  names,  as  great  reformers,  who  turn  sinners  from 
the  error  of  their  ways  ;  verily  they  will  have  their  reward,  which  is  a  poor  one. 

To  this  note  I  add,  that  the  expressions  moral — sovereign — anxious — probation — total 
depravity — means  of  grace — purchased  salvation — seal  your  own  damnation,  are  not  in 
the  Bible. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  669 

that  God  saves  us,  not  for  works  of  righteousness  that  we  have  done,  but 
according  to  his  mercy  in  his  love  and  kindness  towards  man,  by  the 
washing  of  regeneration  and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  let  us 
never  lose  sight  of  the  holy  law,  the  eternal  rule  of  right  which  is  founded 
on  the  relation  which  exists  between  God  and  man  and  between  man  and 
man,  and  will  be  binding  on  rational  beings  as  long  as  the  perfections  of 
God  and  the  faculties  of  man  endure.  Tliis  law  runs  through  the  Bible  like 
a  gold  cord,  and  enjoins  on  men  at  all  times,  to  believe  what  God  reveals 
and  obey  what  he  commands.  Every  transgression  of  this  law  is  sin, 
called  a  debt.  That  all  have  sinned  and  are  ten  thousand  talents  in  debt, 
is  abundantly  proved  :  and  that  they  have  nothing  to  pay  is  equally  evi- 
dent; but  the  bankruptcy  of  the  ins&hent  never  destroys  the  justness  of  the 
law  or  the  obligation  of  the  debtor.  Christ  did  not  come  to  destroy  the  law, 
but  to  fulfil  it  ;  and  those  wha  are  redeemed  by  his  grace  from  the  do- 
minion of  sin,  do  not  make  void  the  law  through  faith,  but  establish  it. 
Any  defect  from  the  prestine  innocence  of  Adam,  is  a  charge  on  the  hu. 
man  family  :  and  the  law  cries  pay  :  "  Turn  to  the  law  and  make  your- 
selves new  hearts — put  away  all  your  sins  and  be  perfect,"  &c.  is  as  rea- 
sonably required  of  the  human  race,  as  any  debt  is  required  of  a  debtor. 
From  this  it  does  not  follow  that  the  insolvent  sinner  has  any  thing  to 
make  payment  with.  No.  Whether  his  bankruptcy  consists  in  the  want 
of  will  or  in  the  want  of  strength,  or  both  ;  still  he  hath  nothing  to  pay  ; 
and  is  led  to  see  and  feel  his  entire  poverty  before  he  is  frankly  forgiven. 

Societies  of  various  kinds  are  now  formed,  with  ostensible  views,  to  ex- 
tirpate drunkenness,  masonry,  ignorance,  slavery  and  idolatry  from  the 
earth  ;  and  the  people,  from  the  aged  to  the  infant,  are  called  upon  to  en- 
rol their  names  and  take  a  bold  stand  to  moralize  and  christianize  the 
world.  Lying,  fraud,  love  of  money,  hypocrisy,  gaming,  duelling,  and 
fornication,  as  yet  seem  to  be  considered  too  sacred  to  be  meddled  with, 
for  no  society  is  formed  to  check  them. 

The  missionary  establishment,  in  its  various  departments,  is  a  stupen- 
dous institution.  Literary  and  theological  schools — Bible  and  tract  socie- 
ties— foreign  and  domestic  missions — general,  state,  county,  and  district 
conventions — Sunday  school  union,,  etc.,  are  all  included  in  it.  To  keep  it 
in  motion,  missionary  boards — ^presidents — treasurers — corresponding  sec- 
retaries— agents — printers — buildings — teachers — runners — collectors — 
mendicants,  etc.,  are  all  in  requisition.  The  cloud  of  these  witnesses  is  so 
great,  that  a  sober  man  who  doubts  the  divinity  of  the  measure,  is  naturally 
led  to  think  of  the  locusts  in  Egypt  that  darkened  the  heavens  and  ate  up 
every  green  thing  on  earth;  while  the  punster  will  compare  them  to  the 
Connecticut  pedlars  who  ransack  every  street  and  lane  with  their  shining 
tin,  and  wooden  nutmegs.  This  machine  is  propelled  by  steam  [money] 
and  does  not  sail  by  the  wind  of  heaven.     Immense  donations  and  contri- 


670  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

butions  have  already  been  cast  into  the  treasury ;  and  we  see  no  end  to  it, 
for  the  solicitors  and  mendicants  are  constantly  crying  "  give,  give,"  with 
an  unblushing  audacity  that  makes  humble  saints  hold  down  their  heads. 
There  are  a  number  of  religious  denominations  in  the  United  States  so 
equally  balanced,  that  no  one  of  them  can  tyranize  over  all  the  rest: 
the  present  scheme  seems  to  be,  for  each  society  to  sacrifice  its  peculiar 
characteristics,  and  all  unite  to  form  a  Christian  Phalanx,  to  be  established 
by  Congress  as  the  religion  of  the  United  States.  If  my  painful  fears,  on 
this  head  are  ever  realized,  the  glory  of  America  will  depart — the  blood 
and  treasure  expended  in  the  revolution  will  all  be  lost — and  the  asylum 
for  the  distressed  turned  to  a  prison  and  an  inquisition.  But  I  forbear. 
The  subject  sickens.  I  close  in  the  words  of  God  himself,  "  Stand  ye  in 
the  ways  and  see,  and  ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  is  the  good  way,  and 
walk  therein,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  for  your  souls."  Are  these  thy  ways, 
O  Lord  !  hidden  from  him  who  wishes  to  know  and  do  thy  will  ? 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  671 


FREE  THOUGHTS  ON  TIMES  AND  THINGS.* 

O  tempora  !  O  mores  ! — Horace.  ^tci-JJQ 


Third.  In  the  days  of  the  Commonvveallh,  in  England,  a  sect  arose, 
called  the  Theffth  monarchy  men,  who  held  that  the  four  monarchies  spo- 
ken of  in  the  scriptures,  were  out,  and  that  Christ  would  assume  his  throne 
on  earth  and  give  the  kingdom  to  the  saints  ;  and  that  all  earthly  monarchy 
would  cease.  Oliver  Cromwell  favored  the  views  of  these  people;  and 
when  he  assumed  the  protectorship,  he  assured  them  that  he  did  it  to  have 
it  in  his  power  to  give  it  up  to  Christ  the  more  readily.  That  monarchy 
has  existed  from  that  time  to  this,  and  still  exists,  is  a  known  truth. 

Fourth.  Some  men  among  us  profess  to  be  greatly  alarmed  at  the  spread 
of  the  Roman  Catholicks.  They  say  there  are  six  hundred  thousand  within 
the  limits  of  the  United  States  ;  all  busy  at  work,  like  a  worm  under  the 
barkof  a  tree,  to  sap  our  free  government,  and  set  up  papal  hierarchy 
with  all  the  horrors  of  an  inquisition.  Tliis  alarm  has  the  complexion  of 
design,  to  move  men  to  advance  their  money  to  make  and  send  missiona- 
ries to  check  the  religion  of  others  :  for  no  man  who  has  the  soul  of  an 
American,  and  the  heart  of  affection  for  our  democratic  institutions,  will 
either  fear  or  wish  to  injure  the  papists.  Supposing  the  number  should  be 
one  million  ;  what  could  that  one  million  do  in  a  country  of  fourteen  mill- 
ions  ?  Is  it  probable  that  the  Catholicks  will  increase  faster,  either  by 
births  or  emigration,  than  the  Protestants  ?  If  not,  where  is  the  ground 
of  alarm  ?  Their  freedom  of  religion  is  guaranteed  to  them  in  our  con- 
stitution of  government,  and  no  benevolent  man  can  wish  to  have  them  op- 
pressed  as  they  are  in  Ireland.  In  the  American  Revolution,  and  in  the 
formation  of  the  Constitution  under  which  we  live  and  prosper,  the  tocsin 
sounded  loud,  "  America  shall  be  an  asylum  for  the  distressed  of  every 
nation  to  flee  to,"  and  who  can  wish  to  subvert  that  freedom  ?  The  French 
Catholicks  were  great  helpers  to  Americans  in  their  struggles  for  inde- 
pendence, (Lafayette  among  the  rest,)  and  now  to  deny  them  the  hospital- 
ities of  good  friends  would  be  base  ingratitude.  If  any  of  them  commit 
overt  acts,  punish  them  ;  but  let  them  have  free  scope  to  publish  their  re- 
ligion. If  they  send  their  missionaries  among  those  of  a  different  religion 
to  make  proselytes,  it  is  doing  no  more  than  Protestants  do.     Should  they 


*  Published  in  1836. 


672  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

by  fair  persuasion  (for  they  cannot  do  it  by  force  until  they  become  a  ma- 
jority)  increase  in  number  above  all  other  sects  collectively  ;  in  that  case 
they  must  of  riglit  have  the  rule  ;  for  no  man  who  has  the  soul  of  an  Amer- 
ican will  deny  the  maxim,  th.it  "the  voice  of  a  majority  is  the  voice  of  the 
whole."  The  men  of  this  generation  have  neither  power  nor  right  to  say 
what  laws  a  future  generation  shall  be  governed  by.  An  express  decla- 
ration of  their  opinion  is  all  that  belongs  to  them.  ^ 

Fifth.  There  are  a  great  many  slaves  in  the  United  States;  the  exact 
number  I  cann'of  ascertain  ;  (say  one  million,  be  the  same  more  or  less,) 
the  condition  of  whom,  has  given  patriots,  philanthropists  and  religionists 
great  searchings  of  heart.  The  abolitionists  of  late  have  come  forward, 
and  seem  to  demand  the  unconditional  manumission  of  all  of  them,  without 
prescribing  any  rational  mode  for  their  future  subsistence.  If  these  proph- 
ets can  prove  their  commission,  like  Moses,  or  have  any  reason  to  believe 
that  God  will  feed  the  liberated  slaves  with  manna,  it  is  hoped  that  the 
slave-holders  will  obey,  and  not  harden  their  hearts :  otherwise  their  exer- 
tions  seem  calculated  to  alienate  the  slave-holding  states  from  the  others, 
and  m  ike  the  condition  of  the  slaves  more  miserable.  But  notwithstand- 
ing  the  measures  of  the  abolitionists  are  reprobated  by  every  friend  to  his 
country  ;  yet  the  question,  *'  What  shall  we  do  with  the  slaves?"  must  at 
soma  tim3,  in  soma  shape,  be  met  and  decided.)  The  emancipators  have 
effected  notliing.  The  Liberia  exportation  affords  nothing  very  flattering  ; 
what  then  shall  be  done  ?  It  cannot  be  expected  that  a  question,  encum- 
bered with  so  many  conflicting  interests  and  opinions,  can  be  easily  an- 
swered :  the  most  rational  solution  may  be  fraught  with  serious  conse- 
quences. To  proclaim  a  jubilee  and  set  them  all  free,  without  house  or 
home,  tools  or  money,  or  friends  to  take  them  in,  would  be  sacrificing  them 
to  starvation.  In  such  a  state  they  would  wander  in  droves  into  all  the 
states,  seeking  supplies  for  the  calls  of  nature.  Would  the  abolitionists  be 
pleased  to  have  thousands  of  them  scouring  the  states  in  which  they  live, 
and  groups  of  them  at  their  own  doors,  or  around  their  dwellings,  begging 
or  stealing  ? 

Let  Congress  locate  a  section  of  territory  for  the  accommodation  of  as 
many  as  choose  to  go  with  the  consent  of  their  masters — let  their  expenses 
be  borne,  and  their  equipage  of  clothing,  provisions,  implements  of  hus- 
bandry and  mechanism,  with  all  that  is  necessary  for  three  years,  includmg 
teachers  to  learn  them  to  read  and  write,  by  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States.  So  far  Congress  can  proceed  towards  the  liberation  of  the  slaves. 
This  would  give  relief  to  those  slaveholders,  who  in  heart  are  opposed  to 
slavery,  and  would  gladly  set  their  slaves  free,  if  they  could  be  provided 
for. 

If  the  legislatures  of  the  slave  holding  states,  in  behalf  of  their  constit- 
uents,  should  pass  laws  for  the  gradual  manumission  of  all  the  slaves— 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  673 

that  all  of  them  who  were  in  existence  at  the  time  of  passing  those  laws 
should  be  held  in  servitude  for  life,  except,  with  the  consent  of  their  mas- 
ters, they  should  choose  to  go  to  the  land  provided  for  them,  and  that  those 
who  should  be  born  after  the  passing  of  those  laws  should  be  free  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years,  the  children  of  whom  should  be  free-born,  it 
would  gradually  lower  the  price  of  slaves,  as  property,  and  gradually  learn 
them  to  bear  their  liberty.  It  would  also  give  time  to  the  masters  to  new 
moddle  their  systems  to  live  without  the  labor  of  slaves. 

The  United  States  have  now  territory  at  command,  and  a  surplus  trea- 
sury  of  millions  :  can  it  be  applied  to  a  better  use  than  of  liberating  human 
beings,  who  are  deprived  of  their  natural  rights  by  force  and  not  for  crime  ? 
Whether  Congress  dispose  of  the  surplus  revenue  direct,  or  whether  they 
apportion  it  among  the  slates ;  in  either  case,  the  presumption  is  that  it 
will  be  applied  for  splendor,  rather  than  to  establish  permanent  funds  in 
the  states  to  pay  the  taxes.  If  a  part  of  the  surplus  national  property  is 
appropriated  to  procure  a  home  and  support  for  liberated  slaves,  and  the 
slave-holding  states  do  not  meet  the  measure  by  corresponding  laws,  the 
proof  will  be  conclusive  that  they  deny  to  others  the  freedom  which  they 
claim  for  themselves  as  a  natural  right. 

Should  this  plan,  or  one  like  it,  take  effect,  in  a  few  years  the  question 
could  be  decided  by  experimental  evidence,  "whether  the  African  Moors 
have  intellect  sufficient  for  self-government,  or  whether  they  are  a  degra- 
ded race  of  beings,  between  the  human  and  animal  departments,  made  to 
serve  their  betters,  and  do  that  part  of  drudgery  which  is  above  the  capa- 
city of  beasts."  They  are  now  considered  in  a  complex  character,  in  the 
United  States,  possessing  ihree-Jjflhs  of  humanity  and  ticoffihs  of  animal 
property. 

I  have  spent  fifteen  years  of  my  life  in  a  slaveholding  state,  (Virginia) ; 
calling  led  me  to  mingle  with  the  slaves,  as  well  as  with  their  masters: 
and  I  believe  there  are  as  many  of  the  slaves,  (in  proportion  to  their  num- 
bers,) who  join  the  Christian  churches,  as  there  are  of  the  whites.  Some 
of  them  can  read — others  hear  and  believe,  and  a  number  of  them  are 
zealous  preachers  and  exhorters.  Redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ — 
a  gracious  change  of  heart — and  holiness  of  life,  are  their  favorite  topics,  v' 
The  slaves  generally  put  more  confidence  in  the  preachers  of  their  own 
color,  than  they  do  in  the  whites,  from  a  belief  that  they  are  less  likely 
to  deceive  them.  Of  course,  should  they  be  removed  into  a  section  assigned 
them,  there  would  be  neither  need  nor  propriety  for  government  to  furnish 
them  with  religious  teachers. 

In  the  year  1780,  and  a  few  years  following,  when  the  people  were  ra- 
pidly removing  from  the  old  states  into  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  there 
were  more  than  thirty  Baptist  preachers,  whom  I  personally  knew,  and 
many  more  that  I  heard  of,  who  emigrated  with  them.     Nothing  can  be 

85 


674  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

more  false  than  the  idea  that  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  is  peopled  with 
irreligious  characters  altogether,  who  are  perishing  for  want  of  missionary 
preaching.  The  truth  is,  that  many  religious  people  remove  into  the  valley, 
and  many  preachers  go  with  them.  Many  also  are  turned  to  the  Lord  in 
the  place,  and  a  portion  of  them  commence  preaching.  Rev.  Daniel  Par- 
ker, who  lives  on  the  ground,  and  who  has  been  publishing  a  religious  pe- 
riodical, speaks  of  five  Baptist  Associations  wiihin  the  limits  of  Illinois 
and  Indiana :  and.  he  complains  of  some  missionaries  who  intrude,  and 
seek  to  control  because  they  are  sent  by  the  Board  of  Missions.  My  in- 
formation is  not  sufficient  to  speak  of  the  prevalence  of  any  other  religious 
society  in  the  valley. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELANO.  675 


LETTER  TO  HON.  G.  N.  BRIGGS,  JAN.  12,  1836. 


Hon.  Sir  : — I  am  confident  you  vvrll  have  the  goodness  to  pass  by  my 
imprudence  in  my  attempt  to  write  to  one  so  highly  elevated  by  his  country. 
I  aim  not  at  high  things  ;  my  head  is  not  formed  for  the  cap  of  honor ; 
but  the  good  of  that  country  which  has  given  me  birth,  and  nourished  me 
more  than  eighty  years,  lies  near  my  heart.  Next  to  the  salvation  of  the 
soul,  I  have  advocated  a  scheme  which  would  support  the  energies  of  gov- 
ernment and  secure  the  rights  of  the  people.  The  given  powers  of  the 
government  in  which  you  are  now  acting  as  legislator  are  few  and  defined. 
The  powers  granted  and  rights  retained  are  so  plainly  stated  in  the  charter, 
that  those  who  read  may  understand;  but,  where  honest  men  are  agreed 
in  the  fundamental  principles,  they  may  widely  differ  in  the  agents  and 
secondary  measures  which  would  be  the  most  likely  to  establish  those 
principles. 

It  seems  probable  that  the  admission  of  Michigan  into  the  Union — the 
French  question — the  circulation  of  the  writings  of  the  abolitionists — the 
disposal  of  the  surplus  revenue,  etc.,  will  occupy  some  of  your  time. 
The  expunging  of  senatorial  foojery  will  not  be  hammered  in  your 
shop ;  but,  in  the  Senate  chamber,  it  is  likely  the  furnace  will  be  blown 
seven  times  hotter  than  usual,  to  kill  that  which  never  did  any  harm  ;  the 
death  of  which  will  never  bequeath  a  pair  of  shoes  for  a  child,  or  an  ear 
of  corn  for  a  pig.  Should  the  record  of  the  resolution  of  censure  be  ex- 
punged by  a  line  drawn  across  it  as  black  as  tophet,  it  would  not  change 
the  mind  of  any  man,  any  more  than  the  passing  of  the  resolution  did. 

In  the  time  of  the  revolution  in  England,  it  became  proverbial,  "strip 
a  man  of  office,  and  he  will  talk  like  a  whig  ;  put  him  into  office,  and  he 
will  Be  a  tory."  It  is  too  true,  that  when  men  possess  power,  they  forget 
light,  every  man  having  a  pope  in  his  belly  ;  but,  true  patriotism  will 
rope  the  pope,  and  cause  the  patriot  to  seek  the  good  of  his  country  (of 
all  the  world)  and  not  his  own  agrandizement. 

According  to  our  political  calendar,  this  present  year  is  leap  year ;  the 
the  thirteenth  bissextile  of  our  government.  It  is  therefore  probable  that 
there  will  be  some  leaping  in  Washington  this  session;  and  pray  how 
could  the  leisure  hours  of  the  members  of  Congress  be  spent  better  than 
in  devising  means  for  the  good  of  their  country  for  the  four  succeeding 


676  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

years  ?  Whether  the  committee  of  ways  and  means  are  appointed  for 
the  purpose  of  nominating  and  recommending  a  candidate  for  the  next 
term,  and  whether  the  committee  are  likely  to  agree  and  report  a  bill,  I 
do  not  know.  My  ardent  desire  is  that  there  may  be  a  fair  expression  of 
the  will  of  the  people  in  the  choice  of  the  eighth  president ;  if  so,  who- 
ever he  be,  I  will  acknowledge  him  as  my  president ;  whether  he  is  the 
man  of  my  choice  or  not ;  for  in  this  case,  and  in  all  other  cases  like  it, 
vox  populi  vox  dei  is  a  religious  truth. 

Representatives  are  not  sent  to  Congress  to  think  for  their  constituents, 
but  to  act  for  them,  (the  right  of  thinking  being  inalienable  in  its  nature,) 
and  he  who  acts  contrary  to  the  known  will  of  a  majority  of  his  constit- 
uents, is  a  tyrant.  When  a  question  must  be  acted  upon,  and  the  repre- 
resentative  cannot  in  conscience  vote  for  that  which  he  knows  is  the  will 
of  his  constituents,  it  becomes  him  to  tender  his  reisgnation,  and  let  an- 
other fill  his  place.  Mr.  Adams  formerly,  and  Mr.  Rives  recently  acted 
wisely  on  this  true  republican  principle  in  the  Senate  ;  and  Col.  Johnson 
did  the  same  in  substance  in  the  compensation  law,  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives. 

I  learn  from  the  newspapers  that  you  are  on  the  committee  of  post-office 
and  post-roads.  This  institution  has  grown  to  a  giant,  and  I  believe  it  is 
as  much  abused  as  any  establishment  in  the  government.  To  guarantee 
to  men  their  liberty  by  an  instrument  that  defends  from  licentiousness, 
and  to  give  men  power  enough  to  do  good,  and  have  it  so  counterpoised 
that  they  cannot  abuse  it,  is  what  the  friends  of  man  have  been  laboring 
for  some  thousands  of  years ;  and  likely  the  consummation  of  all  things 
will  find  men  in  the  pursuit  of  it.  But  the  profession  is  not  an  attribute 
of  men,  yet  every  march  towai-ds  it  is  praiseworthy. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  677 


OF  MINISTERIAL  DUTIES,  &c. 


The  instructioHs  of  our  Lord  to  the  twelve  when  he  sent  them  out  to 
preach,  his  admonitions  to  them  afterwards,  the  resolution  of  the  apostles 
to  give  themselves  to  the  ministry  of  the  word  and  prayer — the  address 
of  Paul  to  the  elders  of  Ephesus — the  epistles  to  Timothy  and  Titus — with 
the  exhortation  of  Peter  to  the  elders,  and  many  divine  lessons  scattered 
through  the  New  Testament,  draw  the  line  of  ministerial  conduct  and  use- 
fulness  beyond  what  any  man  or  set  of  men  can  devise.  To  this  rule 
preachers  should  take  heed,  as  unto  a  light  that  shines  in  a  dark  place,  for 
if  they  speak  not  according  to  the  word,  they  have  no  light  in  them. 

The  faith  and  practice  of  the  saints  at  large,  is  delineated  in  the  Bible 
in  a  clear  manner;  yet  the  Lord  sends  forth  preachers  to  explain  what  is 
revealed,  and  impress  it  on  the  minds  of  the  saints,  that  they  may  have 
those  things  in  remembrance,  and  be  ready  for  every  good  work.  So, 
also,  preachers  may  be  helpers  to  each  other  ;  each  one  communicating 
to  others  his  best  views  on  what  God  has  revealed.  Paul  publicly  blamed 
Peter  for  duplicity — exposed  Barnabus  for  dissimulation — set  a  mark  on 
Demas — reprobated  the  concision — rejected  Hymenus,  Philetus,  and  Alex- 
ander, and  highly  commended  Timothy  and  many  others  for  their  purity 
and  steadfastness  of  faith.  Peter,  James,  John,  and  Jude,  did  likewise. 
When  the  Lord  sent  out  his  apostles,  he  perfectly  knew  every  circum- 
stance that  ever  they  would  be  in,  but  he  did  not  reveal  the  whole  to  them, 
but  told  them  to  be  wise  as  serpents  and  harmless  as  doves.  According 
to  the  wisdom  given  unto  them,  they  said  and  did  many  things  which  inci- 
dentally fell  in  the  way,  which  things  were  not  expressly  commanded  in 
their  commission.  The  convention  and  conference  at  Jerusalem — the 
sending  of  messengers  to  Antioch  and  Samaria — their  accommodating 
their  address  to  the  circumstances  and  capacities  of  the  people — their 
watching  and  improving  the  openings  of  providence,  &c.,  were  incidental 
to  the  great  work  of  their  commission,  which  was  to  preach  repentance 
and  remission  of  sins  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  to  baptize  those  that  believed, 
and  to  teach  them  to  do  all  that  God  had  commanded  them. 

The  rule  which  God  has  given  to  men  and  to  preachers  is  perfect ; 
but  there  has  never  been  but  one  man,  but  one  preacher,  since  Adam's  fall, 
whose  words  and  actions  were  equal  to  the  rule.  This  was  realized  in 
Jesus  Christ,  who  was  the  faithful  and  true  witness.     Every  word  of  his 


678  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

mouth  was  pure.  But  he  had  many  things  to  say  which  his  disciples  were 
not  able  to  bear  while  he  was  on  earth,  but  after  he  ascended  to  his  glory, 
he  sent  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  endowed  them  with  power,  insomuch,  that 
when  they  were  under  the  divine  influence,  they,  like  the  holy  prophets, 
spake  and  wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  filled  the 
Christian  code,  which  was  not  completed  by  Jesus  Christ. 

Signs,  wonders,  divers  miracles,  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  the 
apostles  had  attending  them  for  the  confirmation  of  the  great  salvation, 
have  ceased.  If  preachers  of  the  present  day  were  endowed  like  the 
apostles,  they  could  decide,  with  certainty,  what  doctrine  was  true,  and 
what  mode  of  worship  was  required ;  but  this  is  not  the  case.  They 
have,  however,  the  sure  word  of  prophesy,  (the  Holy  Scriptures,)  which 
is  a  light  to  their  feet  and  a  lamp  to  their  path  ;  but  such  is  the  limitation 
of  the  human  mind,  and  so  strong  is  the  force  of  tradition,  that  men,  who 
equally  believe  in  the  divinity  of  the  Bible,  and  acknowledge  it  as  the  only 
and  complete  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  do,  nevertheless,  differ  in  many 
things.  The  question  is  often  asked,  "  What  kind  of  preaching  and  what 
measures  of  proceeding  are  most  likely  to  make  the  gospel  ministry  use- 
ful ?"  An  answer  to  this  question  is  summarily  given  in  the  first  section 
of  this  essay  ;  but  as  events  and  circumstances  are  always  changing,  some 
little  comment,  (without  placing  it  on  a  level  with  the  text)  may  be  profit- 
able. 

The  doctrine  that  all  have  sinned,  fallen  into  guilt,  pollution,  and  weak- 
ness ;  are  children  of  wrath  and  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  ;  is  abundantly 
confirmed  by  the  scriptures,  by  the  conduct  of  sinners,  and  by  the  experi- 
ence of  the  saints.  By  these  three  witnesses  the  doctrine  is  supported, 
and  it  should  be  boldly  preached. 

The  doctrine  of  redemption  from  the  curse  of  the  law  by  the  blood  of 
Christ ;  of  repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus ;  of  the 
washing  of  regeneration  and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  of  self-de- 
nial and  good  works ;  of  the  resurrection  from  the  dead  and  eternal  judg- 
ment ;  these  doctrines,  with  their  convictions  and  ramifications,  may  all 
be  summed  up  in  two  words,  riihi  and  recovery  ;  or  in  other  two,  duty  and 
grace  :  and  if  preaching  them  is  not  calculated  to  make  the  ministry  use- 
ful, I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  what  kind  of  preaching  would. 

Some  preachers  have  deeper  penetration  and  stronger  logical  powers 
than  others,  by  which  tliey  dig  so  deep,  reason  so  close,  and  fly  so  high, 
that  they  keep  out  of  sight  of  most  of  their  hearers.  In  the  spirit,  they 
speak  mysteries,  but  those  who  occupy  the  room  of  the  unlearned,  are  not 
edified.  They  speak  wisdom  to  them  that  are  perfect ;  but  it  is  rare  that 
any  stupid  sinner  ever  gets  turned  to  righteousness  by  such  preaching. 
That  preaching  which  is  plain  and  familiar,  which  awakens  the  sinner's 
attention,  and  arrests  his  conscience  j  which  shows  him  his  danger,  and 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  679 

points  him  to  the  remedy  ;  which  beats  down  his  false  hopes,  and  strips 
him  of  his  own  righteousness,  is.  likely  lo  be  the  most  useful.  The  min- 
ister  who  wishes  to  be  useful,  must  take  heed  to  himself,  as  well  as  to  his 
doctrine.  A  life  of  godliness  and  honesty  is  essential.  A  more  hateful 
character  cannot  be  seen,  than  the  preacher  who  indulges  himself  in  riot, 
intemperance,  fraud,  falsehood,  and  other  foolish  and  sinful  vices.  If  he 
preaches  good  doctrine,  and  his  life  does  not  correspond  with  it,  his  hear- 
ers will  take  no  conviction,  but  reply,  "  Physician,  heal  thyself."  What- 
ever natural  talents  the  preacher  may  possess  for  husbandry,  mechanism, 
merchandize,  science,  law,  or  physic,  all  must  be  subordinate  to  devotion, 
and  not  entangle  him  in  his  ministry. 

It  is  of  primary  importance,  that  the  preacher  should  be  clothed  with 
the  garment  of  salvation  ;  that  he  should  be  filled  with  a  sense  of  the  im. 
mense  worth  of  the  truth,  the  guilt,  depravity  and  danger  man  is  in  •  the 
unsearchable  love  of  Christ  in  the  bloody  purchase,  and  his  ability  and 
willingness  to  save  redeemed  penitents.  Without  this  robe,  he  will  preach 
a  distant  Jesus,  by  an  unfelt  gospel,  and  with  an  unhallowed  tongue.  And 
all  the  self-made  zeal,  pretended  piety,  loud  voice,  hypocritical  tears,  and 
agonizing  gesticulations  that  he  may  assume,  will  not  supply  the  lack. 


680  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


ADVERTISEMENT-GREAT  REWARD  OFFERED,' 


A  SINGULAR  person  is  now,  and  has  been  for  a  long  time,  travelling  through 
the  land,  who  raises  the  wonder  of  all  that  behold  him.  Some  think  him 
a  mad-man  or  a  demoniac — others  consider  him  a  harmless  man,  who  never 
cheats  or  deceives  any  other.  A  third  class  view  him  more  inspired  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  than  the  prophets  or  aspostles  were.  Another  sect  believe 
that  he  was  the  first  and  greatest  creature  that  God  ever  made,  and  that, 
by  a  delegated  powever,  he  does  mighty  works.  But  some  contend,  that 
from  his  names,  Emanuel,  the  everlasting  Father,  the  true  God,  the  only 
wise  God,  eternal  life,  the  I  Am,  Jehovah,  the  Lord  God  of  the  holy  proph- 
ets,  God  over  all  ;  and  from  his  works  of  healing  the  sick,  raising  the 
dead,  ruling  the  winds  and  waves,  knowing  the  thoughts  and  hearts  of  all 
men,  meeting  with,  and  blessing  ten  thousand  congregations  of  saints  scat- 
tered  over  the  world  at  the  same  minute,  that  he  must  be  God  essential, 
possessing  omnipotence,  omniscience,  and  omnipresence. 

The  person  here  advertised,  like  a  wayfaring  man,  is  always  travelling 
round  in  the  world,  but  never  misses  his  way,  by  day  or  by  night.  His 
clothing  sometimes  appears  mean  as  swaddling  clothes,  and  at  other  times, 
like  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood  ;  sometimes  clothed  with  a  garment  down 
to  the  feet,  and  girt  about  the  paps  with  a  golden  girdle,  so  white  and  shi- 
ning that  no  fuller  on  earth  can  equal  it,  called  the  garment  of  salvation, 
and  the  robe  of  righteousness.  When  he  travels  on  his  way,  his  manner 
is  to  knock  at  every  man's  door,  but  make  no  forcible  entry.  Sometimes, 
when  he  finds  the  door  locked  against  him,  by  his  strange  talent,  and  great 
benevolence,  he  puts  in  his  hand  by  the  hole  of  the  door,  and  moves  the 
bolt  back  ;  after  which  he  is  always  received  as  a  welcome  guest.  When- 
ever the  door  is  freely  opened,  he  enters,  whether  the  occupant  is  king  or 
beggar,  and  sups  with  him  ;  promising  them  that  they  shall  sup  with  him 
in  a  house  above,  which  he  has  prepared  for  them.  His  deportment  is  dig- 
nified  and  meek,  his  addresses  to  all  in  his  way  are  neither  false  nor  flat- 
tering, but  in  sound  words  that  cannot  be  contemned  ;  in  which  he  in- 
structs the  ignorant,  warns  the  rebellious,  detects  the  hypocrite,  abases  the 
proud,  comforts  the  mourners,  heals  the  broken  hearted,  and  exalts  the 
humble.  In  these  addresses,  his  friends  say,  that  never  man  spake  like 
him.     In  his  flesh-marks,  he  is  fairer  than  the  sons  of  men,  yet  it  pleased 


*  Published  in  1836,  as  also  the  following  Hymns. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  681 

the  Lord  to  bruise  him  ;  his  visage  was  so  marred,  more  than  any  man. 
That  the  scriptures  might  be  fulfilled,  he  was  taken  by  his  enemies,  and 
received  five  bleeding  wounds  :  they  pierced  his  hands,  his  feet,  and  his 
side.  Those  gaping  wounds  he  retained  a  number  of  days  after  his  return 
from  the  lower  regions,  to  give  incontestible  proof  that  he  was  flesh  and 
bones,  and  was  no  spirit — that  he  was  the  same  person  that  his  friends  had 
been  intimate  with  before  he  went  down  to  the  grave  ;  but  it  is  hard  to 
believe  that  he  has  nov/  wounds  or  scars  in  that  state  of  glory  which  he 
had  before  the  world  began. 

Now  if  any  person,  by  diligent  search,  has  found  him  who  is  here  de- 
scribed, and  has  opened  his  house  to  receive  him — his  heart  to  love  him — ■ 
his  mind  to  obey  him,  and  his  mouth  to  confess  him,  he  shall  have  a  rich 
reward ;  which  comprises  food  of  the  first  quality,  meat,  which  shall  en- 
dure unto  everlasting  life,  the  flesh  of  the  passover  Lamb,  who  takes  away 
the  sin  of  the  world,  and  many  rich  dainties;  drink  of  the  living  fountains 
of  water,  which  proceed  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb,  which 
makes  glad  the  city  of  our  God,  together  with  the  juice  of  the  pomegranate 
and  the  spiced  wine  :  bread  shall  be  given  hitn,  his  water  shall  be  sure  ; 
he  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any  more.  His  clothing  shall  be 
fine  linen,  white  and  clean,  being  washed  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  The 
dress  within  shall  be  all  glorious,  being  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  which,  in 
the  sight  of  God,  is  of  great  price,  called  the  clothing  of  humility.  His 
outward  dress  shall  be  of  wrought  gold,  and  when  he  is  brought  before  the 
king,  his  raiment  shall  be  of  needle-work.  His  dwelling  shall  be  in  a  house 
not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens ;  in  the  city  that  hath  founda- 
tions, whose  builder  and  maker  is  God  ;  even  on  iMount  Zion,  the  city  of 
the  living  God ;  he  shall  be  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  God,  and  go  no  more 
out.  His  possessions  shall  be  the  fatness  of  the  earth,  and  the  dew  of 
heaven,  a  land  that  flows  with  milk  and  honey — the  glory  of  all  lands — a 
goodly  mountain  and  Lebanon — a  pleasant  land — a  goodly  heritage,  the 
title  of  which  is  sure,  and  the  increase  a  hundred  fold  ;  known  by  the  name 
of  Beulah.  His  riches  shall  be  pure  gold — silver,  seven  limes  refined,  and 
pearls  of  immense  value.  His  companions  shall  be  the  only  excellent  ones 
of  the  earth  ;  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy  nation,  a 
peculiar  people  ;  the  jewels  and  royal  diadems  of  .Tehovah,  the  spirits  of 
just  men  made  perfect,  and  an  innumerable  company  of  angels.  He  shall 
be  delivered  from  all  his  bonds,  his  sins  shall  be  forgiven,  his  debts  paid, 
his  crimes  pardoned,  his  prison  opened,  and  he  shall  be  free  indeed. 

His  equipage,  (when  he  follows  him  that  is  faithful  and  true,  whose  gar- 
ment is  dipped  in  blood,)  shall  be  elegant ;  he  shall  ride  upon  a  while  horse, 
clothed  in  fine  linen,  white  and  clean,  and  shall  be  attended  by  twenty 
thousand  chariots  of  angels,  who  are  all  ministering  spirits  to  the  heirs  of 
salvation. 

86 


682  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

He  shall,  moreover,  be  adopted  into  the  family  of  the  King  of  Kings, 
and  be  called  and  treated  as  a  Son  of  God,  and  a  joint  heir  with  Jesus  Christ ; 
he  shall  be  a  king  and  priest  to  God  and  the  Lamb,  and  live  and  reign  with 
Christ  forever ;  having  his  name  written  in  the  book  of  life,  and  the  seal 
of  the  living  God  written  in  his  forehead. 

This  is  the  reward  that  shall  be  given  to  the  man  who  finds  him  of  whom 
Moses  and  the  prophets  di-d  write,  and  receives  and  treats  him  according 
to  his  character.     Let  all  such  rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad,  for  gkeat  is 

THEIR  REWARD  IN  HEAVEN. 


ZiONGIXTG   FOR    THZ!    ^FPEiLRIXTG    OF    CHRIST. 

How  long,  deal  Saviour,  O  how  long 

Shall  we  be  left  alone  ? 
When  shall  our  hearts  break  forth  in  song. 

And  say,  "  the  Lord  is  come  ?" 

How  long  shall  we  on  willows  hang 

Our  harps  by  Babel's  s-tream  ? 
Once  we  rejoiced  aloud  and  sang. 

And  Jesus  was  dur  theme. 

We  long  to  see  thy  smiling  face. 

We  long  to  hear  thy  voice, 
We  long  to  see  a  new-born  race 

Aloud  in  God  rejoice. 

The  day  of  doom  is  drawing  near. 

We  have  no  time  to  spare  ; 
Let  every  one  attend  and  fear, 

And  live  a  life  of  prayer. 

Oh  !  gracious  God  !  appear  this  day,  (night,) 

Make  known  ihy  power  and  grace. 
And  let  thy  word  of  truth,  we  pray,  (and  light,) 

Fill  every  heart  with  praise. 


DEATH. 

How  solemn  the  sight  we  behold  ! 

How  pale  is  the  face  of  the  dead  ! 
The  body  is  lifeless  and  cold, 

The  spirit  that  warmed  it,  is  fled. 

The  eyes  are  now  sealed  up  in  death. 
The  hearing  and  speaking  are  o'er, 

The  lungs  are  deprived  of  all  breath, 
The  limbs  move  in  order  no  more. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 

Farewell!  fellow-mortal,  adieu, 

The  grave  is  prepared  for  your  bed  ; 

Soon  I  shall  be  lifeless,  like  you, 

And  numbered,  like  you,  with  the  dead. 

When  thro'  the  dark  valley  I  go, 
Oh,  may  my  dear  Saviour  appear ! 

His  presence  would  banish  my  wo, 
His  promise  remove  all  my  fear. 

Let  all  who  are  living  to-day, 

Remember  they  shortly  must  die  ; 

Which  first  will  be  summoned  away? 
My  merciful  God,  is  it  I  ? 


683 


FRSE     GRACE. 

If  grace  could  reach  the  dying  thief, 

And  persecuting  SmuI, 
Could  give  to  Magdalene  relief, 

And  freely  pardon  all : 

May  not  a  sinner,  such  as  I, 

O  thou  forgiving  God, 
Who  justly  do  deserve  to  die. 

Find  pardon  in  thy  blood  ? 

Before  thy  throne  of  grace,  oh  God, 

Upon  my  bended  knee, 
I  humbly  pray  this  guilty  load 

May  be  removed  from  me. 

The  joy  on  earth,  and  joy  in  heaven, 
Would  be  increased  thereby; 

**  The  lost  is  found — his  sins  forgiven,** 
Would  echo  thro'  the  sky. 


Z.OVE    OF   JESXTS. 

Jesus  who  reigns  in  heaven  above, 
His  everlasting  love  fl.)W9  free  ; 

Thousands  have  richly  shared  his  love, 
And  is  there  not  a  drop  for  me  ? 

For  sinners  of  the  blackest  dye, 

He  groaned  and  bled  upon  the  tree  ; 

"  Father,  forgive,"  I  hear  him  cry ! — 
Perhaps  that  prayer  availed  for  me  ? 


684  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

He  seeks  the  ruined  souls  of  men, 
And  gives  them  hfe  and  eyes  to  see  ; 

And  brings  them  to  his  fold  again  ; — 
Who  knows  but  what  he'll  gather  me  ? 

In  all  the  sorrows  of  the  saints, 

Their  friend  with  them  will  always  be. 

To  ease  their  troubles  and  complaints  ; 
And  will  he  not  deliver  me  ? 

When  Satan  roars,  or  death  draws  nigh, 
They  have  a  refuge  where  to  flee. 

And  when,  like  them,  I'm  call'd  to  die, 
O  Lord,  I  pray,  remember  me. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  685 


THE  BIBLE. .-1836. 


Words,  sentences,  aphorsims,  and  customs  that  wore  significant,  and 
well  understood  in  the  days  of  king  James,  are  now  out  of  use  and  obscure. 
Should  there  be  a  new  translation,  according  to  modern  diction,  is  it  not 
probable  that  two  or  three  centuries  hence  it  would  be  as  obscure  ?  And 
is  there  any  hope  of  improving  more  from  the  original,  when  every  century 
removes  both  Hebrews  and  Greeks  farther  off  from  understanding  their 
respective  languages  as  they  were  spoken  in  the  days  of  the  inspired  au- 
thors ? 

Would  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible,  according  to  the  modern  use  of 
words,  taken  from  the  most  ancient  copies  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
give  us  certain  information,  without  doubt,  on  the  question  which  has  per- 
plexed the  Christian  world  for  many  centuries,  "  whether  Christ  died  for 
only  a  part,  or  for  every  soul  of  man  ?"  Or  is  this  a  mystery,  locked  up 
in  the  treasures  of  God,  in  a  book  not  to  be  read  in  until  we  go  to  another 
state  ?  as  the  Jews  do  not  allow  their  children  to  read  the  nine  last  chap- 
ters of  Ezekiel,  and  the  book  of  Daniel,  until  they  are  thirty-nine  years 
old.  But  stop  and  ponder.  Would  a  certain  solution  of  this  question  make 
men  any  better  in  this  world  ?  If  not,  would  it  not  be  beneath  the  dignity 
of  Jehovah,  to  reveal  that  to  men  which  would  be  of  no  service  to  them  ? 

Would  not  a  new  translation  of  some  passages  in  the  New  Testament, 
according  to  our  present  dialect  and  customs,  be  acceptable  ?  In  Matthew, 
X.,  7  :  And  as  ye  go,  preach,  saying.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand. 
Read  thus :  And  as  ye  go,  preach  to  the  people,  your  money  is  essential 
to  the  salvation  of  sinners,  and,  therefore,  form  into  societies,  and  use  all 
devisable  means  to  collect  money  for  the  Lord's  treasury  ;  for  the  millen- 
nium is  at  hand.  Mark,  xvi.,  16  :  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall 
be  saved.  Read  :  He  that  has  attended  Sunday  schools,  had  his  mind  in- 
formed  by  tracts,  contributed  to  support  missions,  and  joined  in  societies 
to  support  benevolent  institutions,  shall  be  saved  ;  the  rest  shall  be  damned. 
Matthew,  x.,  17  :  Be  ye  therefore,  wise  as  serpents,  and  harmless  as 
doves.  Read:  Be  ye  wise  as  serpents  in  your  guile  to  deceive  men; 
keep  out  of  sight  that  ye  have  to  receive  part  that  you  collect  for  your 
mendicancy ;  show  great  concern  for  poor  benighted  heathen,  but  let  your 
neighbors  have  none  of  your  prayers,  exhortations,  or  alms ;  but  strive  to 


686 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


appear  harmless  as  doves ;  put  on  gravity  and  holy  awe  ;  make  others  be- 
lieve that  ye  are  too  devotional  to  labor  for  a  living,  and  that  they  must 
labor  to  support  you  ;  for  if  you  do  not  appear  uncommonly  holy,  you  will 
not  deceive  the  simple  and  get  their  money.  Acts,  iv.,  34-35  :  And 
brought  the  prices  of  the  things  that  were  sold,  and  laid  them  down  at  the 
apostle's  feet,  and  distribution  was  made  to  every  man,%ccording  as  he 
had  need.  This  wotk  of  receiving  and  distributing  was  soon  after  given 
to  seven  men  of  honest  report,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  wisdom.  Acts, 
vi.  3  :  Would  it  not  be  better  to  read — The  convention  appointed  a  board 
of  directors  ;  any  man  who  would  cast  into  the  fund  one  hundred  dollars, 
should  be  one  of  them  for  life,  to  dispose  of  the  money  at  discretion,  and 
mark  out  the  destination  of  the  missionaries.  Read  Acts,  xiii.,  1,2,  3,  4, 
and  translate  it  thus,  if  the  Greek  will  admit  of  it:  Now  there  was  at 
Antioch,  a  convention  of  Christians,  and  among  them  five  directors ;  and 
as  they  fasted  and  prayed,  they  were  moved  to  select  two  of  them  as  mis- 
sionaries, and  when  they  had  supplied  them  with  a  good  outfit,  and  prom- 
ised them  liberal  supplies,  to  make  Christianity  appear  honorable  among 
the  heathen, — they  sent  them  forth  with  a  solemn  charge  to  devise  all 
means  in  their  power  to  keep  the  money  market  open,  and  invent  employ- 
ment for  thousands  that  were  longing  for  agencies.  Acts,  xx.,  33,  34,  35  : 
I  have  coveted  no  man's  silver  or  gold  j  ye,  yourselves,  know  that  these 
hands  have  ministered  to  my  necessities,  and  to  them  that  were  with  me ; 
I  have  showed  you  all  things,  how  that,  so  laboring,  ye  ought  to  support 
the  weak,  etc.  These  sentences  are  so  little  used  in  this  day  of  great 
light,  that  a  new  translation  is  unnecessary. 

In  observing  the  course  that  Christianity  is  now  taking,  it  reminds  me  of 
past  events.  At  the  close  of  the  apostolic  age,  and  the  age  of  miracles, 
philosophy  was  resorted  to  for  a  substitute,  and  every  art  and  science  was 
called  into  requisition  to  make  Christianity  appear  honorable  in  the  eyes  of 
worldly  men.  Schools  and  teachers,  of  various  descriptions,  were  set  on 
motion  to  weld  cold  iron  and  hot  together.  The  persecutions  against  Jews 
and  Christians,  for  denying  the  divinity  of  the  Pagan  gods,  and  the  worship 
of  idols,  did  not  stop  the  gradual  and  ruinous  assimulation  of  church  and 
world  together. 

All  things  being  ready,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  the  union 
was  consummated  by  Constantino  the  Great,  who  established  Christianity 
for  the  religion  of  the  empire,  and  suffered  none  but  Christians  to  hold  any 
offices  of  honor  or  profit,  for  whom  he  made  great  donations  in  salaries, 
temples,  etc.  At  this  change,  the  young  preachers,  and  professors  of  Chris- 
tianity greatly  rejoiced,  but  the  aged  trembled  with  fear.  From  that  day 
until  this  time,  with  partial  exceptions,  the  Christian  church  (so  called)  has 
been  governed  by  the  laws  of  men.  In  all  these  Christian  establishments, 
by  legal  force,  there  has  been  a  great  number  of  non-conformists  ;  but  they 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  687 

have  been  overpowered  and  reduced  to  oppression,  sometimes  to  bloody- 
persecutions. 

To  persecute  the  greatest  fanatics,  except  for  overt  acts,  is  poor  policy  ; 
it  only  inflames  their  zeal,  and  augments  their  numbers ;  but  to  persecute 
harmless,  peaceable  subjects  because  they  do  not  believe  what  they  can- 
not  believe,  and  are  so  honest  that  they  will  not  say  they  believe  what  they 
do  not,  is  the  work  of  bloody  monsters,  in  the  shape  of  man. 


THE    WRITINGS    OP 


THE  SABBATH  EXAMINED. 

(never  before  published.) 


I  HAVE  never  been  able  to  find  out  on  what  part  of  the  globe  the  Garden 
of  Eden  was  planted.  Geography  gives  no  account  of  a  spot  whence  four 
rivers  take  their  rise.  It  is,  therefore,  most  likely  that  the  flood  so  changed 
the  bed  of  rivers,  that  no  such  place  exists.  If  it  was  at  or  near  one  of  the 
poles,  one  entire  day  was  as  long  as  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  are 
in  the  middle  regions:  of  course  God  was  six  of  our  years  in  creating  and 
forming  the  heavens  and  earth,  and  all  things  therein,  and  then  ceased 
from  his  work  the  following  year. 

Solar  years — lunar  months — day  and  night  are  measured  and  established 
by  monuments  in  the  laws  of  nature.  Weeks — watches — hours  and  mo- 
ments have  no  fixed  barriers  in  nature,  but  arose  and  exist,  either  by  a 
revelation  from  God  or  the  children  of  men.  Years,  months,  and  days 
are  frequently  found  in  the  writings  of  Moses  :  week  only  in  the  affair  of 
Laban  and  Jacob  ;  and  in  that  place  of  uncerlam  meaning.  In  Daniel, 
the  seventy  weeks  are  supposed  to  include  four  hundred  and  ninety  years, 
taking  a  day  for  a  year  ;  but  whether  a  week  in  either  of  those  places 
intends  seven  days,  1  cannot  tell.  In  any  case,  the  week  belonged  to  the 
calendar  of  men.  God  rested  on  the  seventh  day  of  time  ;  no  account  of 
a  week. 

Though  God  rested  on  the  seventh  day,  I  have  not  yet  found  that  he 
ever  enjoined  a  rest  from  labor  on  men  for  more  than  two  thousand  years 
after  creation  ;  nor  any  account  that  men  ever  observed  a  sevenduyrian 
rest,  during  that  length  of  time,  taking  Enoch,  Noah  and  Abraham  among 
the  rest. 

The  solemn  feast  day  of  the  new  moon  was  ordained  by  a  statute  of  the 
God  of  Jacob,  in  the  days  of  Joseph  in  Egypt,  (Psalms,  Ixxxi.,  3,  4,  5,) 
before  the  Sabbath  was  appointed,  (Exodus,  xvi.,  2^,)  and  is  placed  on  a 
level  with  the  Sabbath,  (Isaiah,  i.,  13  :  Coll.  ii.,  16,)  etc. 

The  strict  observance  of  the  seventh  day,  as  a  Sabbath  of  rest,  was  en- 
joined on  the  children  of  Israel,  with  a  penalty  so  severe  that  the  trans- 
gressor was  not  to  be  fined,  whipped  or  put  out  of  the  synagogue,  but  surely 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  689 

put  to  death.*  The  passover,  as  well  as  the  new  moon,  was  appointed  by 
an  express  precept,  before  the  Sabbath,  (Ex.  xii.,  24. 

Very  soon  after  the  appointment  of  the  Sabbath,  it  was  incorporated  into 
the  laws  of  Moses,  and  became  an  integral  part  of  the  ten  commandments, 
which  were  written  by  the  finger  of  God,  on  tables  of  stone. 

The  law  of  Moses  contains  three  parts.  First.  The  ten  commandments 
engraven  on  stone.  Second.  The  sixty  precepts  written  in  a  book  and 
sprinkled  with  blood,  designed  for  the  government  of  their  commonwealth. 
Third.  Their  religious  usages,  containing  bleeding  victims,  smoking  altars, 
divers  washings,  and  carnal  ordinances ;  to  be  continued  until  what  they 
prefigured  should  take  place.  Sometimes  the  whole  of  Moses'  writings, 
without  distinction,  are  called  Moses,  or  the  law. 

When  it  first  took  rise,  to  call  the  ten  commandments  moral,  distinct 
from  the  other  parts  of  the  law,  or  why  it  is  continued,  I  cannot  tell. 

The  word  moral  is  not  in  the  Bible,  but  it  is  a  word  of  general  use,  in 
these  days,  and  of  a  variety  of  meanings.  In  the  religious  department,  it 
is  used  by  many  divines,  to  express  ihe  eternal  rule  of  right  which  proceed 
from  the  relation  that  exists  between  God  and  men,  and  between  man  and 
man,  and  that  will  continue  as  long  as  the  perfections  of  God  and  the  fac- 
ulties of  men  exist,  without  change,  amendment  or  repeal.  In  this  point 
of  light  I  receive  and  use  the  word  in  my  research. 

Why  men  should  pay  more  deference  to  the  decalogue  than  totheothei* 
parts  of  the  law,  I  cannot  ascertain.  True,  the  ten  commandments  were 
spoken  aloud  by  God,  amidst  awful  emblems  of  his  power  ;  so  also  the 
sixty  precepts  were  written  in  a  book,  by  a  holy  man  of  God,  inspired  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  sprinkled  with  blood.  When  our  Lord  was  asked  by 
a  lawyer,  which  was  the  first  and  great  commandment,  our  Lord  did  not 
answer  him  from  any  of  the  ten  commandments,  but  from  Deut.  vi.,  5,  and 
Levit.,  xix.,  18,  where  Moses  was  not  treating  of  the  decalogue. 

The  law  of  eternal  right  and  equity  is  seen  running  through  the  Bible 
like  a  golden  cord,  and  is  binding  on  all  the  progeny  of  Adam,  whether 
they  are  favored  with  the  oracles  of  God  or  not  :  but  it  never  enjoins  on 
man  to  do  that  which  the  laws  of  nature  render  impossible,  nor  does  it  ever 
give  way  to  absolute  precepts. 

Many  difficulties  arise  against  the  conclusion,  that  the  fourth  command- 
ment, in  the  decalogue,  was  of  moral  obligation. 

1.  Moral  obligations  never  intermit,  but  are  every  day,  and  all  the  time 
binding. 

*  There  were  twenty  crimes  punished  by  death  in  the  laws  of  Moses,  either  by  hang- 
ing, stoneing,  or  burning,  viz  :  adultery,  beastiality,  blasphemy,  cursing  father  or  mother, 
enticing  to  idolatry,  false  prophesying,  fa'se  swearing,  idolatry,  incest,  kidnapping,  murder, 
presumption,  rape,  Sabbath  breaking,  sacrificing  to  Moloch,  smiting  father  or  mother, 
sodomy,  stubborness  of  a  drunken  son,  whoredom  of  a  priest's  daughter,  and  witchcraft. 

87 


690  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

2.  In  the  case  of  circumcision  and  the  annual  atonement,  works  were  com. 
manded,  contrary  to  the  prohibition  of  the  fourth  commandment.  Would 
God,  by  an  absolute  precept  defeat  the  principles  of  eternal  righll 

3.  In  Deuteronomy,  v.,  3,  Moses  says,  "  The  Lord  made  not  this  cove- 
nant with  our  fathers,  but  with  us,  even  us,  who  are  all  of  us  here  alive 
this  day."  What  words  could  be  plainer,  and  what  sense  of  them  more 
judicious,  than  to  believe  that  none  of  the  fathers  before  Moses  were  under 
the  obligations  to  keep  the  fourth  commandment,  (which  was  a  part  of  the 
covenant  that  Moses  was  speaking  of,)  which  would  have  been  the  case  if 
it  had  been  moral  in  its  nature  ? 

4.  None  of  the  laws  of  Moses  were  written  and  engraven  in  stones  but 
the  ten  commandments  ;  and  yet  it  is  expressly  said,  (2  Cor.,  iii.,  7,  11, 
13,)  that  the  ministration  of  what  was  there  written,  is  done  away  and 
abolished,  which  will  never  be  the  case  with  moral  law. 

5.  The  prophets  of  the  Lord  faithfully  and  abundantly  reproved  the 
Jews  for  Sabbath  breaking  ;  but  while  they  point  out  the  many  crimes  of 
the  Egyptians,  Moabites,  Edomitfs,  Assyrians,  Ninevites,  Chaldeans,  Ty. 
rians,  and  others,  they  never  mention  Sabbath  breaking.  The  apostle  of 
the  Gentiles  also  draws  a  black  picture  of  them.  In  Rom.  i.,  29,  30,  31, 
he  lays  to  their  charge  twenty- two  sins,  but  Sabbath  breaking  is  not  among 
the  number.  The  like  is  true  of  Gal.  v.,  19,  20,  21,  where  seventeen  sins 
are  mentioned.* 

6.  The  Sabbaths  appointed  by  Moses  were  limited  by  evening.  Whether 
the  evening  began  at  mid-day,  at  the  setting  of  the  sun,  when  the  stars 
appeared,  or  at  any  other  season,  is  immaterial  :  the  Israelites,  no  doubt 
understood  the  expression  used  by  their  law-giver, /rowi  euenm^  to  evening. 
That  it  intends  a  whole  day  is  evident.  There  has  never  been  a  minute 
since  the  fourth  day  of  the  creation,  but  what  the  sun  has  been  rising — at 
his  zeneth,  and  setting  on  the  different  parts  of  the  globe.  In  a  line  of  lon- 
gitude, therefore,  although  the  people  round  the  globe  might  keep  a  day, 
the  day  would  not  be  the  same  time  to  all.  If  the  subject  is  viewed  in  a 
line  of  latitude,  at  or  near  the  poles,  there  would  be  but  one  day  in  our 
year  :  of  course  the  frigid  nations  would  have  but  one  Sabbath,  while  those 

*  The  character  which  St.  Paul  gives  of  the  Gentiles,  previous  to  their  receiving  the 
gospel,  and  the  faithfulness  of  the  apostle  to  testify  the  whole  counsel  of  God,  forbid  the 
conclusion,  either  that  the  Gentiles  had  never  broken  this  law,  (if  it  was  binding  on  them,) 
or  that  Paul  shunned  to  reprove  them  for  this  sin.  The  most  natural  result  is,  that  the 
precept  was  not  inoral,  but  absolute,  obligatory  on  the  Jews,  and  on  them  only." 

"  As  Jesus  was  made  under  the  law,  he  submitted  to  it,  and  regarded  the  Sabbath;  not 
in  a  mode  that  pleased  the  Pharisees  and  Rabbies,  for  by  them  he  was  often  accused  of 
Sabbath  breaking  ;  but  in  a  mode  that  was  pleasing  to  God." 

"  Let  it  be  carefully  noticed  that  the  first  day  of  the  week  is  never  called  Sabbath  in 
the  New  Testament."     Remarks  on  Holy  Time,  ^c. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  691 

of  the  middle  regions  would  have  three  hundred  and  sixty-five.*  Let  a 
Mahometan,  a  Jew,  and  a  Christian  stand  at  any  spot,  and  dispute  about 
the  holy  day  :  the  Mahometan  says  Friday — the  Jew  is  for  Saturday — the 
Christian  pleads  for  Sunday :  not  agreeing  in  opinion,  they  part  at  vari- 
ance. The  Christian  takes  his  course  eastward  and  travels  round  the  world, 
scrupulously  keeping  every  Sunday  for  holy  time.  The  Mahometan  takes 
a  western  course,  and,  like  the  Christian,  circumambulates  the  earth,  ri- 
gidly observing  every  Friday.  The  Jew  remains  stationary,  keeping  every 
Saturday  in  Mosaic  style.  In  a  lapse  of  time  the  travellers  return  to  the 
spot  where  the  Jew  was  residing,  and  to  their  astonishment  find  the  holy 
day  of  all  was  the  same  day.  The  Christian  by  travelling  east  had  gained 
a  day,  and  the  Mahometan  by  going  west  had  lost  a  day  :  every  nine  hun- 
dred miles  gaining  or  losing  an  hour. 

7.  There  is  nothing  in  the  starry  heavens — in  the  atmosphere,  or  the 
productions  of  the  earth,  that  marks  one  day  in  seven  to  be  more  holy 
than  another.  Should  a  man,  in  derangement  of  mind,  lose  time,  (which 
often  is  the  case,)  when  he  returns  to  his  reason  he  could  never  find  the 
sanctified  day  by  any  fixed  monument.  This  is  the  case  universally,  except 
in  the  double  portion  of  manna  given  on  the  sixth  day,  and  none  on  the 
seventh  ;  which  lasted  but  forty  years. 

8.  The  law  of  the  Sabbath,  when  given  by  Moses,  could  be  kept  by  all 
Israel.  The  tribes,  in  their  encampment,  did  not  cover  a  district,  it  is  pre. 
sumed,  more  than  ten  miles  square  ;  and  after  chey  took  possession  of  Ca- 
naan, their  whole  country  was  but  a  very  small  part  of  the  habitable  world  ; 
of  course  they  could  all  rest  a  specific  day  with  ease,  which  would  be  im- 
possible for  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  to  do. 

9.  The  precepts  of  Moses  were  cfivinely  binding  on  those  for  whom  they 
were  intended,  for  the  length  of  time  designed ;  and  all  of  them  that  are 
evangelized  in  the  New  Testament  are  binding  on  Christians  :  the  rest  of 
them  belong  to  the  Jews,  and  other  nations,  and  individuals  to  whom  they 
were  addressed,  or  have  ceased  by  their  limitation. f 

10.  All  the  ten  commandments,  except  the  fourth,  are  brought  forward 
and  enjoined  in  the  New  Testament.  That  there  is  one  God  to  be  wor- 
shipped— that  idolatry  must  be  forsaken — that  the  name  of  God  must  not  be 
taken  in  vain,  or  blasphemed — that  father  and  mother  must  be  honored — 
that  murderers  have  not  eternal  life — that  stealing  is  criminal — that  adul- 
tery is  heinous — that  covetousness  and  love  of  the  world  is  abhorrent,  are 

*  The  sun  is  at  all  times  partially  and  totally  eclipsed  in  some  of  the  regions  of  space, 
and  the  same  is  true  of  the  moon. 

t  "  What  light  these  men"  (the  advocates  of  the  first-day  Sabbath)  "  view  those  nations 
in,  who  proceeded  from  Adam,  but  were  not  under  the  law  of  Moses,  and  have  never 
heard  of  Christ,  whether  they  are  under  divine  obligation  to  keep  the  seventh  day  or  the 
first  day,  I  cannot  tell,  for  they  have  never  told  me."     Eemarks,  ^c. 


692  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

interwoven  in  that  book*.  But  where  shall  we  find  a  precept  given  by  him 
who  was  greater  than  Moses — who  was  faithful  in  all  his  house,  that  his 
followers  should  abstain  from  labor  and  keep  holy  the  seventh  day  of  every 
week  ?  or  that  the  first  day  of  every  week  should  supersede  the  seventh, 
to  be  kept  in  remembrance  of  his  resurrection?  He  appointed  one  meet- 
ing for  his  disciples  on  a  mountain  in  Gallilee  :  and  he  appeared  to  above 
five  hundred  brethren  at  once ;  but  on  what  day  of  the  week  I  know  not. 
,,,11.  A  day,  limited  by  the  unchangeable  monuments  of  nature,  could  be 
observed  by  the  nation  of  Israel  in  their  section  of  country  ;  but  as  the 
gospel  was  for  all  the  world,  no  one  day  could  be  observed  by  the  inhabit- 
ants at  large.  Would  the  blessed  Jesus  enjoin  an  impossibility  upon  his 
followers  ? 

12.  If  the  fourth  commandment  is  moral,  (still  binding,  without  change 
or  decay,)  servants,  cattle,  and  gates  must  exist  forever,  as  long  as  the 
perfections  of  God  and  the  faculties  of  men  endure. 

13.  The  essential  prerequisites  of  salvation  are  not  hereditary,  nor  do 
they  depend  upon  social  union,  but  are  affairs  that  lie  between  God  and 
individuals  ;  hence,  a  person  in  lonely  solitude  may  possess  those  views 
and  exercises  of  mind,  and  perform  those  works  that  are  acceptable  to 
God  :  yet  God  (who  saw  it  was  not  good  that  man  should  be  alone)  has 
ordained  the  assembling  of  saints  for  religious  worshi]),>and  marked  out 
the  rules  of  their  devotio:.. 

14.  Men  began  to  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  (by  publicly  assemr 
bli;ng,  it  is  presumed,)  A.  M.,  235.  Some  think  that  Abraham's  three 
hundred  and  eighteen  trained  servants,  were  such  as  he  had  disciplined  in 
the  knowledge  of  God,  who  assembled  with  him  at  his  altar.  Jacob,  in 
obedience  to  God,  took  his  household,  and  all  that  were  with  him,  and  went 
to  Bethel  and  worshiped  God.  But  whatever  may  be  said  of  the  patriar- 
chal age,  the  institutes  of  Moses  appoint  three  solemn  assemblies  for  every 
year,  each  to  last  seven  or  eight  days,  in  which  all  the  males  of  Israel 
were  to  be  present ;  and  many  solemn  assemblies  beside.  The  seventh 
day  Sabbath  was  appointed,  with  the  awful  penalty  of  death  to  the  trans- 
gressor,  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  rest,  more  than  a  day  of  worship. 

15.  That  Christ  was  crucified  on  our  Friday  is  generally  understood. 
That  he  rose  early  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  our  Sunday,  is  believed. 
Afterwards  he  was  seen  forty  days,  and  then  ascended,  which  was  ThurS' 
day.  Penticost  being  fifty  days  afler  the  passover,  was  on  Saturday.  It 
is  difficult  to  see  any  partiality  shown  to  days  in  the  great  events  of  eter- 
nal redemption. 

17.  There  is  a  scattering  class  all  over  Christendom,  and  in  some  parts 
*  See  Romans,  xiii.,  9,  and  many  other  places. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  693 

they  are  numerous,  who  strictly  regard  the  first  day  of  every  week,  in 
obedience  to  the  fourth  commandment.  They  have  changed  the  seventh 
day  for  i\\Q  first,  placed  the  resurrection  of  Christ  for  the  object  instead  of 
God's  rest  and  the  deliverance  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  altered  the  penalty 
from  death  to  a  small  fine,  changed  a  rest  within  their  gates  for  a  go-abroad 
to  perform  Christian  worship,  and  added  to  the  commandment  "  Except  so 
much  as  is  to  be  taken  up  in  the  works  of  necessity  and  mercy."  But 
they  have  not  told  us  who  is  to  be  the  judge,  to  decide  whether  the  works 
done  on  the  first  day  are  works  of  necessity  and  mercy,  or  not.  Is  the  pa- 
rent to  be  judge  for  the  child  ?  the  church  for  its  members  1  and  the  ma- 
gistrate for  the  populace  ? — why  a  weekly  day  should  be  appointed  to  ce- 
lebrate one  event  in  the  scheme  of  redemption  and  no  day  to  commemorate 
other  events,  equally  important,  seems  strange.  If,  however,  there  is  a  di- 
vine  precept  for  it,  our  reasoning  must  be  quiet:  but  where  do  we  find  the 
command,  that  the  disciples  of  Christ  should  keep  the  first  day  of  every 
week  in  remembrance  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ?  The  class  of  Chris- 
tians that  I  am  now  treating  of,  wherever  they  are  numerous  enough, 
make  the  observance  of  their  first  day  an  article  of  jurisprudence.  The 
day  is  legalized,  and  the  offender  punished  ;  regardless  of  the  good  maxim 
*'  That  neither  legislators,  judges,  nor  jurors,  in  their  official  capacity, 
have  any  thing  to  do  with  souls  and  eternity ;  for  where  conscience  begins, 
empire  ends." 

18.  Another  respectable  sect  is  ever  found  in  Christendom  who  keep 
every  seventh  day  of  the  week  as  holy  time  ;  believing  that  the  fourth  com- 
mandment is  unalterable  in  its  nature,  and  binding  on  all  nations.  Their 
motto  is,  "  Do  we  then  through  faith  make  void  the  law  ?  God  forbid  :  yea 
we  establish  the  law."  They  are  as  firm  believers  in  the  resurrection  of 
Christ  as  those  who  keep  the  first  day  for  a  holy  Sabbath,  and  acknowledge 
him  as  the  only  Saviour  of  men,  but  punish  those  who  disregard  their  holy 
day  wilh  nothing  but  non-fellowship.  They  also  appeal  to  the  first  centu- 
ries of  Christianity  for  precedent  as  much  as  their  first  day  brethren.        '' 

19.  Among  the  rest  there  has  been,  and  still  is,  a  goodly  number  who 
believe  the  divinity  of  the  fourth  commandment,  and  the  resurrection  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  and  worship  him  in  private  and  in  public,  in  spirit  and  in 
truth,  who,  nevertheless,  believe  that  there  is  no  sanctity  in  one  day  more 
than  in  another  ;  they  see  that  God  blesses  the  assembled  saints  on  one  day 
of  the  week,  as  well  as  another,  and  that  individuals  have  access  to  God, 
and   receive  the  joy  of  believing,  without  a  diary  reckoning. 

20.  That  many  churches  were  formed  in  Judea,  Samaria,  and  among 
the  Gentiles,  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  is  abundantly  proved.  In  what 
manner  they  were  separated  from  the  world,  and  whether  they  had  any 
badge  that  distinguished  one  church  from  another,  except  local  situation, 
and  unity  of  sentiment,  is  hard  to  ascertain.  As  we  read  of  the  whole 
church,  the  presumption  is  that  each  church  knew  her  own  members.     The 


694 


THE    WRITINGS    OP 


inspired  apostles,  by  word  and  epistles,  gave  much  instruction  to  those 
churches — to  the  ministers  raised  up  among  them,  and  to  all  the  scattered 
saints  who  were  so  located  that  they  could  not  assemble  with  others. 

21.  As  individuals,  their  right  temper  of  mind  and  private  devotion  is 
described,  their  relative  and  civil  behaviour  is  enforced,  and  their  various 
duties,  as  members  of  churches,  are  imperiously  enjoined. 

22.  There  are  duties  enjoined  on  the  disciples,  when  assembled  to- 
gether,  that  required^xed  days  for  their  performance.  These  days  must 
be  fixed  by  divine  appointment,  by  legal  authority,  or  by  mutual  agree- 
ment. When  Christ  and  the  apostles  were  on  earth,  the  power  of  mak- 
ing laws  was  in  the  hands  of  the  heathen,  who  were  enemies  of  Christ, 
and  opposed  to  his  cause  ;  and  in  their  hands  it  continued  until  the  fourth 
century.  Of  course,  during  that  length  of  time,  there  could  be  no  laws 
made  to  regulate  Christianity,  either  in  times  or  proceedings. 

23.  That  Christ  gave  any  command  to  his  disciples  to  assemble  every 
first  day  of  the  week  in  commemoration  of  his  resurrection,  is  not  to  be 
found — but  he  had  many  things  to  say  unto  them  which  they  were  not 
able  to  bear,  which  he  assured  them,  should  be  revealed  to  them  by  the 
spirit  of  truth,  after  his  ascension.  To  the  inspired  writings  of  the  Acts 
and  Epistles  of  the  apostles  we  therefore  apply  for  aid,  as  our  last  and 
sure  guide. 

24.  Acts  xxi.,  20. — Thou  seest,  brother,  how  many  thousands  of  Jews 
there  are  which  believe,  and  they  are  all  zealous  of  the  law.  Acts 
XV.,  21. — For  Moses,  of  old  time,  hath  in  every  city  them  that  preach 
him,  being  read  in  the  synagogue  every  Sabbath  day.  Galatiansiv.,  10. — 
Ye  observe  days,  and  months,  and  limes,  and  years.  From  these 
texts,  without  any  comment,  it  appears  highly  probable — almost  certain, 
that  the  Jews,  who  embraced  Christianity,  assembled  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
not  on  the  first  day  of  the  week.  If  our  translation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  correct,  there  is  a  marked  difference  between  the  Sabbath  and  the 
first  day  of  the  week. 

25.  The  order  which  Paul  gave  to  the  churches  of  Galatia,  reads  thus  : 
"  Let  him  that  is  taught  in  the  word  communicate  unto  him  that  teaches 
in  all  good  things.  As  we  have,  therefore,  opportunity,  let  us  do  good 
unto  all  mem  ;  especially  unto  them  who  are  of  the  household  of  faith." 
Gal.  vi.,  6,  10. 

This  Older  he  refers  to  and  enjoins  on  the  church  of  Corinth,  in  the  fol- 
lowing words:  "  Now  concerning  the  collection  for  the  saints,  as  I  have 
given  order  to  the  churches  of  Galatia,  even  so  do  ye.  Upon  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as  God  hath 
prospered  him,  that  there  be  no  gatherings  when  I  come."  I.  Corinthians 
xvi.,  1,  2.  (If  any  other  order  was  given  to  the  Galatians,  it  is  not  re- 
corded.)    This  order  to  the  Galatians  had  no  respect  to  the  time  of  doing, 


ELDEIt   JOHN  LELAND. 


695 


but  to  the  work  to  be  done  ;  but  to  the  Corinthians,  the  time  (first  day  of 
the  week)  is  particularly  noticed.  The  work  to  be  done  was  not  reading 
the  scriptures — preaching — exhortation — prophesying — praying  nor  sing- 
ing, but  laying  by  in  store  as  God  had  prospered  every  one.  The  articles 
to  be  laid  in  store,  were  all  good  things ;  clothing,  food  and  money,  for 
the  poor  saints  in  Judea.  Whether  this  work  was  to  be  repeated  on  the 
first  day  of  more  weeks  than  one,  is  not  said.  The  business  of  the  day 
seems  to  have  been  measuring,  weighing,  deducting,  casting,  and  convey. 
ing  the  proceeds  to  the  depot,  that  all  might  be  ready  for  Paul  to  receive 
and  carry  to  the  poor  saints  in  Judea.  If  a  strained  construction  of  the 
text  can  be  admitted,  it  looks  as  if  the  Corinthians  had  voluntarily  selected 
the  first  day  of  the  week  to  meet  together,  to  perform  those  duties  which 
are  of  a  social  nature;  which  agreement  Paul  was  acquainted  with,  and 
in  order  to  economise  time,  he  directs  them  to  carry  their  donations  with 
them  to  the  place  of  their  gathering  together.  This  interpretation  of  the 
text,  does  not  correspond  with  the  views  of  those  who  believe  in  the  sanc- 
tity of  the  first  day  of  the  week.  To  see  every  member  of  the  church 
repairing  to  the  place  appointed  for  public  worship,  one  carrying  a  bag  of 
grain,  another  a  luncheon  of  meat,  a  third  a  bundle  of  clothing,  etc.,  etc., 
would  appear  a  profanation  of  holy  time  to  them. 

26.  Nothing  appears  more  likely  to  me,  than  that  the  several  churches 
appointed  their  own  days  to  assemble  together.  The  churches  in  Judea 
preferred  their  old  Sabbath,  the  Corinthians  the  first  day  of  the  week,  etc. ; 
contiguous  churches  taking  care  to  appoint  different  days,  that  men  of 
leisure  and  piety  might  attend  several  meetings  in  a  week.  By  this  mode 
one  preacher  would  do  all  the  essential  work  that  seven  do  on  a  different 
plan.  Daily  (not  weekly)  in  the  temple  and  in  every  house,  they  would 
not  cease  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus. 

27.  One  man  esteemeth  one  day  above  another — another  esteemeth 
every  day  alike.     Let  every  man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind. 

The  foregoing  remarks  are  now  written  when  I  am  more  than  83  years 
old  ;  but  they  contain  the  exercises,  views  and  conclusions  of  my  mind, 
when  I  was  in  the  full  vigor  of  those  powers  of  mind  which  God  was 
pleased  to  give  me. 

August,  1837. 

28.  The  preparation  was  the  day  before  the  Sabhath  in  the  feast  of  the 
passover.  The  day  after  the  preparation,  which  was  Sabbath,  the  elders 
and  priests  applied  to  Pilate  for  authority,  and  obtained  a  commission  to 
make  sure  the  sepulchure,  seal  the  door,  and  set  a  watch,  which  they  exe- 
cuted.  How  strange,  that  the  men,  who  had  so  often  condemned  the  Sa- 
viour for  Sabbath  breaking,  should  do  it  themselves  ! 

29.  Considering  the  laws  of  the  states,  and  the  long  usages  of  this 
country,  it  is  not  probable  that  the  suggestion  made  in  the  foregoing,  (No. 


696  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

26)  will  take  effect  until  some  revolution  takes  place  in  the  religious  de- 
partment. The  most  that  can  be  expected,  is,  that  legislatures  will  cease 
making  sabbatical  laws,  and  churches  decline  making  the  observance  of 
one  day  or  another,  or  no  day  a  test  of  fellowship  ;  leaving  individuals  to 
judge  and  act  for  themselves. 

30.  I  have  only  to  add,  that  in  some  of  my  writings  that  have  been 
published  heretofore,  I  have  given  more  credit  to  the  arguments  in  favor 
of  the  appointment  of  the  first-day  Sabbath,  and  its  general  observance, 
than  I  can  now  admit  of. 

June,  1838. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  697 


ADDRESS 

DELIVERED  AT  BENNINGTON,  AUG.  16,  1839. 


Whether  all  events  are  predetermined,  or  a  part  or  all  of  them  are 
contingent,  in  either  case  they  have  succeeded  each  other,  and  brought  the 
world  into  its  present  condition  :  some  are  in  a  state  of  splendor  and 
freedom,  and  others  in  poverty  and  vassalage.  The  number  of  inhabitants 
in  Europe  is  said  to  be  226,445,200 — among  whom  are  paupers, 
18,897,333 — beggars  and  dependent  wretches,  say  10,000,000,  not  as  well 
clothed  and  fed  as  the  slaves  are  in  the  United  States.  They  are  free 
only  in  name.  In  the  United  States  there  are  16,000,000  of  inhabitants, 
of  whom,  in  a  state  of  slavery,  are  2,000,000  ;  paupers,  say  30,000 ; 
mendicants,  many  ;  beggars,  none.  There  is  at  this  lime  considerable 
exertion  made  to  have  all  the  slaves  in  the  United  States  emancipated.  As 
I  have  lived  fifteen  years  in  a  slave-holding  state,  and  as  my  calling  led 
me  into  the  feelings  of  both  master  and  servant,  I  will  say  a  few  words  on 

the  subject.     To  liberate  them  all  by  purchase  would  be  a  herculean  job 

average  them  at  $100,  and  the  sum  would  be  $200,000,000.  Among 
them,  there  would  be  half  a  million  of  decrepits  and  children,  that  must 
starve,  or  be  added  to  the  list  of  paupers.  To  support  them  with  food 
and  clothing,  would  be  an  annual  tax  of  $25,000,000.  This  method  of 
liberating  them  would  throw  an  equal  burden  on  those  states  and  individ. 
uals  that  have  had  no  profits  from  them,  nor  any  interest  in  them. 

The  Israelites  were  slaves  to  Pharaoh,  not  to  individuals ;  they  were 
crown  vassals  ;  Pharaoh  had  the  control  of  them  ;  and,  therefore,  Moses 
went  to  Pharaoh,  and  demanded  him  to  let  them  go.  Where  kings  or 
governments  establish  and  support  a  slave  trade,  they  are  responsible, 
and  they  can  desist  and  reform.  But  the  case  in  the  United  States  is  radi- 
cally different.  The  present  inhabitants,  for  the  most  part,  had  no  hand 
in  the  traffic  with  Africa.  Our  present  government  makes  it  felony.  Con. 
gress  does  not  possess  an  individual  slave.  The  slave-holders  have  never 
alienated  them  to  government.  How  preposterous  is  it,  then,  to  burden 
Congress  with  cart-loads  of  petitions  to  do  that  which  they  have  neither 
the  right  nor  power  to  do  ?     The  slave-holders  are  to  be  addressed  :  the 

88 


698  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

power  lies  in  them  alone.  It  is  not  an  article  to  be  settled  by  legislation 
among  us.  It  belongs  to  the  moral  and  religious  department,  and  not  to 
the  legislative.  Three  parties  are  concerned  in  the  question,  viz:  God — 
the  master — and  the  slave.  As  a  friend  to  freedom  and  right,  I  earnestly 
recommend  to  masters  to  set  their  slaves  at  liberty  as  soon  as  their  good, 
their  choice,  and  the  public  safety  concur.  Until  then,  be  good  to  them, 
remembering  you  have  a  Master  in  heaven,  whose  orders  are,  "  What- 
soever you  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  you  even  the  same  unto 
them."  Make  their  lives  as  happy  as  circumstances  will  admit  of.  If 
there  is  a  condition  for  them  to  be  in,  better  than  their  present  state, 
(where  thevi*  masters  are  humane,  just,  and  benevolent,)  I  pray  the  Lord, 
and  call  upon  men,  to  bestow  it  upon  them.  With  all  deference  to  the 
opinions  of  others,  I  would  recommend  to  the  abolition  orators  to  serve 
an  apprenticeship  of  seven  years  in  a  slave-holding  state  to  qualify  their 
minds  to  view  the  question  in  all  its  bearings. 

An  Independent  Treasury  is  now  the  order  of  the  day.  The  public 
treasure  must  be  placed  in  some  depot.  Our  own  government,  (like  all 
kingdoms,  states,  counties,  and  towns,  have  placed  it  in  a  treasury,  over 
which  a  treasurer  presides,  who  gives  oath  and  bond  for  the  faithful  dis- 
charge  of  his  trust.  Not  a  cent  of  this  treasure  can  be  touched  by  the 
president,  or  any  other  man,  without  an  appropriation  of  Congress — not 
a  cent  can  the  treasurer  deal  out  to  a  friend  without  peculation.  Would 
the  public  money  be  safer  in  the  banks  ?  The  banks,  by  their  corporate 
power,  are  so  far  irresponsible  to  the  government  and  to  the  people,  that 
they  can  suspend  at  pleasure,  and  withhold  the  money  when  it  is  the  most 
needed,  and  say,  "  If  your  measures  please  us,  we  will  aid  you  with 
money,  but  if  not,  you  may  help  yourselves  without  money,  if  you  can." 
Is  this  a  state  of  things  that  Americans  can  submit  to  ?  Were  it  not  that 
so  many  of  the  people  in  the  states  were  bewitched  with  the  banking  sys- 
tem, I  should  boldly  answer,  NO.  I  have  never  yet  seen  why  the  collec- 
tors, receivers,  and  disbursers  of  the  public  money,  should  not  be  punished 
as  felonious  thieves,  as  well  as  degraded  as  breakers  of  trust,  if  they  ap- 
propriate the  money  to  any  use  not  prescribed  by  law ;  nor  do  I  see  the 
moral  justice  for  government  to  tell  one  man  that  his  dollar  shall  be  worth 
three,  and  another  that  his  dollar  shall  count  but  07ie. 

Young  gentlemen,  the  time  in  which  you  live,  and  are  destined  to  act 
your  part  in  human  affairs,  is  more  propitious  than  the  period  of  your 
fathers,  who  had  to  expel  the  enemy,  establish  our  independence,  and  pay 
the  vast  debt  incurred  ;  all  of  which  they  have  done,  and  left  a  rich  inherit- 
ance  to  their  children.  Your  eyes,  your  countenances,  assure  me  that 
you  are  now  resolving  that  you  will  not  waste  what  your  fathers  have  left 
you — but,  by  observing  their  sentiments,  and  imitating  their  manners,  you 
will  add  thereto.     Go  on,  and  keep  in  view  that  truth,  honesty,  and  indus- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  699 

try,  will  conduct  you  through  the  world  with  reputation.  Should  any  of 
you  be  poor,  mind  one  rule — let  your  expenses  he  less  than  your  incomey 
and  never  put  off  for  to-morrow  what  should  he  done  to-day.  Watch  the 
measures  pursued  by  the  rulers.  Legislative  usurpation  over  the  rights  of 
individuals  is  as  dangerous  as  executive  patronage.  Give  in  your  votes  at 
the  polls  with  sentimental  independence,  and  acquiesce  in  the  result  of 
the  election,  A  majority  may  vote  wrong,  but  the  right  of  free  suffrage 
will  correct  that  error  when  it  is  made  manifest- 


700  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


OATHS. 


Most  of  the  following  pieces,  many  of  which  consist  of  short  unconnected 
fragments,  were  found  in  his  portfoHo  after  his  death.  Of  many  of 
them,  the  periods  when  they  were  written  cannot  be  ascertained.  Un- 
der these  circumstances,  the  arrangement  will  unavoidably  be,  in  some 
measure,  promiscuous. 

The  Atheist  acknowledges  no  God  but  Nafure.  That  there  is  a  Divine 
being  that  presides  over  the  events  of  life  ;  or  that  there  is  a  state  of  future 
rewards  and  punishments,  he  does  not  believe  j  this  leads  many  to  think 
that  the  testimony  of  an  Atheist  should  not  be  admitted  as  good  evidence 
before  a  court  of  justice  ;  because,  (believing  as  he  does,)  he  would  as 
freely  and  fearlessly  lie,  as  speak  the  truth. 

But  how  is  the  matter  to  be  managed  ?  He  comes  to  the  stand  before 
the  court,  and  is  asked,  "  Do  you  believe  there  is  a  God,  and  a  state  of 
future  rewards  and  punishments  ?  He  will  answer  yes  or  no,  as  best  suits 
him  ;  but  who  will  believe  a  word  he  says  ?  If  a  hundred  of  his  acquaint- 
ance appear  and  solemnly  declare  that  they  have  often  heard  him  say  that 
there  was  no  God,  and  no  state  of  future  rewards  and  punishments,  per- 
haps  at  every  time  he  lied ;  not  one  of  the  hundred  knows  that  he  ever 
spoke  the  truth.  It  is  from  him,  and  him  alone,  that  the  court  must  get  the 
information,  and  get  it  from  him,  they  cannot,  for  they  cannot  tell  whether 
he  speaks  true  or  false. 

Must  then  the  testimony  of  an  Atheist  be  rejected  in  every  case,  and  he 
himself  consigned  to  social  oblivion  ;  or  is  there  any  remedy  to  be  found  ? 
Proscriptions,  fines,  or  corporeal  punishments,  might  make  him  play  the 

hypocrite,  but  would  not  cure  him  of  his  infidelity,  or  make  him  a  better 
jjjj^P_         *********** 

Men  are  found  with  the  natural  right  to  use  means  to  supply  their  own 
wants,  and  to  defend  themselves  from  the  abuse  of  others.  Hence  the 
established  saying,  "  self-preservation  is  natures  first  law."  From  this 
natural  right,  an  association  may  invest  their  agents  with  power  to  pro- 
vide and  compel.  In  political  association,  each  individual  becomes  bound 
to  contribute  as  much  of  himself  as  is  necessary  for  the  good  of  the  whole. 
The  agents  of  the  whole  body,  therefore,  can  require  each  individual  to 
co-operate  and  compel  him  to  disclose  conspiracies  against  the  whole,  and 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  701 

what  he  knows  of  any  ill  design  of  one  citizen  against  the  life,  liberty,  or 

property  of  another.     Oaths,  at  first,  were  solemn  promises,  made  by  one, 

or  between  two  individuals  or  parties,  without  any  magistrate  to  administer 
them. 

All  nations  have  entertained  a  belief  in  a  Supreme  Deity,  and  that  he 

would  punish  them,  if  they  were  perfidious.     Having  a  consciousness  of 

themselves,  and  evidence  of  others,  that  a  great  part  of  the  conversation 

and  promises  was  idle,  deceptive,  and  false,  whenever  they  made  promises, 

treaties,  or  covenants,  or  gave  testimony,  in  weighty  concerns,  they  ap- 

pealed  to  their  God,  believing  that  he  would  punish  them  if  they  were  per- 

fidjous  or  false  witnesses. 


The  Deist,  the  Unitarian,  the  Anti-Trinitarian,  the  Arian,  andSocinian, 
notwithstanding  their  difference  of  opinion  in  other  things,  all  agree  in  this, 
^  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  Jehovah.  The  Deist  forms  his  conclusion  from 
reason  and  the  fitness  of  things,  lo  the  jeopardy  of  the  scripture.  The 
others  draw  their  opinion  from  the  inspired  volume,  explained  according  to 
their  views  of  reason  and  the  fitness  of  things.     These  last  I  address. 

Sirs,  you  cannot  believe  that  one  is  three  and  that  three  are  but  one  ; 
which  you  must  do,  if  yon  believe  in  a  trinity  of  persons  in  the  divine 
essence ;  to  escape  which  absurdity,  you  deny  that  Christ  is  God  essential. 
Is  it  not  equally  absurd  to  believe  that  C7ie  is  two,  and  that  two  are  but  one  ? 
jAnd  yet  you  believe  the  last  without  hesitancy.  "  And  God  called  their 
names  Adam — they  two  shall  be  one — they  are  no  more  twain,  but  one 
flesh." 

You  cannot  believe  that  Jesus  is  Jehovah,  because  the  union  of  two  na- 
tures in  one  person,  is  inconceivable,  inexplicable,  and  unreasonable  ;  you 
nevertheless  believe  that  he  was  born  of  a  woman  who  knew  no  man, 
which  is  equally  inconceivable,  inexplicable,  and  unreasonable,  with  the 
first. 

You  believe  all  the  book  of  nature,  but  can  you  read  the  folded  leaves  ? 
How  can  men  hear,  see,  speak,  or  think  ?  Why  does  the  water  run  down 
hill  ?  Whence  cometh,  or  whither  goeth,  the  wind  ?  What  occasions 
the  involuntary  motions  of  man  ?  Should  Mount  Vesuvius  leave  its  sta- 
tion, and  leap  to  Etna,  and  settle  upon  its  fiery  top,  you  could  account  for 
it  as  well  as  you  could  for  the  voluntary  motion  of  your  hand  from  one 
knee  to  the  other.  Ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  things  you  believe, 
on  rational  evidence,  which  you  can  no  more  account  for,  than  you  can 
for  the  hypostatical  union  of  Jesus  Jehovah.  Who  doubts  the  complexity 
of  man  ?  and  yet,  who  can  draw  the  line   with  precision,  that  separates 


702  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

the  rational  and  animal  empires  ?     Or  who  can  describe  the  cord   that 
binds  spirit  and  matter  together  ? 


In  an  age  like  the  present,  when  great  exertions  are  made  to  meliorate 
the  condition,  and  improve  the  mind  of  the  human  family,  we  feel  it  an 
imperious  duty  to  contribute  our  aid  for  the  promotion  of  the  piety,  peace, 
and  happiness  of  mankind.  And  as  it  appears  to  us  that  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  vices,  that  none  of  the  societies  have  undertaken  to  witlistand,  we 
hereby  enter  our  protest  against  those  vices,  and  pledge  ourselves  to  show 
and  avoid  them,  and  use  our  best  endeavors  to  eradicate  them  from 
among  men. 

1st.  We  enter  our  solemn  protest  against  falsehood,  and  every  species  of 
deception.  The  tongue,  which  is  the  glory  of  man,  is  often  used,  with 
the  aid  of  the  press,  for  the  vilest  of  purposes.  Our  avocations  are  va- 
rious, our  standing  in  society  diverse.  As  sellers,  we  will  not  extol  our 
articles  for  sale,  beyond  our  best  judgment,  nor  hide  their  defects  for  the 
sake  of  advantage,  nor  in  any  way  seek  to  deceive  the  ignorant,  nor  ex- 
tort from  the  needy. 

As  purchasers,  we  will  not,  for  the  sake  of  our  own  interest,  run  down 
the  articles  of  sale  below  the  common  price,  or  deceive  the  seller,  by  tell- 
ing him  how  much  cheaper  the  articles  can  he  obtained  in  another  place  ; 
but  every  one  of  us  will  speak  the  truth  to  his  neighbor.  We,  moreover, 
will  not  purchase  on  credit,  without  a  reasonable  prospect  that  we  can 
meet  our  engagements  ;  and  when  we  have  engaged,  we  will  be  punctual 
and  honest,  that  we  may  owe  no  man  any  thing. 

As  mechanics,  we  will  be  faithful  in  materials,  and  workmanship,  not 
covering  either  of  them  to  deceive,  by  paint,  putty,  or  lavish  applause  ; 
taking  no  advantage  of  the  ignorant. 

As  day-lahorers,  we  will  be  trusty  and  industrious,  that  the  employer 
may  have  full  tale  of  profit  for  the  wages  he  gives. 

As  employers,  we  will  not  require  an  over  rate  of  labor,  keep  back  the 
wages,  pay  with  offal,  nor  in  any  way  grind  the  poor,  but  pay  them  full 
measure,  running  over. 


The  want  of  truth  in  communication,  and  the  want  of  punctuality  in 
promises,  are  religious  and  national  evils,  which  bring  great  calamities  on 
church  and  state.  What  is  the  reason,  when  so  many  societies  are  formed 
to  effect  a  moral  reform,  that  truth  and  punctuality  should  be  neglected  ? 
Is  the  answer  given  in  sacred  style,  "  Being  convicted  by  their  own  con- 
science, they  went  out  one  by  one,  beginning  at  the  eldest,  even  unto  the 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  703 

last,"  or  what  is  the  cause  ?  If  the  forming  of  societies  to  effect  a  re- 
forrn,  in  word  and  deed,  is  not  acceded  to,*  let  individuals,  each  for  himself, 
bend  their  necks  to  the  yoke.  In  the  pulpit,  in  the  hall  of  legislation,  in  the 
range  of  commerce,  in  the  public  prints,  at  the  fireside,  and  at  all  other  places, 
truth,  without  addition  or  diminution,  should  be  regarded  more  than  wealth, 
rank,  or  any  thing  that  can  be  named.  In  this  day  of  boasted  benevolent 
institutions,  which  cost  hard  labor,  and  millions  of  dollars  to  support, 
(called  the  morning  of  the  Millennium,)  but  little  reliance  can  be  placed 
on  the  words  of  the  seller,  and  less  on  the  promise  of  the  buyer.  My 
brethren,  these  things  ought  not  to  be.  Wherefore,  putting  away  lying, 
speak  every  man  truth  with  his  neighbor,  and  pay  your  vows.  Owe  no 
man  any  thing. 

A  short  comment  on  2  Corinthians,  i.  17,  20. 

When  /  there/ore,  was  thus  minded,  that  you  should  have  a  second  be- 
nefit, and  had  sent  on  appointments  to  be  with  you,  did  I  use  lightness, 
as  if  it  was  a  trifling  matter  whether  I  came  or  not  ?  Or  the  things  that 
I  purpose,  do  I  purpose  according  to  the  Jlesh?  as  some  do,  making  their 
ministerial  enga.;ements  subservient  to  their  own  ease  and  gain ;  failing 
in  their  promises,  when  a  punctual  compliance  would  be  contrary  to  their 
*  fleshy  schemes.  That  with  me  there  should  be  yea,  yea,  and  nay,  nay  ? 
That  I  should  promise  again  and  again,  and  fail  as  often,  having  no  sa- 
cred regard  for  my  appointments  and  promises.  But  as  God  is  true,  and 
cannot  lie,  and  never  fails  in  his  promises,  so  our  word  toward  you  was  not 
yea  and  nay.  Our  promises  we  punctually  performed — our  conversation 
was  true,  and  our  preaching  simple,  without  contradiction.  For  the  Son 
of  God,  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  preached  among  you  by  me,  Sihanus  and 
Timotheous,  was  not  yea  and  nay,  hut  in  him  was  yea.  However  others 
may  have  preached  among  you,  that  the  Son  of  God  failed  in  his  pro- 
mises, and  from  that  view  of  Christ,  were  led  to  imitate  him,  with  a  yea 
for  a  promise,  and  a  nay  for  accomplishment;  yet  with  us  it  was  the  re- 
verse. For  all  the  promises  of  God  in  him,  are  yea,  and  in  him  amen. 
God  made  many  promises  to  the  nation  of  Israel,  to  individuals,  and  Gen- 
tile nations,  (see  Jer.  18,)  on  conditions.  If  those  conditions  were  not 
performed,  the  promises,  on  God's  part,  failed  ;  but  the  promises  of  the 


*  If,  as  many  think,  the  principle  of  forming  societies  of  mixed  characters,  distinct 
from  churches,  for  the  ostensible  design  of  the  suppression  of  vice  and  the  spread  of  the 
gospel,  has  no  scriptural  support ;  but  if  the  natural  tendency  of  it  is  to  unite  the  church 
with  the  world — make  striped-pig  moralists — lucrative  preachers,  and  pharesaical  prose- 
lytes to  Christianity  ;  yet  the  self-dedication  of  individuals  to  God,  to  worship  him  in 
spirit,  and  rejoice  in  Christ  Jesus,  is  essential  to  salvation. 


704  |the  writings  of 

new  covenant,  made  to  Christ,  and  to  men  in  Christ,  all  of  them  will  be 
accomplished  ;  not  to  the  support  of  licentiousness,  but  to  the  glory  of  God. 


The  kingdom  of  me,  is  occupied  partly  by  ignorant,  ambitious,  braga- 
docios,  and  partly  by  wise,  prudent,  and  humble  men.  The  first  are  la- 
vish in  telling  what  they  know,  what  they  have  done,  and  what  they  can 
do.  The  last  know  their  own  ignorance,  feel  their  weakness,  see  errors 
in  what  they  have  done,  and  find  Veritas  in  puieo,  (truth  lies  in  a  well,)  and 
is  difficult  to  acquire.  And  when  any  popular  or  profitable  act  results, 
they  will  be  more  ready  to  give  the  praise  to  others,  than  to  themselves. 

To  fill  a  discourse  with  "  /said,"  and  **  /  did,"  is  considered  pedantic 
among  the  fashionable.  But  this  rule  has  undeniable  exceptions.  The 
character  of  David  is  given  in  glowing  language  : — "David  is  cunning  in 
playing,  and  a  mighty  valiant  man,  and  a  man  of  war,  and  prudent  in  mat- 
ters, and  a  comely  person,  and  the  Lord  is  with  him."  Yet  this  very  man 
who  was  raised  to  high  degrees,  and  was  a  man  after  God's  own  heart, 
was  full  of  J-otism.  In  the  book  of  Psalms,  the  pronominal  7,  is  found 
almost  eight  hundred  times. 

Paul,  the  chief  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  who  had  much  wisdom  given  him, 
like  David,  speaks  in  his  epistles,  abundantly  in  the  first  person.  In  two 
chapters  only,  Rom.  vii.,  and  1  Cor.  ix.,  the  /  is  found  more  than  sixty 
times;  yet  neither  David  nor  Paul  can  be  justly  reproached  as  coxcombs, 
or  superanuated  egotists.  Neither  of  them  speak  in  the  first  person  to 
aggrandize  me. 

Logical  and  metaphysical  reasoning  often  lead  the  mind  (through  its 
weakness)  astray.  Time  and  close  observation  on  the  tendency  and  re- 
sult of  opinions  and  measures,  will  correct  those  hasty  mistakes  :  the  man  . 
therefore,  whose  mind  has  grown  mellow,  by  seeing,  hearing,  and  observ- 
ino-,  will  express  himself,  "  What  /have  seen,  what  J  have  heard,  wherein 
/  have  been  deceived,  how  /  was  delivered,  and  what  I  now  believe,"  with- 
out any  desire  of  vain  glory. 

While  I  am  writing,  my  thoughts  are  running.  I  have  been  preaching 
sixty-five  years,  and  upon  the  closest  examination,  I  find  that  I  have  studied 
more  to  be  acceptable  unto  men,  than  to  be  approved  unto  God,  (lament- 
able truth  !)  The  ears  and  thoughts  of  others  have  governed  me  too  much, 
and  pressed  me  unto  the  kingdom  of  me.  Often,  when  I  am  preaching, 
the  question  will  rise  in  my  mind,  How  does  my  preaching  sound  in  the 
ears  of  the  hearers  ?  What  thoughts  have  they  of  me  ?  Do  they  esteem  i 
me  a  man  of  talents  or  not  ?  Do  they  think  me  a  great  divine,  and  very, 
pious,  or  what  do  they  think  of  me  ?     (Proofs  of  moral  pollution  !) 

I  was  once  in  company  with  a  brother  preacher,  whose  claim  to  holi- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  705 

ness,  and  having  the  spirit  of  prophecy  was  high.  As  we  preached  in  Co., 
he  generally  obtained  (what  he  ever  deserved)  the  premium  of  being  the 
best  preacher,  which  he  bore  with  graceful  modesty.  In  rare  instances, 
however,  the  people,  (for  want  of  judgment  and  taste,)  would  give  the  pre- 
mium to  me.  When  that  was  the  case,  1  judged  by  his  symptoms,  he  felt 
as  I  have,  when  I  have  just  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  red  apple  slyly  going  by 
me,  and  dropped  into  the  hands  of  one  more  esteemed.  My  conclusion 
was,  that  until  I  loyed  my  neighbor  as  myself,  and  esteemed  others  better 
than  myself,  I  should  not  think  myself  so  far  removed  from  the  kingdom 
of  ME,  but  that  I  could  feel  the  force  of  its  winds. 


"  Beloved,  believe  not  every  spirit,  but  try  the  spirits,  whether  they  are  of  God  ;  be- 
cause many  false  prophets  are  gone  out  into  the  world.  But  there  were  false  prophets 
among  the  people,  even  as  there  shall  be  false  teachers  among  you." 

It  is  supposed  that  there  are  (atnong  the  many  sects  of  Christians)  nearly 
half  a  million  of  teachers:  that  many  of  them  are  false  prophets,  the  texts 
quoted  give  reason  to  fear.  Instead  of  condemning  others,  whose  hearts 
and  motives  I  do  not  know,  I  have  great  searchings  of  heart  lest  I  am  one 
of  the  false  teachers  and  deceitful  workers.  Lord  is  it  I?  Have  I  been 
preaching  sixty. five  years  to  be  noted — to  escape  hard  labor — for  honor — 
to  head  a  party — for  filthy  lucre — or  any  other  motive  except  obedience  to 
God,  being  constrained  by  the  love  of  Christ  1  If  so,  though  I  may  have 
confidence  at  last  to  say.  Lord,  Lord,  open  to  me,  and  tell  what  wonderful 
works  I  have  done,  the  denunciation  will  follow,  •'  Depart  from  me,  for  I 
never  knew  you." 

I  am  conscious  that  abundance  of  selfishness  and  imperfection  has  af- 
flicted me  through  all  my  exertions,  and  that  all  my  works,  as  well  as  my 
soul,  need  washing  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb;  yet,  amidst  all,  I  have  a 
faint  hope  that  the  efficient  spring  in  my  heart  is,  love  to  God — love  to  the 
gospel — and  love  to  the  souls  of  men.  As  far  as  I  can  know  myself,  if 
money  was  to  lose  all  its  value,  it  would  not  stop  me  from  preaching;  and 
if  all  the  fruits  of  the  earth  were  cut  off,  like  Habakkuk,  I  would  rejoice 
in  the  Lord.     But  I  judge  not  myself;  he  that  judgeth  me,  is  the  Lord. 


A  and  B  began  the  world  on  a  level — they  enjoyed  equal  health  and 
freedom  from  adversity  thirty  years  ;  yet  A  grew  rich,  while  B  was  very 
poor.     B  wished  A  to  tell  him  the  cause  of  it :    A  replied,  the  cause 

89 


706  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

is  found  in  two  words,  "  come  and  go  J'  When  I  have  work  on  hand,  or 
business  to  transact,  I  say  to  others,  "  come."  1  lead  in  the  business,  and 
never  quit  until  all  is  well  done.  I  take  the  negro's  remark  for  my  guide, 
"  Where  massa  go,  all  go."  But  when  you  have  work  on  hand,  you  are 
not  ready,  and  say  to  others,  "  go."  As  you  stay  behind,  the  others  loiter. 
Night  comes  on,  and  the  work  is  not  finished,  and  thereby  the  profits  are 
generally  diminished.  Your  accounts  and  settlements  are  put  off  for  more 
convenience,  and  thereby  become  questionable  and  contentious.  Losses 
or  law-suits  follow,  and  poverty  becomes  unavoidable. 

C  was  a  preacher,  but  in  the  spirit  was  in  the  back  ground ;  very  ortho- 
dox in  sentiment,  but  barren  of  holy  zeal.  Let  him  use  what  words  he 
would,  his  soul  was  not  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  He  would  often  say, 
'^ go  to  Christ,"  but  to  his  hearers  he  appeared  like  a  way-board,  to  point 
the  way,  but  not  walk  in  it.  D  had  but  a  small  head  of  water,  but  was 
stationed  on  a  living  stream.  The  love  of  Christ  so  constrained  him  that 
he  waited  not  for  invitations  or  stipulated  proposals,  but  went  forth  preach- 
ing, "  Rfpent  and  believe  the  gospel — I  pray  you,  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye 
reconciled  to  God,"  etc.  Having  the  love  of  Christ  and  being  in  Christ, 
his  language  was,  "Come  to  Christ,  and  taste  and  see  how  good  the  Lord  is." 


THE    BOOK    OF    JOB. 

In  what  age  of  the  world  Job  lived,  is  hard  to  tell.  As  his  sons  were 
housekeepers,  before  his  afflictions  began,  we  will  allow  him  to  have  been 
sixty  years  old  ;  after  this  he  lived  one  hundred  and  forty  years  ;  by  this 
rule,  he  was  two  hundred  years  old  when  he  died  ;  from  which  one  might 
conclude  that  he  was  contemporaneous  with,  or  before  Abraham  :  but  he 
did  not  live  until  after  government  was  established  that  punished  men  for 
idolatry  and  adultery  ;  and  after  the  arts  of  printing,  engraving  and  book- 
keeping were  understood  in  the  world  ;  see  chap,  xxxi.,  11,  28,  and  xix., 
23,  24.  From  this  it  looks  as  if  he  did  not  live  until  after  Moses.  But 
in  whatever  age  of  the  world  he  lived,  he  was  the  richest  man  in  the  east, 
and  the  best  man  on  earth.  Yet,  neither  his  wealth  nor  his  piety  secured 
him  from  the  most  excruciating  afflictions.  The  loss  of  his  property  and 
family  he  bore  with  saint-like  fortitude  and  acquiescence,  to  a  degree  that 
has  gained  him  the  title  of  the  most  patient  man  that  ever  lived.  "  In  all 
this.  Job  sinned  not,  nor  charged  God  foolishly."  He  was  next  attacked 
with  personal  afflicti  )n — smitten  with  sore  biles  from  the  sole  of  his  foot 
to  the  crown  of  his  head  ;  but  still  he  retained  his  integrity  and  sinned  not 
with  his  lips. 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  707 

On  hearing  of  his  calamity,  his  three  old  friends,  Eliphas,  Bildad  and 
Zophar,  made  an  agreement  to  visit  him  in  his  distress,  and  bemoan  and 
comfort  him.  They  were  accompanied  by  young  Elihu,  who,  in  the  event, 
acted  as  stenographer.  When  they  beheld  his  great  distress,  they  gave 
full  vent  to  their  sympathy,  and  sat  down  with  him  on  the  ground,  and 
watched  in  painful  silence  seven  days.  Job  then  broke  silence,  and  opened 
his  mouth,  and  cursed  the  day  of  his  birth,  and  spake  unadvisedly  with  his 
lips.  This  speech  caused  a  long  debate  between  him  and  his  friends.  The 
question  in  debate  was  on  sovereignly  and  contingency .  Job  maintained  that 
God  afflicted  him,  when  he  had  been  guilty  of  no  specific  crime.  His 
friends  contended,  that  God  was  righteous  and  would  not  afflict  without 
cause  ;  and,  therefore,  that  Job  must  have  been  guilty  of  some  enormous 
■wickedness,  which  brought  the  heavy  curse  upon  him  ;  but  could  not  specify 
what  wickedness  he  had  done,  and  support  the  charge.  Had  the  friends 
of  Job  heard  what  God  said  to  Satan,  "  although  thou  movest  me  against 
him  to  destroy  \\\m  without  cause,"  perhaps  they  would  have  been  less  cen- 
sorious. 

The  book  of  Job  is  a  true  journal  of  the  debate  between  Job  and  his 
three  friends.  The  truth  of  \\\e  journal  is  no  proof  that  ail  or  any  of  the 
speeches  were  true.  The  debate  was  conducted  partly  by  interrogations, 
and  partly  by  bold  assertions,  and  in  both  of  which  much  satire  and  hard 
bearing  on  character  is  seen.  Conquer  a  man  by  bold  assertions  and  you 
hill  him,  but  conquer  him  by  asking  questions,  and  you  make  Min  kill  him- 
self. As  Job  was  but  one  to  three,  it  reminds  us  of  Patrick  Henry,  in  the 
Virginia  legislature  and  convention,  combatting  the  great  Dons  of  that 
state.  The  speakers  borrowed  similes  from  all  creation — used  all  the 
figures  of  rhetoric — enlisted  all  the  passions  of  the  mind,  and  spoke  with 
all  the  pomp  of  diction  that  the  eastern  world  afforded.  Their  speeches 
were  awfully  sublime,  covered  with  a  little  obsenity,  like  the  effusions  of 
John  Randolph.  When  they  introduce  any  creature  or  thing  to  elucidate 
their  arguments,  they  would  treat  of  it  in  all  its  qualities  and  ramifications, 
and  seem  to  forget  the  object  before  them,  like  an  old  man  telling  a  story ; 
so  many  circumstances  occur,  that  he  loses  the  track. 

How  long  the  war  of  words  lasted,  is  uncertain.  Job  made  eight  speeches, 
Eliphas  three,  Beldad  three,  and  Zophar  two.  They  all  appear  to  have 
been  men  of  great  research  and  eloquence,  but  they  ended  as  they  began, 
without  a  reconciliation  in  sentiment.  What  appeared  to  the  others  clear 
as  sunshine,  to  Job  looked  as  dark  as  midnight,  and  vice  versa. 

The  error  of  Job  appears  to  be  this  :  he  was  so  zealous  to  clear  himself 
from  the  false  charges  of  his  friends,  that  he  lost  sight  of  his  own  blind- 
ness and  pollution  in  the  sight  of  a  wise  and  holy  God.  His  three  friends 
ceased  their  replications,  seeing  him  so  righteous  in  his  own  eyes. 
During  the  debate,  young  Elihu  sat  by,  a  close  observer,  and  probably 


708  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

kept  a  record  of  their  speeches  :  but  when  the  debate  ended,  he  was  much 
displeased  with  Job  for  justifying  himself  rather  than  God,  and  as  much 
with  the  others,  for  accusing  Job  of  defects  which  they  failed  to  substan- 
tiate. He  was  determined,  therefore,  to  show  his  opinion.  His  fervency 
at  the  beginning  reminds  us  of  M'Duffie  in  his  exordiums,  but  as  he  claimed 
inspiration  of  God,  by  which  he  was  meide  perfect  in  knowledge,  and  spake 
by  the  movings  of  the  spirit,  our  thoughts  turn  to  Fisher  Ames,  who  in 
his  celebrated  speech  in  Congress,  said  he  was  unwell,  but  trusted  the  Lord 
would  strengthen  him.  Elihu  was  a  handsome  speaker,  like  Mr.  Wirt, 
but  did  not  dress  his  speeches  with  fine  clothes  so  much  that  the  body 
could  not  be  seen.  But  his  inspir,ed  eloquence,  (as  he  is  not  implicated 
with  the  others,  we  are  willing  to  acknowledge  his  claims,)  did  no  more 
to  humble  Job,  and  cause  him  to  repent  in  dust  and  ashes,  than  the  human 
eloquence  of  the  others. 

God,  who  spake  to  the  fathers  in  divers  manners,  now  appeared  to  Job 
in  a  whirlwind,  and  spake  out  of  it,  in  a  manner  that  Job  understood,  con- 
vincing him  that  although  he  was  clear  of  what  his  friends  had  accused 
him  of,  he  was  a  weak,  ignorant,  polluted  sinner,  darkening  counsel  by 
words  without  knowledge.  And  Job  confessed  that  he  had  uttered  things 
which  he  knew  not,  and  repented,  in  dust  and  ashes,  for  his  vileness. 

"  I  have  heard  of  thee  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth 
thee  ;"  the  language  here  used  would  justify  the  belief  that  God  rtevealed 
himself  to  the  eye  of  Job,  in  a  human  form,  as  he  did  to  Abraham,  Jacob, 
and  others ;  in  this  view  of  the  subject,  what  he  heard  in  the  whirlwind 
began,  and  what  he  saw  with  his  eye,  completed  his  humiliation. 

How  pitiable  the  case  of  Job !  Stripped  of  all  his  property — deprived 
of  his  family — smitten  with  sore  biles — sitting  on  ashes — tantalized  by  his 
friends — reproved  by  Elihu — and  now  called  upon  by  God  himself,  to  an- 
swer  to  him  for  what  he  had  said. 

Before  honor  is  humility.  As  soon  as  Job  was  properly  humbled,  the 
Lord  honored  him.  His  friends  were  made  to  succumb,  and  bring  t.heir 
offering,  and  the  prayer  of  Job  for  them  was  accepted,  and  their  folly,  in 
not  speaking  of  God  the  things  that  were  right,  as  Job  had  done,  was  for- 
given. Yet  Job  had  not  always  spoken  right :  God  accused  him  of  dark- 
ening counsel  by  words  without  knowledge,  and  he  confessed  it ;  but,  on 
the  whole,  he  had  spoken  better  than  his  friends. 

After  his  afflictions,  the  Lord  greatly  blessed  his  latter  end  ;  he  lived 
one  hundred  and  forty  years,  and  saw  his  posterity  to  the  fourth  genera- 
tion. 

How  long  the  debate  lasted  between  Job  and  his  three  friends,  together 
with  the  remarks  of  Elihu,  and  the  solemn  declaration  of  the  Almighty 
out  of  the  whirlwind,  is  not  known,  but  the  history  of  it  is  not  as  long  as 
some  of  the  speeches  made  in  Congress  by  individuals,  and  yet  there  are 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  709 

seven,  if  not  seventy  times  seven  more  ideas  in  it,  than  in  one  of  the  best 
speeches  ever  delived  on  the  floor  of  Congress ;  which  shows  that  the 
hand  of  God  was  in  it,  notwithstanding  Job  was  sometimes  presumptuous, 
and  his  three  friends  were  guilty  of  folly. 

Granting  that  Elihu  was  the  writer  of  this  book,  (for  it  cannot  be  proved,) 
we  may  suppose  that  he  kept  a  record  of  what  each  one  said,  together 
with  a  minute  of  his  own  speech,  and  after  the  death  of  Job,  he  finished 
the  book.  It  is  difficult  to  decide  whether  any  of  them  heard  what  God 
said  to  Job,  together  with  what  Job  replied,  but  Job  himself.  If  not,  the 
Lord  must  have  revealed  it  to  Elihu,  at  that  time,  or  when  he  wrote  the 
book.  The  book  contains  forty-two  chapters,  including  17,98.5  words. 
No  man's  memory  would  be  a  safe  depository  for  all  this,  one  hundred 
and  forty  years,  or  one  hour.  The  inspiration  and  superintendence  of  God 
must  be  recognized  in  the  whole  affair,  whether  written  by  Elihu  or  any 
other  man. 

To  this  I  add,  there  is  one  of  the  clearest  proofs  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body  given  in  this  book,  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  Old  Testament. 


DREAMS. 
"  The  prophet  that  hath  a  dream,  let  him  tell  a  dream." 

Fifty  years  ago,  I  had  the  following  dream.  I  stood  by  the  side  of  a 
large,  rocky  mountain,  with  a  projecting  cliff  shelving  over  my  head. 
Through  this  cliff  a  hole  was  drilled,  leading  directly  from  the  sun  to  my 
head  ;  my  direction  was  to  ascend  in  that  hollow.  As  I  ascended,  the 
hole  grew  less  and  less  until  I  got  stuck  fast.  Struggling  to  get  loose,  I 
found  I  had  a  staff  in  my  hand,  which  1  knew  not  of  before.  Placing  the 
lower  end  of  the  staff  in  a  niche  of  the  rock,  by  struggling  and  squeezing 
hard,  I  got  through.  When  I  had  gained  the  summit,  I  thought  I  was  on 
Mount  Zion,  where  the  temple  was  built.  I  then  cast  down  the  staff,  and 
here  my  wonder  began. 

The  staff  appeared  to  be  about  six  feet  long,  very  carelessly  shaved  with 
a  drawing  knife.  On  every  flat,  where  the  knife  had  cut  off  the  bark,  was 
a  te.\t  of  scripture,  written  in  Hebrew  characters.  While  I  stood  looking 
at  the  staff,  a  loud  voice  from  above  my  head,  proclaimed  the  following 
words  :  "that  is  the  staff  that  was  given  to  Abraham,  when  he  left  Ur  of 
the  Chaldees — Abraham  left  it  with  Isaac — Isaac  with  Jacob — Jacob  car. 
ried  it  into  Egypt  and  left  it  with  Joseph,  in  whose  family  it  was  preserved 
until  Moses,  who  availed  himself  of  it,  and  by  it  did  all  his  miracles." 

On  this  I  awoke,  and  finding  my  mind  on  the  alert,  I  rose,  lighted  the 


710  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

candle,  and  took  my  Bible  to  see  if  there  was  any  probability  that  a  family 
staff  had  been  preserved  four  hundred  and  fifty  years.  To  me  it  did  not 
appear  likely — less  likely  that  Moses  should  have  been  in  possession  of  it, 
when  a  fugitive  in  Midian.  The  best  conclusion  I  could  form,  was,  that  it 
was  an  emblem  of  the  Promise  made  to  Abraham,  that  in  him  and  his  seed 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed.  This  promise  is  abundantly 
spoken  of,  and  runs  through  the  scriptures  like  a  golden  cord.  Whether 
it  is'called  a  covenant,  a  testament,  a  promise,  or  by  any  other  name,  it  in- 
tends the  assurance  of  salvation  through  Christ  to  all  who  believe  in  him. 
If  ye  be  Christ,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed,  and  heirs  according  to  the 
•promise. 

The  improvement  to  myself  was,  that  I  should  have  to  pass  through 
strait  places — endure  much  tribulation — scarcely  saved — and  saved  alone 
by  the  promise  of  eternal  life,  through  Christ  the  Lord. 


July  21,  1839.  This  day  my  daughter,  Fanny,  had  a  visionary  dream, 
in'which  she  saw  me  sitting  in  a  great  chair,  clothed  in  a  white  robe,  and 
on  each  side  of  me  a  young  woman  clothed  in  white,  somewhat  reclining 
and  looking  on  me,  and  singing  in  a  strain  more  melodious  than  she  had 
ever  heard  before.  Four  times  over  they  sung,  "attendant  angels  long 
have  waited  :"  on  this  she  awoke. 

In  October  ISll,  I  was  sick  of  the  typhus  fever;  in  the  height  of  which , 
two  angels  or  spirits  apeared,  (at  least  to  my  imagination,)  and  stood  sta- 
tionary near  my  bed,  and  seemed  to  watch  over  me  three  days  and  nights, 
and  when  the  fever  abated,  they  disappeared.  My  persuasion  was  strong 
then,  and  has  continued  until  now,  that  they  were  the  souls  of  John  Wal- 
ler  and  William  Webber,  (preachers  in  Virginia,  when  I  lived  there,)  with 
whom  I  was  strongly  united,  and  who  were  at  that  time  both  dead.  Nearly 
three  years  after  this,  I  was  in  Virginia,  where  Waller  and  Webber  had 
lived.  After  I  had  finished  a  sermon,  in  Spottsylvania,  a  nephew  of  Wal- 
ler, (Absalom  Waller,)  rose  up  and  wished  for  the  attention  of  the  people, 
and  said,  "  you  all  know  that  we  had  heard  that  brother  Leland  was  dead  ; 
but  some  time  past,  I  dreamed  that  I  was  admitted  into  heaven,  where  I 
saw  my  uncle  John  and  brother  Webher.  I  asked  them  where  brother 
Leland  was  ?  They  replied,  that  Leland  had  not  joined  them  yet,  but  they 
were  waiting  for  his  arrival.  "  This,"  continued  young  Waller,  "  convin- 
ced me  that  Leland  was  not  dead,  and  that  we  should  see  him  again  in 
Virginia." 

There  seems  to  be  some  relation  between  Waller's  dream  and  those  im- 
pressions which  I  had  in  1811.    What  a  wonder  of  benevolence,  that  God's 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  711 

host  of  angels  should  be  all  ministering  spirits,  to  minister  to  the  heirs  of 
salvation.  In  their  nightly  slumbers,  and  dangerous  walks  and  pursuits, 
the  angels  stand  sentinel  over  the  saints,  nor  end  their  mission,  until  they 
conduct  the  departed  souls  of  the  righteous  to  Abraham's  bosom.  How 
unworthy  I  feel  to  be  the  charge  of  celestial  angels !  how  much  more  so, 
to  be  loved  and  saved  by  the  God  of  angels. 


The  following  lines  owed  their  origin  to  the  circumstances  first  related,  in 
the  foregoing  fragment. 

ADDRESS  OF  ja-XTGEZiS  ILT  THi:  D-SriKa  BED  OF  £L  S.A.INT. 

Attentung  angels  long  have  waited 

To  convey  their  brother  home ; 
Thousands,  thousands  we've  escorted, 

But  in  heaven  there  yet  is  room. 
We've  been  watchful  o'er  your  dangers 

Guarded  round  your  bed  by  night, 
Midst  your  friends  and  utter  strangers 

We  have  had  you  in  our  sight. 

On  the  wild  tempestuous  ocean 

Thunders  roar  and  lightnings  glare, 
Heaven  and  earth  in  dread  commotion, 

Still  we  had  you  in  our  care  ; 
'On  the  bed  of  ))ain  and  sickness 

When  death  stared  you  in  the  face, 
We  inspired  your  heart  with  patience, 

Cheered  you  with  the  hopes  of  grace. 

Many  dangers  stood  before  you, 

Which  you  had  no  eyes  to  see, 
From  those  dangers  we  preserved  you, 

Saved  your  life  and  set  you  free; 
To  the  heirs  of  God's  salvation 

We  administer  relief. 
Give  to  God  your  adoration. 

We  are  brethren  with  yourself. 

Now  we've  come  with  special  orders, 

To  convey  you  far  away, 
Quit,  oh  quit  these  mortal  borders. 

Stretch  your  wings  and  leave  your  clay. 
Attending  angels  wait  no  longer. 

Now  they  take  the  blood-washed  prize 
Filled  with  heavenly  joy  and  wonder 

Now  they  soar  above  the  skies. 


712  THE    WRITINGS    OF 


Most  of  the  affairs  of  a  church,  are  effected  by  church  votes  ;  and  as 
tKere  is  nothing  imposed  by  such  votes,  but  a  simple  declaration  of  what 
the  church  approves  or  disapproves,  a  revision,  or  re-consideration  of  such 
votes,  (when  circumstances  change,  or  new  light  appears,)  becomes  ne- 
cessary. 

But  there  are  some  of  the  transactions  of  a  church,  which  have  the  na- 
ture of  an  agreement  of  parties  ;  in  which  the  church  collectively  forms 
one  party,  and  a  few  of  the  members,  or  an  individual,  forms  another 
party.  These  agreements  require  more  security  than  the  mutability  of 
church  votes. 

Supposing  a  church  should  undertake  to  build  a  meeting  house.  In  the 
course  of  their  arrangements,  many  votes  would  be  taken,  to  get  the  sense 
of  the  whole.  At  length,  the  church  employs  three  of  her  own  members  to 
build  the  house  for  a  certain  stipulated  sum.  In  this  stipulation,  the  church 
forms  one  parly,  and  the  three  workmen  another.  After  the  work  is  done, 
can  the  church,  in  justice,  revise  their  agreement,  change  the  time  and 
mode  of  payment,  or  alter,  or  erase,  a  single  word  of  the  agreement  ? 
Would  not  the  words  of  Paul  apply,  in  this  case,  with  irresistible  force  ? 
*'  Though  it  be  but  a  man's  covenant,  yet  if  it  be  confirmed,  no  man  dis- 
annulleth,  nor  addeth  thereto." 

Or,  suppose  a  church  agree  with  one  of  her  own  members  to  preach  a 
year  for  them,  for  a  certain  sum.  Can  the  church,  by  votes,  disannul  the 
agreement?  In  either  of  these  cases,  should  any  one  suggest  to  the 
church,  that  they  might  revise  their  agreement  with  the  three  workmen,  or 
the  preacher,  would  he  not  be  a  busy  body  in  other  men's  matters  ?  If  the 
church,  in  this  case,  should  doubt  their  right  to  interfere  with  an  old  agree- 
ment, and  some  of  the  members  should  intimate  that  if  the  church  would 
not  proceed  to  revise  their  old  agreement,  they  would  quit  their  places  in 
the  church,     *     *     *     *     Unfinished. 

Theomachy,  or  the  war  of  the  Gods  with  the  Giants. 

1.  The  gods,  boasting  of  their  numbers,  knowledge,  and  duration,  re- 
solved to  disgrace  and  cripple  Jupiter,  who  was  supreme  above  them,  and 
after  several  months  loading  and  ramming  their  cannon,  (called  Resolution,) 
they  gave  blast,  and  were  more  fortunate  than  Lawrence,  for  their  can- 
non  went  off.  The  report  was  horrendous,  but  there  was  no  constitutional 
or  legal  ball  in  the  cannon  ;  of  course,  Jupiter  remained  unhurt — not  a 
hair  of  his  head  was  singed.  The  result  of  the  skirmish  was  as  follows  : 
"We,  as  a  number  of  individuals,  resolve  that  Jupiter  is  a  usurping  ty- 
rant, and  if  the  people  will  not  degrade  Jupiter,  and  raise  one  of  us  above 


ELDEE    JOHN    LELAND. 


713 


him,  (we  hardly  know  which,  for  we  all  want  the  pre-eminence,)  we  will 
do  all  we  can  to  embarrass  the  government,  and  ruin  the  people." 
This  is  the  boast  of  the  gods. 

The  giants,  though  overpowered,  are  not  disheartened.  Having  gained 
new  recruits,  they  conclude  that  they  can  outflank  the  gods.  Flushed 
with  the  hopes  of  success,  they  have  set  the  battle  in  array,  with  "  death 
or  victory,"  on  their  caps,  and  "  the  honor  of  Jupiter,"  for  their  watch- 
word. The  events  of  war  are  uncertain  ;  but  from  the  advantage  of  the 
ground  which  the  giants  occupy,  and  their  fixed  determination  to  conquer, 
the  prospect  is,  that  they  will  "  expunge"  the  gods  from  their  usurped 
station.  Should  this  take  effect,  the  boast  of  the  giants  will  be : 
"  We  told  you  so ;  and  have  established  our  characters  as  men  of 
foresight;  by  measuring  strength,  we  have  conquered  you,  huzza !  For 
Argus,  with  his  hundred  eyes,  cannot  see  that  the  explosion  of  the  cannon 
did  Jupiter  any  harm ;  or  that  this  expunge  will  do  him  any  good.  No 
individval  will  esteem  him  more  or  less,  for  the  whole  bluster. 

Oh  yes  !  much  harm  and  good  !  should  the  roaring  of  the  cannon  not  he 
silenced  hy  an  expunge,  the  precedent  of  God-like  usurpation,  left  on  fair 
record,  would  make  the  practice  common  in  future. 

It  has  ever  appeared  strange  to  me,  that  democrats  should  pay  so  much 
reverence  to  precedents.  When  government  makes  a  constitutional  con- 
tract with  an  individual,  a  company,  or  with  another  government,  the  co- 
venant, in  justice,  cannot  be  annulled  without  the  consent  of  both  parties ; 
but  an  act,  passed  on  the  common  rule  of  legislation,  can  be  repealed  as 
easy  as  it  was  made  ;  for  one  legislature  cannot  bind  a  succeeding  legisla- 
ture, possesed  with  equal  powers.  Precedents  have  no  power  to  withstand 
decided  majorities.  The  ballot-box  decides  whether  the  law  shall  be  re- 
pealed, and  the  precedent  abandoned,  or  not. 

2.  My  neighbor,  Sconce,  had  among  his  poultry,  two  cocks,  one  was 
called  Red-wing,  and  the  other  Double-comb.  These  crowing  combatants 
were  often  in  battles  ;  sometimes  one  drove  the  other,  at  other  times,  the 
conquerer  fled  before  his  master.  Sore  heads,  and  ambitious  hearts,  afflicted 
them  both  j  but  finally,  Double-comb  subjected  Red-wing,  and  took  the  un- 
disputed possession  of  the  ground.  His  triumph,  however,  was  short ;  a 
young  chicken,  called  Hotspur,  of  the  game  blood,  grew  up,  who  attacked 
Double-comb,  and  vanquished  him,  allowing  him  but  small  limits  in  the 
prison  yard. 

3.  A  decided  and  victorious  majority,  includes  numbers,  wealth,  and  ta- 
lent. Money  has  power,  and  talent  has  art.  Poverty  weakens  the  de- 
pendent, and  ignorance  gives  up  to  the  art  of  the  subtle ;  hence,  (even  in 
elective  governments,)  the  smaller  number  may  rule  the  larger.  By  these 
means,  a  large  part  of  the  world  are  now  groaning  in  poverty  and  vassal- 
age, to  pamper  others  in  grandeur,  and  support  them  in  tyranny.     Should 

90 


^14  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

the  halcyon  day  ever  come,  when  the  men  of  wealth  and  talent  shall  re- 
trace their  steps,  and  unite  to  relieve  the  oppressed,  to  explain  to  them 
their  rights,  and  secure  them  in  the  enjoyment  of  them,  it  will  be  an  in- 
finitely greater  blessing  to  the  human  family,  than  the  late  inventions  to 
soar  vehicles  in  the  heavens,  drive  carriages  through  the  earth,  and  propel 
vessels  on  the  sea,  by  the  power  of  steam. 

4.  Words  are  somewhat  indefinite  in  their  meaning,  and  therefore  the 
same  diseases  of  the  body,  change  their  names.  We  formerly  heard  of 
the  honorary  fever,  the  lucrative  fever,  the  amUtlous  fever,  the  aristocratic 
fever,  the  revengeful  fever,  etc.  But  now,  in  this  day  of  improvement 
and  patent  rights,  all  are  included  in  the  name  of  White  House  fever* 
This  fever  has  a  number  of  symptoms,  as  the  senatorial,  the  secretary, 
the  ambassador,  the  commissioner,  the  judiciary,  the  military,  with  other 
more  feeble  symptoms ;  none  of  which  are  dangerous,  unless  the  diseased 
person  fixes  his  eyes  on  the  White  House,  with  as  much  intensity  as  the 
drunkard  fixes  his  eye  on  the  bottle,  or  as  Eve  did  on  the  apple  ;  but  if 
that  irresistible  charm  affects  the  patient,  in  many  cases  it  proves  fatal. 
During  the  rage  of  this  fever,  in  the  last  stages,  the  affected  talk  much,  void 
much  bile,  and  require  watchers  day  and  night. 


A    HUDDLE    OF    THOUGHTS. 

About  the  year  1785,  Messrs.  Rumsey  and  Fitch  memorialized  the 
legislature  of  Virginia,  for  aid  to  navigate  the  Ohio  by  fire  and  steam. 
I  did  not  then  think  that  I  should  ever  see  the  heavens  scaled,  the  ocean 
ploughed,  and  the  earth  skated  over  by  steam. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  federal  government,  when  the  revenue  failed  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  government,  and  pay  the  interest  on  the  debt,  at  the 
rate  of  one  million  dollars  per  annum,  I  concluded  that  my  body  would  be 
rotten  centuries  before  the  debt  would  be  cancelled.  Who  could  have 
thought  that  Americans  would  so  soon  have  been  bewitched  to  neglect 
their  true  interest  of  cultivating  the  ground,  and  laboring  in  their  shops, 
for  wild  speculations,  which  have  reduced  themselves,  and  the  states,  into 
a  debt  twice  as  large  as  that  of  the  United  States  was  in  1796,  and  now 
are  howling  to  saddle  their  debts  on  the  general  government. 

I  have  known  a  time  when  the  origin,  design,  extent,  and  limitation  of 
government,  were  the  articles  of  study  and  conversation  of  the  people,  out 
of  doors,  and  in  the  chambers  of  legislation  ;  and  every  measure  was 
tested  according  to  its  bearings  on  the  fundamental  principles  ;  and  I  have 
dreamed  of  a  time  when  those  principles  were  considered  useless,  and 
every  measure  was  applauded  or  rejected,  according  to  its  bearing  on 
elections. 


ELDEE    JOHN    LELAND.  715 

I  have  wished  to  see  the  time,  when  legislators  would  apply  themselves 
to  the  work  of  expeditious  legislation,  without  unnecessary  speeches,  and 
leave  elections  with  the  people,  and  when  any  unusual  question  comes  be- 
fore them,  not  speciifically  provided  for  in  the  constitution,  let  moral  hon- 
esty,  economy,  and  public  safety  be  their  guide.  In  the  long  and  flowery 
speeches,  resembling  a  butterfly,  with  large  painted  wings  and  little  body, 
designed  for  stenographers  and  printers,  I  have  wished  that  the  speakers 
would  regard  the  whole  truth,  and  not,  by  good  words  and  fair  speeches, 
deceive  the  readers  by  partial  or  false  statements,  with  party  views.  What 
painful  sensations  the  great  class  of  laborers  feel,  when  they  see  their 
honored  agents  wasting  week  after  week,  in  blowing  hot  breath,  uttering 
hard  speeches,  and  blasting  gunpowder  at  each  other.  Is  not  this  degrad- 
ing to  our  institutions,  and  a  stain  upon  popular  government?  Can  any 
true  hearted  republican  approve  of  it  ?  In  the  reign  of  king  Richard,  it 
was  usual  for  members  of  parliament  to  box  each  others'  ears,  when  a  dif- 
ference arose  ;  a  very  barbarous  custom,  but  far  more  humane  and  polite 
than  the  duel. 

To  form  a  government  so  perfect,  that  the  rulers  can  have  ample  power 
to  do  all  necessary  good,  and  yet,  have  it  so  counterpoised,  that  they  can 
do  no  harm,  is  beyond  the  constitution  of  the  moral  world ;  but  every  step 
toward  it  should  be  trodden,  and  every  deviation  therefrom,  should  be 
shunned. 

Oaths,  bonds,  securities,  fines  and  punishments,  have  all  been  defeated 
by  ambition,  cupidity,  or  revenge.  But  when  men  of  reputed  honesty  and 
honor,  are  selected,  and  guarded  by  oaths,  bonds,  &zc.,  it  is  all  the  secu- 
rity attainable.  If  fraud,  or  insolvency  follow,  the  loss  has  to  be  bourne 
with.  Men,  like  Achan  and  Judas,  Arnold  and  Swartwout,  are  too  often 
found  in  all  ranks. 

That  men,  equally  honest,  may  differ  in  opinion,  and  that  an  honest  man 
may  change  his  opinion,  are  both  admitted ;  but  when  men  veer  about, 
without  any  substantial  reasons,  what  shall  we  think  ?  Those  who  oppose 
the  sub-treasury  scheme,  say  it  gives  the  president  dangerous  power,  which 
he  ought  not  to  be  trusted  with ;  but  in  the  late  aff*ray  on  the  north-eastern 
boundary,  they  were  not  afraid  to  entrust  ten  millions  of  dollars,  and  fifty 
thousand  men  to  his  discretionary  control. 

One  of  the  opening  wedges  that  split  the  line  of  the  Hamilton  and  Jef- 
ferson administrations,  was  the  United  States  Bank ;  and  yet,  we  hear 
many,  who  are  advocates  for  the  bank,  declaring  themselves  to  be  the  only 
true  Jeffersonians ;  who  believes  them  ?  So,  some  hold  to  election,  and 
preach  free-will. 

It  is  difficult  to  show  any  radical  difference  between  the  Jeffersonian  ad- 
ministration, and  the  Jacksonian,  (which  is  now  in  train)*  but  the  fairest 

*  He  undoubtedly  means  its  principles  were  being  carried  out,  as  the  administration 
itself  had  ceased  long  before  the  date  of  this. 


716 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


arguments,  supported  by  facts,  are  feeble  defences  against  fixed  propen- 
sities. 

I  have  never  been  able  to  see  any  definite  power  given  in  the  constitu- 
tion to  the  general  government,  to  incorporate  a  bank  ;  nor  do  I  believe 
that  one  in  ten  thousand,  of  the  people  who  ratified  the  constitution,  thought 
of  such  a  thing  as  a  bank.  The  states  were  strictly  prohibited  from  emit- 
ting any  bills  of  credit,  but  under  the  inventive  secretaryship  of  Mr.  Ham- 
ilton, the  bank  sprung  up,  like  a  miseltoe  in  the  crotch  of  a  tree,  and  no 
one  knows  where  it  comes  from. 

The  world  is  gorged  with  school,  creed,  and  ceremonial  religion  ;  action 
and  money  are  enlisted  in  the  cause.  But  after  all  the  institutions  of  men, 
"Pure  religion,  and  undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father,  which  is,  to 
visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their  affliction,  and  to  keep  unspotted 
from  the  world,"  is  but  little  seen  and  practiced.  Societies  are  formed, 
at  great  expense,  to  convert  the  East  Indians  from  the  homd  practice  of 
immolation.  Why  should  not  the  Hindoos  feel  as  much  interested  to  send 
their  priests  to  America,  to  convert  Christians  from  the  murderous  crime 
of  duelling  ?  Alas  !  must  the  city  of  Washington  and  its  environs,  be  the 
slaughter-pen  for  human  victims  ? 

The  let  alone  policy  may  be  extended  too  far,  but  to  crowd  questions 
into  the  legislative  department,  that  belong  to  the  empire  of  common  sense, 
human  courtesy,  persuasion,  individual  rights,  or  religion,  is  being  at  an 
expense  to  establish  tyranny.  * 

The  late  address  of  Gov.  Morton,  is  fraught  with  the  intelligence  of  a 
Jefferson,  and  the  moral  courage  and  decision  of  a  Jackson.  He  has 
pointed  out  the  embarrasment  of  the  commonwealth — what  led  thereto — 
and  the  means  of  extrication.  The  people  have  set  him  to  guard  their 
rights  and  liberties,  and  defend  them  from  dangers,  and  yet  have  so 
cramped  him  in  the  legislature  and  council,  that  he  may  exclaim,  "  You 
set  me  to  hunt  the  snake,  and  when  I  find  him,  you  hold  my  arm  and  will 
not  let  me  kill  him."  He  can,  however,  instruct  by  counsel,  and  check  by 
veto. 

If  I  was  omniscient  and  infalliable,  I  could  fix  a  standard  for  individuals, 
preachers,  churches,  and  states  ;  or,  if  I  was  inspired  by  Him  who  profess, 
es  those  sublime  attributes,  I  could  give  a  perfect  directory  to  all.  But  I 
neither  possess  nor  claim  those  endowments  j  contrariwise,  I  find  myself  in- 
capable to  fully  understand  the  directory  which  God  has  given  to  man. 
Instead,  therefore,  of  being  a  dictator  to  others,  I  hare  to  dig  and  beg  for 
myself 

February  23,  1840. 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  7J7 

The  first  part  of  the  following  poem  was  published  many  years  ago  in  the 
Budget  of  Scraps,  but  as  the  Ms.  was  found  to  contain  many  additional 
lines,  it  is  thought  proper  to  insert  it  among  the  posthumous  pieces.  The 
original  title  under  which  it  appeared  was,  "  Borrowed  ideas  in  a  new 
Dress." 

Once  in  my  life,  as  I  walked  in  the  road, 
I  overtook  a  noisy  rabble  crowd  ; 
Whose  hot  disputes  did  so  affect  my  ear, 
My  curious  heart  desired  their  tales  to  hear. 
"  Pray,  sirs,"  said  I,  "  excuse  the  part  I  take. 
What  is  the  cause  of  your  severe  debate  ?" 
Says  one,  "  'tis  a  chanielion  which  I  saw, 
As  white  as  snow,  without  a  tawny  flaw. 
I  saw  it  creep,  I  viewed  it  with  mine  eye, 
•  'Twas  only  white,  and  yet  they  say  I  lie." 

"  Hold,"  said  a  second,  "  what  you  say  is  wrong  ; 

I  saw  the  same  chameleon  creep  along. 

And  if  the  creature  was  not  crimson  red 

I'll  eat  the  fire,  and  give  you  up  my  head  ; 

No  rose,  no  blood  the  crimson  e'er  exceeded, 

'Twas  only  red,  and  yet  I'm  disbelieved." 

"  Poh !"  said  a  third,  "  the  matter  falsely  stands, 

I  took  the  same  chamelion  in  my  hands. 

And  if  it  was  not  blue  I'll  yield  the  cause, 

Then  why  dispute,  for  blue  I  know  it  was." 

"  Ah,"  said  another,  "  ignorance  reigns,  I  see ; 

The  same  chameleon  I  have  got  with  me, 

I  took  it  up  and  put  it  in  my  sack. 

And  know,  and  now  can  prove  that  it  is  black  ! 

I  scorn  to  lie,  the  beast  shall  now  be  seen  ;" 

With  that  he  drew  it  out,  and  lo  !  'twas  green  .' 

So  modern  preachers  for  their  systems  plead, 

Each  for  himself,  for  two  are  not  agreed  j 

Each  cries,  "  Reform,  and  come  and  go  with  me. 

All  others  err,  as  you  may  plainly  see. 

How  strange  it  is  that  men  should  be  so  blind, 

When  all  is  plain  and  clear  within  my  mind." 

They  labor  hard  with  all  their  power  and  skill, 

To  make  God's  stream  supply  their  self-made  mill. 

Authors  they  quote,  and  old  translations  mend, 

(Their  word  grows  wiser,  as  their  views  extend,) 

If,  for  their  creeds,  the  Scripture  will  not  speak, 

They  leave  the  English  and  adopt  the  Greek, 

And,  like  a  cork-screw,  turn  and  twist  about. 

And  pull  and  tug  to  get  the  stopple  out. 

Each  one  is  right,  and  all  are  wrong  beside, 

Hence,  white  and  red,  blue  and  black,  are  tried. 

But  God's  eternal  truth  is  so  profound, 


718  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

That  human  lines  the  ocean  cannot  sound. 
And  after  all  the  schemes  of  feeble  men, 
That  truth  is  firm,  and  always  will  be — green. 
Divine  materials  never  will  submit 
To  systems  hammerd  out  by  human  wit. 


ACROSTIC 

J  EstJS  is  my  God  and  Saviour, 
O  for  grace  to  love  him  more  ! 
H  e's  my  hope  and  lasting  treasure, 
N  one  but  Jesus  I  adore. 

L  et  the  rich  enjoy  their  treasure, 
E  arth  has  fading  charms  for  me  ; 
L  et  me.  Lord,  enjoy  thy  favor, 
A  11  I  wish,  is  found  in  thee : 
N  ever  let  me  stray  away, 
D  ear  Lord,  remember  me,  I  pray. 


AZTOTHZiR. 

J  OY  is  a  fruit  that  will  not  grow, 
O  n  nature's  barren  ground  ; 
H  ow  vain  are  all  things  here  below 
N  0  fruit  on  them  is  found. 

L  et  others  round  the  ocean  rove, 

E  ngaged  for  fame  or  store, 

L  ord,  grant  me  thy  forgiving  love, 

A  nd  I  desire  no  more. 

N  o  joy  can  equal  love  divine, — 

D  ear  Jesus,  tell  me  I  am  thine. 


When  the  Holy  Spirit  takes  possession  of  my  heart  and  reigns  trium- 
phant there,  I  have  a  constant  home  wherever  I  may  be. 


When  the  Saviour,  all  triumphant 
Makes  my  heart  his  humble  throne. 

All  my  thoughts  are  acquiescent, 
Then  I  have  a  constant  home. 

Wealth  and  honor,  carnal  pleasure. 
Fade  and  vanish  out  of  sight ; 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 

Jesus  is  my  richest  treasure, 

And  my  theme  by  day  and  night. 

Discontent  is  then  a  stranger, 

All  is  right  that  God  ordains  ; 
I  sleep  and  wake,  secure  from  danger. 

All  my  hopes  the  Lord  sustains. 

Loving  God,  I  love  my  neighbor; 

Seek  the  good  of  all  around  ; 
Watch  and  guard  my  own  behavior, 

Softly  tread  on  holy  ground. 

Dearest  Saviour,  help  thy  servant 

To  proclaim  thy  gospel  word  ; 
Make  him  faithful,  wise,  and  fervent,— 

Arm  him  with  thy  spirit's  sword. 

May  he  blow  the  trump  in  Zion, 
Sound  the  alarm  to  all  around, 

Guard  the  lambs,  and  brave  the  lion, 
Laboring  in  the  gospel  ground. 

Blessed  Saviour,  crown  his  labor, 

Let  not  all  his  pains  be  lost ; 
While  he  preaches  Christ  the  Saviour, 

Oh !  send  down  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Man  can  only  teach  the  senses, 
God  must  change  the  sinful  soul ; 

Set  before  us  our  offences, 

Make  the  sin-sick  sinner  whole. 

Gracious  God  !  bestow  a  blessing, 
May  each  soul  receive  thy  truth ; 

While  backsliders  are  confessing, 
Pour  thy  spirit  on  the  youth. 

Oh  that  sinners— hundreds— thousands, 
May  return  to  thee,  their  God, — 

Pluck  them,  Lord,  like  burning  fire-brands, 
Grant  them  pardon  thro'  thy  blood. 


When  God  revealed  his  grand  design, 

To  rescue  rebel  man. 
Thro'  all  the  heavenly  world's  sublime. 

The  joyful  tidings  ran. 

But  'midst  their  joys  a  question  rose. 
Which  checked  their  songs  awhil^ 

"  How  can  Jehovah  love  his  foes,   ^    ~ 
And  look  on  them  and  smile  ?" 


7191 


720  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

"  Their  pains,  and  groans,  and  deep  distreee 

Aloud  for  mercy  call ; 
But  ah  !  must  truth  and  righteousness 

To  mercy,  victims  fall  ?" 

So  spake  the  friends  of  God  and  man, 
But  none  could  light  afford ; 

The  highest  angel  could  not  scan 
How  man  could  be  restored. 

The  Son  of  God  attentive,  heard, 
And  quickly  thus  replied: 

"  In  me  let  mercy  be  revered. 
And  justice  magnified. 

"  Behold,  my  vital  blood  I  pour, 

A  sacrifice  to  God  ; 
Let  angry  vengeance  now  no  more 

Demand  the  sinner's  blood." 

He  spake,  and  heavn's  high  arches  rang, 
With  his  immortal  praise  ; 

The  morning  stars  together  sang, 
In  heaven's  exalted  lays. 

The  heavenly  hosts  fell  on  their  face, 
And  tuned  their  harps  of  gold, 

O'ercome  with  boundless,  sovereign  grace, 
'Twas  more  than  heaven  could  hold. 

O'er  heaven's  high  walls  the  angels  crowd. 

The  tidings  to  proclaim  ; 
"  Glory  to  God,"  they  shout  aloud, 

"  Good  will  to  sinful  man." 

Let  all  the  nations  hear  the  sound. 
And  raise  their  triumphs  high, 
'  For  Jesus  has  a  ransom  found 

For  sinners  doomed  to  die. 


When  the  Almighty  forms  the  souls  above. 
He  mates  them  for  the  marriage  bond  of  love, 
And  sends  them  down  to  earth  on  this  condition. 
That  each  may  choose  to  please  the  disposition. 
Some  choose  with  caution,  yet  are  much  deceived, 
Such  ills  arise  as  were  not  once  believed. 
If  God  thus  pained  them,  we  must  all  suppose, 
That  thorns  are  better  for  them  than  the  rose, 
Too  much  delight  in  partners  may  destroy 
The  tAst  in  God  alone  for  sacted  joy. 


ELDER  JOH?f  LELAND.  721 

Happy  the  youth  who  finds  a  partner  kind, 
And  never  sees  a  cause  for  change  of  mind, 
But  many — many  wear  their  lives  in  pain, — 
The  silken  cord  becomes  a  galling  chain, 
Complaints  and  murmurs  fill  each  others'  ears, 
Sometimes  in  rage — sometimes  in  sadder  tears. 
When  Satan  gets  between  a  man  and  wife, 
But  little  joy  is  known  in  married  life  ; 
One  frowns — the  other  pouts — and  both  complain  ; 
Each  greatly  injured,  as  they  each  maintain. 
Each  feels  sad  woes  and  sees  the  faults  of  th'  other  : 
The  faults  they  swell,  their  own  defects  they  smother. 
But  some  are  highly  blessed  in  married  life, 
And  live  secure  from  jealousy  and  strife. 
The  matrimonial  precepts  they  obey, 
And  bear  each  other's  burdens  night  and  day. 
If,  in  some  evil  hour,  one  falls  to  blame, 
And  passions  rise,  and  kindle  to  a  flame. 
The  other  bears,  and  cooling  water  throws, 
And  brings  the  contest  to  a  happy  close. 
Each  feels  defects  within,  and  reasons  thus : 
"  My  partner  faulters,  I  myself  am  worse," 
Two  wrongs  will  quickly  make  a  pleasing  right  ; 
Two  rights  will  ever  live  in  strife  and  spite. 


Hymn  composed  and  sung  on  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  ihe  meet- 
ing-house, in  Cheshire,  on  Christmas  day,  1794. 


Thus  saith  the  eternal  God  ; 

I  sit  upon  my  throne, 

The  heavens  I  spread  abroad, 

The  earth  I  made  alone. 
The  heavens  are  my  exalted  seat. 
The  earth  I  tread  beneath  my  feet. 

What  house  did  e'er  contain 

An  omnipresent  God? 

Attempts  are  all  as  vain 

To  bind  my  holy  word, 
All  world?,  surrounded  by  my  hand. 
Move  round  at  my  supreme  command. 

The  temple  did  contain 

The  ark,  that  sacred  chest ; 

My  presence  there  was  seen  ; 

It  was  my  settled  rest. 
No  more  I  give  the  Jews  commands, 
Nor  dwell  in  temples  made  with  hands, 
91 


722  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Yet  will  I  look  upon 
The  Man  of  my  right  hand, 
Mine  own  eternal  Son 
Shall  in  my  presence  stand  ; 
Tho'  he  is  God,  yet  he  was  poor, 
Lowly  in  heart,  tho'  full  of  power. 

In  him  the  God-head  dwells, 
All  fulness  there  is  found  : 
Spring  up,  ye  sacred  wells, 
Let  grace  and  truth  abound. 
The  temple  once  my  presence  blessed 
But  was  not  my  abiding  rest. 

Another  house  I  have. 
The  church  is  where  I  dwell, 
The  humble  poor  to  save. 
The  contrite  free  from  hell. 
The  glory  of  these  latter  days 
Shall  far  exceed  the  temple's  praise. 

Lcrd,  we  have  met  to-day. 
To  worship  thee  above  ; 
Descend  from  heaven,  we  pray, — 
Fill  every  heart  with  love. 

We  dedicate  this  house  to  thee  ; 

'Tis  all  thine  own, — so  let  it  be. 

Preserve  this  house  from  fire. 
From  thunder,  wind  and  storm. 
Nor  from  this  place  retire, 
But  every  bosom  warm. 
We  leave  our  praise  with  thee, 
Thou  great,  sublime,  eternal  Three. 


^ 


.^ 


ELDER  JOHN  LELANdJ  723 


SHORT  AND  UNCONNECTED  SENTENCES. 


LuifB  has  given  a  short  biography  of  Paul,  and  Paul  in  his  epistles  to 
the  churches  has  stated  his  manner  of  life,  both  before  and  after  his  con- 
version, together  with  his  afflictions  fronn  without  and  within,  also  of  the 
doctrine  he  preached,  and  what  success  he  had ;  but  is  it  likely  that  he 
carried  those  epistles  about  for  sale  ?  Did  he  ever  close  the  meeting  by 
saying,  "  My  hearers,  I  have  here  with  me  a  number  of  books  of  my  own 
composition  for  sale  ?''  and  yet,  in  these  days,  it  is  practised.  For  a  man 
to  write  his  own  history,  and  publish  it  while  he  is  living,  is  rather  del- 
icate. In  respect  to  his  knowledge  of  the  facts  he  relates,  he  is  the  best 
judge  ;  yet  his  diffidence  may  incline  him  to  keep  back  the  best,  and  ex- 
pose the  worst,  or  his  vanity  may  prompt  him  to  cover  his  defects  and 
extol  his  virtues.  He  who  publishes  his  own  history  or  creed  for  sale,  and 
then  puts  on  the  robe  of  a  travelling  preacher,  (to  diminish  the  expenses 
of  travelling,)  in  order  to  peddle  his  books,  is  attempting  to  use  God's 
stream  to  turn  his  own  mill. 

The  man  who  is  seeking  after  wisdom,  to  know  what  the  mind  of  the 
Lord  is  towards  him,  and  what  God  requires  him  to  do,  according  to  rule 
and  plumb-line,  is  not  so  much  delighted  with  flowery  language,  and  pomp 
of  diction,  as  with  rich  and  interesting  ideas.  A  discourse,  either  from 
the  lips,  or  pen,  that  is  full  of  fine  words,  and  void  of  ideas  and  solemn 
facts,  will  afford  him,  at  most,  but  secondary  pleasure.  May  we  not  con- 
clude, that  in  the  triumphant  state,  to  which  humble  Christianity  tends,  the 
most  important  ideas  and  wondrous  events  that  ever  existed,  will  be  eluci- 
dated in  language  all  sublime  by  all  ihe  heavenly  hosts.  No  dispute  about 
grammar,  in  that  state  of  existence,  when  "the  Lord  shall  turn  unto  the 
people  a  pure  language,"  that  they  may  all  serve  him  with  one  consent. 
"  The  preacher  sought  to  find  acceptable  words,  and  that  which  was  writ- 
ten  was  upright,  even  words  of  truth." 

The  mechanical  Christian  may  be  zealous  in  his  forms,  and  lavish  in 
censuring  wrong  and  applauding  right ;  but  is  never  found  lamenting  the 
pollution  of  his  heart,  or  honestly  confessing  the  mis-steps  he  has  taken. 


724  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

An  elegant  carriage — a  plated  harness — a  poor  horse  with  his  hip-bones 
sticking  up — a  fine  coat — a  small  stock  of  borrowed  divinity — a  lofty  ad- 
dress— a  careless  spirit — a  love  of  popularity — and  a  thirst  of  filthy  lucre, 
are  not  the  best  qualities  for  preachers. 

It  is  said  of  Dr.  Gill,  that  in  theological  controversy,  "  he  was  never 
attacked  and  overcome — he  never  assailed  a  strong  hold,  but  he  demolished 
it."  In  the  civil  and  military  departments,  the  same  may  be  said  of 
Andrew  Jackson. 

In  God  we  live,  move,  and  have  our  being.  Is  it  possible  then  for  men 
to  possess  a  power,  independent  of  God,  by  which  they  can  generate  thoughts 
and  change  desires  ?  If  not,  on  what  principle  can  men  be  accountable 
for  their  works  ?     One  side. 

Questions  generally  have  two  sides  to  them  :  and  something  can  be  said 
on  both  sides ;  indeed,  some,  like  a  cube,  have  six  sides  ;  yet  there  are 
many  disputers  who  will  never  allow  that  the  arguments  of  others  have 
any  weight  in  them  :  of  course,  they  are  always  right,  in  their  own  view, 
and  always  triumph.  Like  a  gander,  if  you  chase  them  ever  so  far,  with 
the  club  of  solid  i-eason,  they  will  turn  and  crow  as  if  victorious. 

Query.  Are  the  Protestants  in  France  as  much  abused  by  the  Papists 
as  the  Papists  are  in  Ireland  by  the  Protestants  ? 

The  lawyer  studies  to  find  out  what  is,  and  if  he  be  a  real  statesman,  he 
studies  what  ought  to  be.  And  if  he  is  invested  with  power,  and  is  a  business 
man,  he  will  be  daring  and  persevering  to  bring  things  where  they  ought 
to  be. 

The  human  mind  is  so  flexible,  and  surrounding  objects  and  passing 
events  so  varying  and  illusive,  that  the  man  who  never  changes  his  opinion, 
is  either  very  weak  or  very  stubborn.  Let  a  man  write  his  creed  of  faith, 
or  a  treatise  on  any  subject,  and  lay  it  by  in  his  secretary.  Let  him  look 
it  over  once  a  year,  and  every  time  he  examines  it,  he  will  wish  that  some 
sentiments  or  expressions  had  been  differently  stated — perhaps  some  parts 
expunged. 

Words  are  so  indefinite  in  their  meaning,  and  so  variously  used  by  speak- 
ers and  others,  that  candor  teaches  us  to  let  every  one  put  his  own  mean- 
ing upon  his  words. 

The  Upas  is  a  tree  in  the  island  of  Java,  so  poisonous  that  neither  man, 
beast,  nor  vegetable  can  live  within  three  leagues  of  it. 

The  Samiel  is  a  noxious  wind,  that  sometimes  blows  in  the  deserts  of 
Arabia  and  Africa,  that  kills  man  or  beast  with  the  quickness  of  lightning. 

But  Jesus  the  Saviour  is  a  "  tree  of  life"  in  the  midst  of  the  paradise  of 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  725 

God,  who  bears  such  fruit  that  he  who  eats  it,  will  live  forever.    His  leaves 
heal  the  nations. 

The  Holy  Ghost  is  a  wind  that  brings  dry  bones  to  life,  and  heals  all 
diseases. 

The  spirit  of  the  people  in  the  Revolution,  achieved  our  Independence, 
with  only  a  currency  of  rags,  which  died  of  a  quick  consumption,  after  the 
war  closed  ;  when  the  energy  of  the  confederation  was  not  sufficient  to 
bring  into  action  the  natural  resources  and  strength  of  the  country. 

When  the  convention  were  chosen  in  1787  to  remove  the  defects  of  the 
articles  of  the  confederation,  they  patched  up  the  old  house  with  a  new 
frame,  covering  and  painting.  The  sound  timber  of  the  old  building,  how- 
ever, they  worked  into  the  new  house. 

Abstract  principles  will  not  always  meet  existing  circumstances. 

The  best  laws  for  innocent  beings  are  insufficient  for  the  guilty. 

The  laws  to  punish  individuals — war  with  nations — put  away  wives,  etc. 
were  not  given  from  the  beginning  ;  but  for  crimes,  oppression,  and  hard- 
ness of  heart.     Such  laws  were  given  to  make  the  best  of  a  bad. 

From  Exodus,  xxi.,  2-7,  it  is  evident  that  a  man  may  prefer  slavery 
for  life  to  personal  freedom  ;  and  also  that  the  marriage  of  a  iought  ser- 
vant may  be  dispensed  with,  without  crime. 

The  rules  of  grammar  are  as  constantly  changing  as  the  fashions  of 
dress.  The  disuse  of  one  class  of  words,  and  the  coining  of  new  ones, 
is  constantly  progressing.  He  that  speaks  or  writes  in  language  the  easiest 
to  be  understood,  is  the  best  grammarian  and  orator. 

Heliogabtjlus  neglected  the  duties  of  the  kingdom,  and  spent  his  time 
in  catching  fli§s  and  collecting  cobwebs  for  public  show.  Let  rulers  and 
preachers  learn  wisdom  from  his  folly. 

If  matter  is  governed  by  gravitation,  how  comes  the  fly  to  sleep  on 
solid  matter  above  her,  with  nothing  under  her  but  open  air.  Why  does 
she  not  fall  to  the  ground  ? 

When  I  have  eaten  until  I  am  satisfied,  my  sense  tells  me  that  I  shall 
never  want  to  eat  again  ;  but  my  reason,  which  has  grown  out  of  experi- 
ence,  assures  me  that  my  hunger  will  return  again.  I,  therefore,  renounce 
sense,  and  adhere  to  that  knowledge  which  is  gained  by  time  and  experi- 
ence ;  cautious,  however,  of  metaphysical  reasoning,  which  is  of  a  preca- 
rious nature.  Without  frequent  recurrence  to  fundamental  principles,  our 
reasoning  will  lead  us  astray. 

Atonement.     This  word  is  frequently  used  in  the  laws  of  Moses,  and 


726 


THE    WRITINGS    OP 


a  few  times  afterwards  :  only  once  in  the  New  Testament.  Like  the  word 
faith,  it  seems  to  be  a  word  of  broad  and  indefinite  meaning ;  for  the  allar 
was  atoned  for,  and  almost  all  things  were,  by  the  law,  purged  with  blood. 
In  its  various  uses  it  represents — a  ransom  for  crimes — a  reconciliation 
obtained — and  a  dedication  of  men  and  things  to  the  service  of  God. 

The  holy,  lovely  law  of  God  enjoins  on  men  at  all  times  to  do  all  that 
he  commands,  and  believe  all  that  he  reveals;  but  the  blessings  of  eternal 
life  are  showered  down  periodically,  in  times  of  refreshing,  like  showers 
of  rain,  in  times  appointed  beforehand. 

Can  something  be  made  out  of  nothing  ?     Try  it : 

By  addition  ( „ )  it  cannot. 

By  suhstraction  (1)  it  fails. 

By  multiplication  i «_ » |  it  is  not  gained. 

But  by  division  0)  0  (1  it  is  done— 1  proceeds  from  00. 
Thus  the  griping  miser  fails.     One  thing  is  lacking. 

The  wasteful  2>roJ/g-aZ  loses  all. 

The  extortioner  labors  for  the  wind. 

But  the  liberal  soul  shall  be  made  fat.  He  divides  his  portion  among 
the  poor  and  wretched,  and  lays  up  in  store  for  himsself  a  good  foundation 
for  the  time  to  come.  By  parting  with  all  for  Christ's  sake,  he  gains  the 
ONE  thing  Heedful. 

The  living  Jesus  was  cheaply  clothed  in  swaddling  bands  j  but  the  dead 
Jesus  was  wrapped  in  fine  linen.  So  living  Christianity  costs  but  little  ; 
but  dead  Christianity  costs  more  than  civil  empire. 

Sir,  you  ask  me  the  question,  "  Why  there  is  always  strife,  contention 
and  opposition  in  free  governments,  and  what  will  prevent  it?"  The  an- 
swer  is  simple.  Let  the  Constitution  be  formed,  and  the  laws  enacted  for 
general  good,  free  from  personalities,  and  let  every  one  arrange  his  pur- 
suits under  that  banner,  and  strife  will  cease  :  but  when  men  fix  their  own 
views  of  promotion  and  wealth  for  a  standard,  and  strive  to  make  every 
measure  of  government  subservient  to  their  wishes,  contentions  will  abound, 
COTivulsions  often  follow.  For  when  speculation  for  wealth,  and  gambling 
for  office  become  predominant,  the  rights  of  men  are  drowned,  and  com- 
mon honesty  smothered. 

The  eyes,  the  ears,  and  the  thoughts  of  others,  impose  expense,  labor 
and  perplexity  on  ourselves.  There  is  a  strong  wish  in  man,  to  have  his 
appearance,  his  conversation,  his  performances  and  bent  of  mind  accept- 
able to  others  ;  to  acquire  which,  he  will  sustain  great  privations  and  hard- 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  727 

ships.  A  proof,  or  even  a  suspicion,  that  he  himself  or  his  performances 
are  disgustful,  fills  his  mind  with  painful  sensations,  which  he  would  escape, 
if  others  were  blind,  deaf,  and  insane. 

Hearing,  seeing,  feeling,  tasting,  and  smelling,  are  the  avenues  by  which 
we  form  our  conclusions  :  by  speaking  and  action  we  make  them  known 
to  others.     Writing  is  active  speaking. 

It  is  amusing  and  instructing  to  read  of  the  great  talents  of  men,  and 
the  stupendous  works  they  perform;  but  this  should  not  check  nor  discour- 
age those  of  small  talents  and  limited  means  from  doing  the  best  they  can 
with  those  faculties  and  means  which  they  possess. 

When  men  grow  old,  they  forget  more  than  they  collect ;  but  they  have 
this  to  comfort  them,  that  they  never  forget  what  they  never  knew.  It  is 
a  pleasure  to  them  to  confess  that  they  cannot  do  as  they  once  could,  but 
painful  to  own  that  their  wisdom  is  less. 

Now,  in  1838,  canals,  railroads  and  banks,  with  their  appendices,  em- 
ploy the  thoughts,  words,  and  pursuits  of  the  populace.  Moral  reform, 
missions,  and  abolition,  with  their  tributary  streams,  make  the  pulpits  ring, 
and  the  presses  groan.  What  will  be  the  leading  topics  of  next  year,  I 
cannot  say. 

Thirty  years  ago,  many,  in  their  addresses  to  God,  would  say,  "  Lord, 
descend  by  thy  slaying  power,  upon  these  sinners  ;  come  now  this  minute  ; 
and  do  thou  smite  the  stout  hearts,  that  they  may  fall  to  the  floor  before 
thee."  But  now,  the  addresses  are  to  the  rebellious,  as  follows  :  "  Sinners, 
God  has  done  all  that  he  can  for  you — he  can  do  no  more  :  it  is  for  you 
to  do  the  rest.  You  can  give  your  hearts  to  God  at  any  time,  and  I  call 
upon  you  to  do  it  this  minute,  and  if  you  do  not  do  it,  you  will  seal  your 
own  damnation."     What  I  shall  hear  next,  I  cannot  tell.  , 

Acts,  xxiv.,  25 :  And  as  he  reasoned  of  righteousness,  temperance,  and 
judgment  to  come,  Felix  trembled.  Gal.,  v.,  23:  Meekness,  temperance. 
2nd  Peter,  i ,  6  :  to  knowledge,  temperance,  and  to  temperance,  patience. 
1  Cor.,  ix.,  25  :  Temperate  in  all  things.  Titus,  i.,  8  :  Holy,  temperate, 
ii.,  2,  Aged  men  be  temperate.  The  word  temperance  signifies  moderation, 
a  restraint  on  the  affections  and  passions,  and  always  the  calmness  and 
serenity  of  the  mind :  and  for  the  most  part,  it  excludes  every  thing  else. 
It  never  signifies  abstinence. 

Drunkenness  is  the  parent  of  wo  and  misery  in  this  life,  and  a  barrier 
to  the  kingdom  of  God  :  but  does  it  become  those  who  form  into  bands, 
called  temperance  societies,  to  point  the  finger  of  scorn,  and  haughtily 
pronounce  the  best  of  men  drunkards,  because  they  will  not  list  themselves 
nor  their  names  into  a  mixed  society,  never  instituted  by  Jesus  Christ  ? 


728  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

The  society  which  Christ  has  formed  for  the  suppression  of  drunkenness, 
and  other  vices,  is  forbidden  to  be  "  yoked  together  wiih  unbelievers,"  but 
as  a  separate  society,  is  bound  to  shun  and  condemn  every  evil  work,  and 
practice  and  recommend  whatsoever  is  lovely  and  of  good  report. 

"  Tell  me  of  my  faults,  that  I  may  know  and  renounce  them ;  my 
virtues,  (if  I  have  any,)  will  take  care  of  themselves."  This  maxim,  given 
by  an  old  philosopher,  is  but  partially  adhered  to.  Reprove  a  wise  man, 
and  he  will  be  wise  j  but  all  men  have  not  teachable  wisdom.  "  The  fool 
is  wiser  in  his  own  eyes,  than  seven  men  that  can  render  a  reason."  In 
most  cases,  if  one  attempts  to  reprove  another,  the  one  reproved  will  retort, 
"physician,  heal  thyself;  first  cast  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye  ;  keep 
your  own  vineyard  and  let  mine  alone."  If  this  retort  does  not  clear  him 
from  blame,  he  will  next  sum  up  the  real  or  hearsay  defects  of  his  reprover, 
and  propose  an  offset.  If  this  proffer  is  not  accepted,  he  will  ever  after 
esteem  the  reprover  his  deadly  enemy.  Unimpeachable  character,  and 
meekness  of  spirit,  with  a  good  report  of  them  that  are  without,  are  neces- 
sary for  the  reprover;  otherwise  it  will  fare  with  him,  as  it  did  with  the 
seven  sons  of  Seeva.  The  heart  of  a  lion — the  eye  of  an  eagle — and  the 
hand  of  a  lady  are  required  to  make  a  reproof  profitable.  Reproofs  of 
this  kind  are  like  excellent  oil  which  will  not  break  the  head,  nor  stop  the 
prayer  of  the  one  reproved,  for  the  reprover. 

Convince  a  man  that  you  esteem  him,  and  make  him  pleased  with  him- 
self, and  he  will  love  your  company  and  be  your  lasting  friend.  But  if 
you  crowd  him  hard  in  agreement,  and  triumph  in  your  victory  over  him, 
although  you  conquer  him,  you  lose  his  friendship  forever. 

The  fashion  of  debate  in  the  civil  and  religious  departments,  like  all 
other  things,  is  perpetually  changing.  In  the  days  of  king  Richard,  in 
their  parliamentary  disputes,  it  was  customary  for  the  members  to  box 
each  other's  ears.  Long  before  this,  in  the  Council  of  Nice,  in  which 
were  three  hundred  and  eighteen  bishops,  Nicholas,  of  Myra,  gave  Arius  a 
severe  box  on  the  ear.  But  in  this  day  of  light  and  improvement,  duelling, 
which  often  costs  life,  supersedes  ear-boxing.  Is  this  change  of  fashion 
an  improvement  of  morals,  of  etiquette,  or  of  religion  ? 

The  world  is  gorged  with  school,  creed,  and  ceremonial  religion  ;  but 
after  all  the  institutions  of  men,  "  pure  religion,  and  undefiled  before  God 
and  the  Father,  which  is  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their  afflic- 
tion, and  to  keep  unspotted  from  the  world,"  is  but  little  seen  or  practised. 

Can  the  mind  of  man  harmonize  fatality  with  contingency — predesti- 
nation with  free. will — the  upper  book  of  God's  designs  with  the  lower 


ELDER  JOHN  LELAND.  729 

book  of  man's  obedience  ?  Pagans,  Jews,  and  Christians  have  employed 
all  their  powers  of  mind  tp  untie  the  gordian  knot,  but  yet  it  remains  un- 
done. 

The  creation  of  matter,  the  diffusion  of  light,  and  giving  life  to  the 
dead,  are  proofs  of  the  uncreated  existence  of  a  Being  who  existed  before 
matter,  light,  or  the  life  of  creatures  was  known. 

Though  preachers  often  undertake  to  weld  cold  iron  and  hot  together, 
all  their  blowing  and  hammering  will  not  make  them  stick. 

Prejudice  sees  but  little  error  in  a  friend,  and  but  little  to  applaud  ia 
an  enemy. 

Conflicting  parties  often  unite  to  crush  a  party,  abhorred  by  all  the 
confederates.     The  hawk  helps  the  owl. 

When  great  men  are  governed  by  ambition,  and  little  men  by  money, 
the  rights  of  the  people  are  in  jeopardy. 

The  credit  system  but  poorly  answers  the  purpose  of  specie  payment. 
Strike  upon  eagles  and  dollars  a  promise  that  the  bearer  should  be  paid 
ten  dollars  or  one,  in  paper,  at  the  banks,  and  would  there  be  any  applica. 
tions  for  exchange  ? 

Sentiment.  Martin  Van  Buren  :  the  second  Madison,  following  the 
second  Jefferson.  Let  not  the  age  of  deceilful  good  feeling,  sycophancy, 
and  amalgamation  succeed. 

There  may  be  some  exceptions,  but  it  is  generally  true,  that  he  who  has 
not  industry  to  get  himself  a  little  capital  to  begin  with,  would  not  improve 
a  borrowed  capital  to  his  own,  or  his  country's  advantage. 

Long  experience  has  decided  that  toealth  has  ample  power  to  defend  its 
owners  from  the  intrusions  of  the  needy.  The  poor  sometimes  oppress 
the  rich  by  mobs,  but  never  by  law.  No  dangers  therefore  arise  from  the 
extension  of  the  elective  franchise.  No  government  can  remain  simply 
democratical  long,  where  population  increases  fast.  A  small  number  may 
all  meet  together  and  make  their  laws  and  administer  them,  which  would 
be  impracticable  for  thousands. 

Thales,  the  philosopher,  walking  in  the  field  at  noon,  was  gazing  into 
the  heavens  to  see  the  stars,  and  stumbled  into  the  ditch.  So  many  are 
gazing  after  a  great  estate,  but  neglecting  industry  and  care,  they,  by  spec- 
ulation, plunge  into  the  gulf  of  insolvency  and  ruin.  So,  likewise,  preach- 
ers, sometimes  gazing  after  popularity,  or  money,  like  Demes,  but  neglect- 
ing the  humble  duties  of  the  closet,  and  the  labors  of  the  cross,  they  fall 
into  the  gulf  of  apostacy  and  disgrace. 

92 


730  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

Alexander  had  a  scar  in  his  face  which  disfigured  his  countenance.  His 
friend,  who  had  his  painted  likeness,  whenever.he  presented  it  to  the  view 
of  others,  would  place  his  thumb  over  the  scar.  So  charity  covers  a  mul- 
titude of  sins.  The  common  infirmities  of  men,  their  little  foibles,  and 
the  petty  injuries  done  to  ourselves,  should  be  passed  by ;  dilating  upon 
them  will  waste  time  to  no  profit ;  charity  will  cover  them.  To  err  is 
human,  to  forgive  and  pass  by,  is  Godlike.  But  when  evil  propensities 
break  out  into  overt  acts,  which  are  scandalous  in  nature,  and  injurious  to 
society  in  their  effects,  they  ought  to  be  exposed,  and  held  up  as  beacons 
to  give  warning  to  others.  In  the  Bible,  the  faults  of  good  men  are  re- 
corded  with  their  virtues ;  but  in  these  days  of  panegyric,  too  much  flat- 
tery  and  partiality  is  seen  in  biography.  Instead  of  wielding  an  impartial 
pen,  the  friend  is  all  angel,  and  the  foe  all  devil. 

The  luxuries  of  the  table  and  the  cup  breed  bodily  diseases,  feed  bad 
tempers,  and  paralyze  the  intellects. 

Never  sacrifice  your  liberty  to  A  that  he  may  secure  you  from  the  op- 
pression of  B. 

The  snake  creeps  out  of  his  skin,  and  changes  his  coat  every  year,  but 
continues  the  same  serpent. 

Democrats  are  for  honorable  agents — aristocrats  for  haughty  masters. 

Advice.  Believe  and  speak,  when  you  preach,  as  you  do  when  you 
pray.  Keep  your  own  conversion  in  view,  when  you  preach  it  to  others. 
Never  seek  to  make  others  believe  what  you  do  not  believe  yourself. 
What  you  doubt  about,  never  meddle  with,  till  you  get  resolved.  When 
you  call  others  to  return  and  confess,  set  the  example.  State  fads,  like 
Paul  ;  general  confessions  are  hypocritical  coverts.  Be  bold  in  preach- 
ing what  is  certain,  but  modest  in  that  which  is  contingent.  Never  fatigue 
yourself  and  your  hearers  with  a  long  sermon,  when  your  spirit  is  not  in 
the  work.  Preach  the  word,  and  take  heed  to  seducing  spirits.  If  there 
are  some  mistakes  in  the  Bible,  respecting  names,  numbers,  and  places, 
yet  all  the  books  in  the  world  beside,  do  not  contain  such  a  gold  chain  of 
rich  and  heavenly  things. 

Mark  xvi.,  15  :  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature — if  they  will  give  you  three  hundred  dollars  a  year. 

Acts  v.,  42  :  And  daily  in  the  temple,  and  in  every  house,  they  ceased 
not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ— ^or^re  dollars  a  week. 

Acts  xi.,  26  :  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  a  whole  year,  they  assembled 
themselves,  and  taught  much  people — for  a  stipulated  sum  of  two  hundred 
and  ffiy  dollars  each,  for  tlie  year. 


ELDER  JOHN    LELAND.  731 

Acts  ix.,  38  :  They  sent  unto  him  two  men,  desiring  him  that  he  would 
not  delay  to  come  to  them — and  they  would  handsomely  reward  him. 

I  HAVE  noticed  that  many  great  men  in  the  prime  of  life,  seeing  the  er- 
rOTs  of  old  men,  have  laid  down  rules  to  steer  by  when  they  should  be 
old  ;  but  as  fast  as  old  age  creeps  on,  their  circumstances,  feelings,  views, 
and  long  experience  cause  them  to  vary  from  their  rules,  and  they  act  like 
other  old  men.  The  laws  of  nature  are  stubborn  things,  and  will  not  yield 
to  accommodate  any. 

Money.  It  is  a  great  favor  to  have  a  sound  currency,  sufficient  for  all 
useful  labor,  and  commerce  :  all  beyond,  nourishes  indolence,  and  gambling 
speculation,  and  causes  a  neglect  of  cultivating  the  ground,  and  following 
those  manual  arts  which  enrich  a  nation,  and  check  licentiousness.  The 
gold  of  Spain  reduces  them  to  poor  living,  little  enteprise,  and  neglect  of 
intellectual  improvement ;  all  of  which  keep  thena  under  the  hon-id  tyranny 
of  an  inquisition. 

Does  it  correspond  with  the  design  of  political  associations,  for  the  rulers 
to  make  or  break  contracts  made  by  individuals  or  companies  ?  Is  it  not 
rather  designed  to  enforce  a  com,pliance  ? 

Is  it  prudent  for  an  individual  or  a  government  to  improve  in  convenient 
and  ornamental  articles,  (not  absolutely  necessary,)  faster  than  their  extra 
income,  over  their  necessary  expenses,  will  pay  for? 

If  government  has  a  right  to  punish  the  lender  of  money  if  he  takes 
more  than  six  per  cent,  why  not  punish  the  borrower,  if  he  makes  more 
than  six  per  cent  profit  of  his  loan  ?  And  would  not  both  be  legislative 
usurpation  over  the  rights  of  individuals  ? 

Why  should  great  men,  in  high  office,  when  guilty  of  fraud  and  robbery, 
be  only  degraded  as  defaulters,  when  little  men,  for  crimes  a  thousand 
times  less,  are  doomed  to  the  prison  ? 

Would  not  a  bankrupt  law,  which  now  exhonerates  the  debtor  on  as- 
signing ail  his  property,  be  much  better,  if  it  gave  the  creditor  equal  power 
to  force  him  to  assign,  before  he  has  smuggled  it  away,  (having  entered 
into  treaty  with  his  conscience  not  to  betray  him,)  and  if  banks,  should  be 
included,  and  not  treated  as  a  privileged  order,  would  it  not  have  a  good 
effect  ? 

Does  not  a  lust  for  office,  an  excessive  love  of  money,  a  desire  to  be 
thought  the  wisest,  with  the  heedless  zeal  of  those  who  wish  to  carry  their 
favorite  candidate,  threaten  a  dissolution  of  our  Union  ? 

Can  there  be  a  sober,  reflecting  man,  but  who  wishes  for  a  sound  cur- 
rency, a  well  guarded  treasury,  good  economy  in  the  appropriation  of  the 


732  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

public  treasure,  the  right  of  suffrage  secure,  and  a  peaceable  acquiescence 
in  the  will  of  a  majority,  when  fairly  expressed  ? 

Is  it  not  evident  that  a  certain  class  of  our  citizens,  who  are  now  the 
most  clamorous,  were  led  into  their  embarrassment,  by  the  muhitudeW 
bank  issues,  then  dipping  too  deep,  and  speculating  without  reason  ;  and 
that  they  are  now  blaming  the  general  government,  the  president  in  par- 
ticular, because  the  government  will  not  aid  them  to  pay  their  debts,  and 
furnish  them  with  money  to  pursue  their  wild  speculations  ? 

Is  it  probable  that  the  United  States  will  continue  a  representative  de- 
mocracy sixty-four  years  longer,  or  will  the  love  of  power  and  wealth,  the 
rivalship  of  the  states,  and  the  dissentions  of  parties,  sink  the  country  in 
anarchy,  and  thereby  open  the  way  for  some  ambitious  aspirant  to  rise  and 
curb  the  people  with  an  iron  yoke  ?  Who  is  not  willing  to  sacrifice  much 
of  his  feeling,  and  many  of  his  wishes,  to  avert  a  catastrophe  so  gloomy  ? 

The  state  of  a  sinner  is  like  a  beautiful  mill-seat  without  water,  or  like 
Jericho,  pleasantly  situated,  but  intersected  with  poisonous  streams. 

In  the  whole  vocabulary,  there  is  not  a  word  without  a  vowel ;  so  in  this 
world,  there  is  not  one  free  from  taint.  As  consonants  have  no  sound  with- 
out vowels,  so  religious  exercises  are  nothing  without  faith. 

It  is  easy  and  common  for  men  to  condemn  those  views  in  others,  which 
they  indulge  in  themselves. 

The  coming  of  the  Lord  draweth  nigh.  Behold,  the  Judge  standeth  at 
the  door.  The  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand.  This  I  say,  brethren,  the 
time  is  short.  It  is  the  last  time.  Surely,  I  come  quickly.  Let  these 
sayings  be  ever  in  my  mind,  to  chill  the  ardor  of  earthly  pursuits,  and  in- 
flame my  zeal  for  heaven. 

The  smallest  insect  can  as  well  understand  the  origin,  knowledge,  and 
designs  of  a  man,  as  the  greatest  man  can  understand  the  nature  and  works 
of  God.  He  has,  however,  revealed  what  he  requires  of  us,  and  what  he 
will  do  for  us. 

That  there  are  three  that  bare  record  in  heaven,  and  that  these  three 
are  one,  I  believe,  because  God  has  said  it ;  but  I  cannot  understand  it. 
So  1  believe  that  God  knows  my  thoughts,  but  cannot  conceive  how. 

They  two  shall  be  one  ;  how  can  that  be  ?  These  three  are  one  ;  is  it 
possible?  We  read  of  God,  and  the  Father,  Christ:  see  Eph.,  v.,  20; 
Phil.,  iv.,  20  ;  Col.,  i.,  3,  and  ii.,  2,  and  iii.,  17  ;  1  Thes.,  iii.,  2.  How 
are  these  texts  to  be  understood  ?  Who  is  God  before  the  Father  ?  Is  the 
Holy  Ghost  intended  ?     How  little  I  know  !  how  blind  I  am  ! 

Teach  me,  O  thou  blest  Redeemer, 

All  that's  best  for  me  to  know. 


ELDEE    JOHN    LELAND.  733 

I  AM  less  afraid  to  be  dead  than  I  am  to  die.  I  have  had  a  comfortable 
hope  for  sixty-six  years  that  my  sins  were  pardoned,  and  that  God  would 
accept  of  me  ;  but  I  find  so  great  want  of  goodness  in  me,  that  I  have  not 
the  assurance  that  many  possess. 

The  Lord  is  the  potter,  and  I  am  the  clay  ; 

He  saves  by  his  grace,  and  for  sin  casts  away. 

The  man  who  has  no  independent  stock  of  ideas  of  his  own,  is  never  at 
home,  but  always  wandering  abroad  to  collect,  but  he  who  has  furniture 
of  mind  is  ever  at  home,  except  when  he  is  among  those  who  have  more 
words  than  thoughts. 

Sometimes  ideas  are  starved  by  a  famine  of  words,  but  more  frequently 
drowned  by  a  flood  of  them. 

Contracted  ideas,  a  small  vocabulary,  and  words  poorly  selected  out 
of  it,  make  poor  oratory  :  but  profound  ideas,  properly  arranged,  and  ex- 
hibited with  well  chosen  words,  rightly  timed,  with  graceful  gesticulation, 
is  just  the  reverse. 

A  IS  a  man  of  deep  thought  and  great  caution.  Whenever  a  subject  is 
brought  forward  of  any  weight,  he  is  prepared  to  meet  it,  and  give  it  a 
luminous  elucidation  ;  but  he  governs  himself  so  prudently,  that  he  never 
speaks  untimely,  nor  too  long.  B  is  full  of  talk,  and  if  no  subject  is  pres- 
ent, he  will  hunt  around  until  he  starts  one ;  he  then  unites  with  others  in 
pursuit  of  it ;  but  after  the  chase  is  over,  no  settled  conclusion  is  formed. 
C  is  rather  empty  in  the  middle  and  upper  story,  but  has  a  free  outlet.  If 
words  were  to  be  valued  by  numbers,  he  would  be  very  rich  ;  but  if  by 
weight,  he  would  be  a  pauper. 

Written  standing  laws  are  the  legitimate  voice  of  the  people.  Com- 
mon law  is  the  stretch  of  power  of  the  judges.  Bar  rules  are  the  contri- 
vance of  lawyers.  Whatever  you  would  have  others  do  to  you,  do  you 
the  same  to  them,  is  the  law  of  Christ. 

If  God  formed  me  with  talents  to  be  an  expositor  of  the  holy  scriptures, 
I  have  criminally  neglected  to  improve  the  talents  which  he  gave  me ;  for 
now,  when  I  am  eighty-six  years  old,  I  have  not  the  least  understanding 
of  the  last  nine  chapters  of  Ezekiel ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  a  great  part 
of  the  Bible.  I  read  commentators,  but  remain  ignorant.  My  prayer  is, 
that  I  may  know  and  practise  the  truth,  but  I  remain  under  the  cloud,  grov- 
elling in  the  dark. 

I  AM  a  wonder  to  myself.  Very  frequently,  on  my  bed,  in  a  state  seem- 
ingly between  waking  and  sleeping,  my  mind  is  strangely  impressed  with 
a  lesson  of  words,  of  the  sublime  kind,  in  which  one  idea  after  another 
will  rise  to  the  amount  of  half  a  dudecimo  page,  which  I  am  never  able 


"734  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

fully  to  retain.  August  26,  1837.  Last  night  I  had  one  of  these  exer- 
cises, on  a  subject  less  sublime,  but  somewhat  amusing,  which  I  retain,  ard 
will  here  relate.  In  my  reverie,  I  was  reading  a  page  in  the  Bible,  and 
looking  at  the  foot  of  the  page,  I  saw  a  note  of  the  following  import.  This 
is  the  place  where  the  last  shoes  of  king  David  were  made :  the  fashion 
of  them  cannot  be  imitated  in  these  days.  They  were  a  foot  and  a  half 
long,  and  turned  up  six  inches  at  the  toe. 

What  can  David  mean  when  he  says,  "  Over  Edom  will  I  cast  out  my 
shoe  ?     Psalm  cviii.,  9. 

Let  a  cannon  ball  of  thirty-two  pounds  weight  go  from  the  mouth  of  the 
cannon,  in  a  straight  line,  and  meet  an  ounce  ball  coming  directly  against 
it,  would  the  ounce  ball  ever  stop,  although  carried  back  by  the  cannon 
ball,  in  an  exactly  contrary  course  ? 

Lbt  malice  and  envy  sit  judges  on  the  bench,  and  the  plea  of  truth  and 
reason  will  be  overruled. 

If  the  morals  of  a  man  are  correct,  it  is  not  easy  to  degrade  him  for  his 
belief,  although  his  sentiments  should  not  accord  with  public  opinion  ;  and 
if,  in  addition  to  good  morals,  he  possesses  humility  and  pious  zeal,  none 
but  those  who  are  envious,  proud  and  cruel,  will  seek  to  do  him  harm. 

When  two  or  more  nations  are  at  war,  the  peaceable  nations  profit  by 
it,  in  getting  better  sales  for  their  exports. 

When  an  old  man  is  telling  a  story,  or  a  tedious  historian  relating  events, 
they  have  so  many  episodes,  and  incidents,  that  the  main  question  is  lost 
sight  of.     This  embarrassment  attends  us,  when  we  read  the  book  of  Job. 

Our  needs  are  many,  our  dangers  imminent,  our  guilt  for  sin  is  heavy, 
all  of  which  should  prompt  us  to  constant  prayer,  that  God  would  supply 
our  needs,  secuie  us  from  dangers,  pardon  our  sins,  and  remove  our  guilt. 

In  human  actions,  be  drsl  just,  secondly  accommodating,  thirdly  merciful, 
then  benevolent  to  useful  institutions. 

A  woman's  smiles  are  hard  to  resist,  her  frowns  are  hard  to  bear,  her 
tears  are  irresistible. 

The  whole  creation  stands  with  open  volumes  in  her  hands,  to  prove 
the  eternal  power  and  Godhead  of  Jehovah.  His  natural  perfections  oT 
infinity,  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness,  are  revealed  in  the  book  of  crea- 
tion and  providence  ;  but  his  moral  character  of  holiness,  justice,  truth, 
and  grace,  are  knbwn  only  by  the  revelation  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Profound  silence,  in  many  cases,  carries  greater  conviction  than  log- 
ical argument,  adorned  with  all  the  passions  of  oratory,  and  decencies  of 
gesticulation. 


ELDER    JOHN  LELAND.  735 

Let  the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  every  one  be  secured.  State  rights 
not  infringed.  The  general  government  supported  in  all  its  constitutional 
powers. 

In  contemplating  ancient  things,  which  occurred  long  before  Moses,  my 
mind  is  led  to  suppose  a  case,  viz  :  a  section  of  Japheth's  posterity,  fifty 
in  number,  emigrated  and  began  a  new  colony.  Having  no  king  or  chief 
among  them,  every  man  did  that  which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes,  enjoy- 
ing their  natural  rights  in  the  fullest  extent.  Had  they  all  been  good  men, 
without  any  inclination  to  do  harm,  they  might  have  lived  in  that  happy 
state  of  freedom.  But  one  of  them,  with  a  club,  killed  his  neighbor. 
Two  of  them  combined  and  bound  another,  and  forced  him  to  serve  them. 
Three  formed  a  banditti,  and  forcibly  deprived  others  of  the  fruits  of  their 
labor.  By  these  overt  acts,  the  whole  colony  was  alarmed  ;  for  life,  lib- 
erty, and  property  were  all  in  jeopardy.  The  whole  assembly  convened 
under  a  tree,  and  formed  themselves  into  a  commonwealth,  founding  their 
government,  or  compact,  binding  themselveslo  defend  the  lives,  liberty, 
and  property  of  each  other.  Feeling  their  own  weakness,  seeinor  their 
dangers,  and  conscious  of  their  vicious  propensities,  they  let  sober  reason 
take  the  lead  in  forming  rules  for  their  safety,  called  a  code  of  laws. 

Tammeklane,  the  Scythian,  was  encouraged  in  his  enterprises  by  the 
following  incident.  He  saw  a  small  ant  tugging  at  a  lump  of  provi- 
sions, four  times  as  big  as  itself,  and  climbing  with  it  over  a  wall.  It  tum- 
bled back  thirty-nine  times,  but  the  fortieth  time  it  got  over  the  wall,  and 
secured  its  food. 

The  sybils  of  the  heathen,  the  alcoran  of  the  Turks,  the  tradition  of  the 
Jewish  rabbies,  the  writings  of  the  ancient  fathers,  the  decrees  of  councils, 
the  mandates  of  popes,  religious  creeds,  and  legislative  acts  to  define  and 
enforce  religion,  like  broken  china-ware,  are  worth  what  they  will  fetch. 

When  I  was  young,  the  mode  of  family  discipline  was  as  follows  : 
The  child  committed  a  trespass — ^the  parent  took  a  rod  to  chastise  with  • 
when  the  child  felt  the  smart,  and  began  to  cry,  the  parent  would  say  to 
the  child,  "  say  you  are  sorry  for  what  you  have  done,  and  promise  that 
you  will  never  do  so  again."  If  the  child  responded,  "  I  wish  in  my  heart 
I  had  not  done  it,  and  I  will  never  do  so  again,"  the  matter  closed  with 
one  additional  stroke  to  make  the  child  remember  his  promise,  which  the 
child  complied  with  until  the  next  time. 

The  better  the  cause,  the  blacker  the  character  of  the  apostate  and  be- 
trayer. 

Law  is  the  voice  of  sober  reason,  triumphing  over  unruly  passions. 
Licentiousness  is  the  disobedience  of  evil  propensities  to  reason  and  right. 


736  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

Many  lean  upon  the  Lord,  but  have  no  faith  in  his  testimony,  reliance 
on  his  promise,  nor  obedience  to  his  precepts. 

Small  incidents  that  fall  from  the  historian's  pen,  without  any  professed 
design,  often  give  the  searcher  after  truth  more  aid,  than  an  elaborate  nar- 
rative. 

A  AND  B,  were  intimate  friends,  and  bestowed  many  favors  upon  each 
other.  An  unhappy  event  dissolved  their  friendship,  but  their  minds  were 
so  philosophic  and  grateful,  that  they  never  forgot  nor  undervalued  the 
favors  received  of  each  other. 

The  rights  of  man,  and  the  submission  to  just  laws,  preserve  harmony ; 
but  the  claims  of  aristocrats,  and  the  licentiousness  of  the  people,  create 
confusion,  war,  and  destruction. 

Words  and  sentences,  like  every  thing  else  below  the  sun,  are  ever  on 
the  change  ;  those  expressions,  wliich  fifty  years  ago  were  chaste,  manly, 
and  significant,  are  now  considered,  rude,  low-lived,  and  insipid. 

My  hearing  is  poor,  my  eye  sight  is  dim,  my  appetite  small,  my  strength 
decayed,  my  prospects  gloomy,  and  what  shall  I  do  ?  Time  misspent  can- 
not  be  recalled,  bad  calculations  cannot  be  remedied,  the  calls  of  nature 
are  greut  and  constant,  and  my  means  of  supplying  those  calls,  are  con- 
fined, and  what  shall  I  do  ?  But  others  have  been  in  worse  circumstan- 
ces, and  if  my  state  is  not  as  forlorn  as  that  of  some  others  on  the  earth, 
nor  as  hopeless  as  with  some  in  the  other  world,  not  murmuring,  but  grati- 
tude should  fill  my  heart. 

When  Adam  was  driven  out  of  Eden,  wandering  about,  he  found  a 
mound  of  sand  ;  and  suspecting  that  gold  was  in  it,  he  spent  his  life  in 
squeezing  and  sifting  the  sand  ;  but  when  he  was  dying,  he  told  his  chil- 
dren there  was  no  gold  in  it.  His  children,  however,  in  succession,  down 
to  this  time,  regardless  of  the  admonitions  of  their  dying  fathers,  have 
been  sqeezing  and  sifting,  to  find  the  gold,  by  bringing  their  circumstances 
in  all  things  up  to  their  minds.  The  gold  of  contentment  and  delight,  is 
found  by  bringing  our  minds  down  to  those  circumstances,  which  the  Al- 
mighty metes  out  for  us.     'Tis  then  we  have  nothing  to  wish  or  to  fear. 

The  Bible  is  a  tissue  of  fine  materials,  curiously  interwoven.  All 
parts  of  the  natural  world  are  used  for  similitudes,  to  illustrate  the  things 
that  belong  to  the  spiriluai  and  invisible  world.  The  main  design,  is  to 
show  what  God  requires  of  men,  and  what  he  does  for  them. 

In  the  13th  century,  when  the  crusade  excitement  prevailed,  Robert 
Bruce,  of  Scotland,  determined  to  visit  the  Holy  Land,  and  aid  in  taking 
the  country  where  Christ  was  born,  wrought  miracles,  and  was  crucified, 


ELDER    JOHN     LELAND.  *  737 

out  of  the  possession  of  the  Turkish  infidels,  which,  at  that  time,  was 
thought  to  be  a  sufficient  atonement  for  all  sin.  But  as  he  was  taken  sick, 
and  could  not  go  the  military  pilgrimage,  he  gave  orders  to  have  his  heart 
taken  out  of  his  body,  after  he  was  dead,  perfumed  with  spices,  put  in  a 
silver  box,  and  sent  to  the  Holy  Virgin.  But,  by  misfortune,  the  messen- 
ger was  taken  prisoner  in  Spain,  and  the  heart  never  reached  where  Christ 
died  on  the  cross  •  of  course,  his  sins  were  never  pardoned. 

He  that  would  purchase  an  elective  office  with  money,  would  sell  the 
rights  of  the  people  to  reimburse  himself.  He  who  is  courting  office  from 
the  people,  will  profess  regard  for  their  good,  but  when  he  has  attained  his 
desire,  he  forgets  his  profession. 

If  laws  were  made  and  printed  without  technicals,  and  the  mode  of  ad- 
ministering them,  was  without  fiction,  v/e  should  not  hear  "  the  glorious 
uncertainty  of  the  law,"  so  much  applauded. 

If  you  would  rule  loell  never  rule  too  much. 

Many  laws,  and  long  parliaments,  make  not  rich. 

I  judge  it  not  possible  to  frame  a  government,  energetic  enough  to  do 
good,  and  yet  have  it  so  responsible,  but  that  Irusi,  in  some  of  its  branches, 
must  be  placed  in  some  of  the  agents.  To  make  the  ambition  and  cove- 
tousness  of  one,  a  check  to  the  ambition  and  covetousness  of  another,  will 
not  always  prevent  injustice,  fraud,  and  usurpation  ;  and  fines  and  punish- 
ments are  as  ineffectual.  Few  good  laws,  written  plain,  without  techni- 
cals, justly  administered,  without  fiction,  or  usurpation  of  the  rights  of  in- 
dividuals, not  disturbing  old  peaceable  customs,  would  tend  to  the  happi- 
ness of  society. 

It  is  a  hard,  persevering  work,  for  a  majority  of  the  people  to  get  the 
majority  of  official  power  out  of  the  hands  of  the  minority,  who  have  it  in 
possession.  A  majority,  of  numerical  and  physical  sti-ength,  is  kept  in 
subjection  by  an  aspiring  minority,  who  have  more  pride  and  cunning,  than 
philanthropy  and  honesty.     What  a  pity  ! 

It  is  difficult  to  find  a  man  who  does  not  possess  some  one  good  pro- 
perty, which  is  useful  among  men  ;  and  as  difficult  to  find  one  who  has  no 
defect,  which  he  wpuld  be  better  without. 

Thirteen  of  the  epistles  have  the  name  Paul  embodied  in  them.  That 
he  superintended  them,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  there  re- 
mains  no  doubt ;  but  it  is  probable  that  he,  sometimes,  had  copyists.  The 
token  which  he  gave  to  every  epistle,  was,  "  The  Grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  be  with  you,"  or  words  to  that  amount. 

The  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  does  not  give  the  name  of  its  author.  It  is 
most  generally  supposed  that  Paul  wrote  it ;  if  so,  why  did  he  withhold 

93 


738  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

his  name  ?  The  epistle  to  the  Galatians  is  called  a  large  letter,  but  con- 
tains only  3,087  words.  The  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  which  contains  6,893 
words,  it  is  said  to  be  a  letter  in  few  words.  If  Paul  wrote  both,  how  are 
we  to  understand  large  and  few  ? 

Honor  God  as  a  law-giver,  and  adore  him  as  a  redeemer. 

Tremble  at  his  power,  and  hope  in  his  goodness. 

Trust  in  his  wisdom,  to  direct  your  lot  in  life. 

If  he  crowns  you  with  weulih,  be  thankful,  if  with  poverty,  be  patient. 

My  views  of  God  are  so  obscure,  by  faith  in  him  so  low,  my  love  to  him 
so  small,  my  evil  propensities  so  many,  and  my  resistance  against  them  so 
weak,  that  the  balance  of  evidence  seems  against  me,  in  point  of  my  adop- 
tion ;  and  yet,  passing  strange,  I  remain  so  careless  about  my  future  des- 
tiny. 

The  greatest  opposition  (among  men)  that  I  have  met  with,  has  been 
from  preachers ;  among  the  people,  I  have  fared  better.  This  may  be 
one  reason  why  I  am  so  great  a  friend  to  democracy,  and  so  deadly  an 
enemy  to  aristocracy. 

Quick  perceptions,  depth  of  thought,  strength  of  memory,  clearness  of 
voice,  acceptable  words,  being  influenced  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  clothed 
with  the  garment  of  salvation,  are  characteristics  of  a  good  preacher. 

Can  causes  ever  be  diverted  from  their  natural  effects  ? 

When  meat,  and  drink,  and  clothing  are  taxed,  the  poor  man,  who  has 
only  one  lamb,  has  to  pay  as  much  as  he,  who,  like  Job,  has  fourteen  thou- 
sand sheep,  six  thousand  camels,  a  thousand  yoke  of  oxen,  and  a  thousand 
she-asses. 

Friendly  time  and  patience,  give  relief,  when  precipitant  legislation 
pulls  the  scab  off  from  the  sore,  before  it  is  ripe,  and  makes  it  bleed  afresh. 

If  a  president  appoints  his  successor,  how  docs  it  lead  on  to  an  elective 
king? 

Are  not  the  appointments  of  the  president  confirmed  or  rejected  by  the 
senate  ? 

Of  all  shapes  of  beauty,  images,  carvings,  paintings,  and  colorings,  that 
I  have  ever  seen,  none  equal  a  young  woman,  fully  grown,  well  formed, 
free  of  decay,  neatly  clad,  with  modest  piety  blooming  in  her  face  and 
eyes.  And  when  she  sings,  ai,d  makes  melody  in  her  heart  to  the  Lordi 
no  musical  band,  with  all  their  instruments,  can  equal  her  heavenly  sound. 

Eph.  v.,  20.  Giving  thanks  unto  God  and  the  Father,  in  the  name  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND.  739 

Phil,  iv.,  20.     Now  unto  God  and  our  Father  be  glory. 

Coll.  i,  3.  We  give  thanks  unto  God,  and  the  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

Coll.  ii.,  2.     The  mystery  of  God,  and  of  the  Father,  and  of  Christ. 

Coll.  iii.,  1.  Do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  giving  thanks  to 
God  and  the  Father,  by  him. 

1  Thes.  iii,  2.  Now  God  himself,  and  our  Father,  and  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  &c.  How  is  the  word  God  to  be  understood  in  these  six  places  ? 
Does  it  intend  the  Holy  Ghost,  mentioned  before  the  Father  and  Christ,  or 
what  does  it  mean  1 

Psalms  xxi.,  13.     Be  thou  exalted,  Lord,  in  thine  own  strength. 

Psalms  xc,  1.  His  right  hand  and  his  holy  arm,  hath  gotten  him  the 
victory. 

Isaiah  Ixiii,  5,  11,  12.  Mine  own  arm  brought  salvation  unto  me — that 
put  his  holy  spirit  in  him,  to  make  himself  an  everlasting  name. 

Acts  i,  7.     Which  the  Father  hath  put  in  his  own  power. 

Eph.  v.,  27.     That  he  might  jyresetit  it  to  himself. 

Rev.  xi,  17.     Thou  hast  taken  to  thee  thy  great  power,  &c. 

If  God  can  thus  operate  upon  himself,  why  not  the  incarnate  God  pray 
unto  himself?     Is  it  not  the  man,  who  prayed  unto  the  God  ? 

The  slave  trade,  in  purchasing  and  kidnapping  the  Africans  and  making 
slaves  of  them  in  America,  is  justly  condemned  by  every  benevolent  man  ; 
but  thousands  and  thousands  of  those  who  were  thus  treated,  with  their  off- 
spring, have  heard  the  gospel  and  received  its  blessings,  which  they  would 
not  have  obtained  in  their  own  land.  Men  should  never  do  evil,  that  ^ooci 
may  come  ;  but  when  they  do  evil,  God  can  overrule  it  to  good  purposes. 

Eccl.  vii,  10.  "  Say  not  thou,  what  is  the  cause  that  the  former  days 
were  better  than  these,  for  thou  dost  not   inquire  wisely  concerning  this." 

For  nearly  fourscore  years,  T  have  heard  a  continual  lamentation  among 
the  aged,  crying,  ^' O  tempora  f  O  mores  f"  (O  the  times!  O  the  man- 
ners !)  "  the  customs  and  manners  of  the  people,  are  greatly  depreciated 
from  what  they  were  when  we  were  young. 

Many  are  little  enough  to  be  big  in  their  own  esteem,  but  few  are  big 
enough  to  know  themselves  little. 

He  who  can  bear  praise  without  being  elated,  will  bear  reproach  with- 
out vexation. 

The  higher  a  man  rises  in  fame,  the  more  his  spots  can  be  seen. 

It  is  easy  to  see  defects  in  another,  but  hard  to  escape  them  ourselves. 

Precept  addresses  the  ear,  and  tells  how  we  should  behave.  Example 
appeals  to  the  eye,  and  shows  how  works  are  done  ;  but  such  is  the  oppo- 
sition of  the  human  heart,  that  precept  is  rejected,  and  example  disregarded. 


740  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

He  who  commands  a  man's  purse,  commands  his  soul.  Money  has  a 
powerful  influence  on  friendship,  politics,  and  religion.  If  money  was 
deprived  of  its  bewitching  charms,  a  great  part  of  what  is  called  religion, 
would  die  of  the  consumption. 

Must  ambition  of  office,  and  the  love  of  money,  dissolve  our  union  and 
destroy  our  rights?  That  kind  providence  who  has  watched  over  us  for 
good,  ever  since  we  have  been  an  indepe  dent  nation,  and  signally  de- 
livered us  in  the  darkest  hours,  I  hope  will  yet  deliver.  Wild  specula- 
tion has  labored  hard  to  make  something  out  of  nothing,,  but  failed  for  want 
of  stock. 

Our  vices,  as  individuals,  cry  aloud  against  us.  Our  contentions  anwng 
ourselves  have  no  just  excuse.  Our  ingratitude  for  the  exclusive  favors- 
we  enjoy  above  every  other  nation,  threatens  a  deprivation  of  those  favors. 
But  yet,  the  treatment  of  our  government  with  all  other  nations,  has  been 
concilatory,  and  morally  just.  The  United  States  are  setting  the  example 
that  moral  honesty,  and  good  faith,  is  as  sacred  among  nations,  as  it  is 
among  individuals.  And  will  the  supreme  governor  of  all  worlds  suffer 
the  nations  who  feel  power  and  forget  right,  to  crush  us  ?     I  hope  not. 

"  And  now  the  mighty  war  is  o'er."  Cool  reason  has  triumphed  over 
the  ambitious  insurgents.  Twelve  months  past,  1  had  dark  boding  fears 
that  there  was  not  patriotism  enough  in  the  United  States,  particularljt  in 
the  eastern  section,  to  withstand  the  encroachments  of  foreign  powers,  at 
the  expense  of  privations ;  but  those  fears  are  now  at  an  end.  The  ex- 
periment has  made  it  manifest,  that  as  fast  as  the  people  were  delivered 
from  the  impressions  of  false  alarms  and  false  statements,  they  have  ral- 
lied around  the  standard  of  their  own  government,  in  unusual  swarros. 
For  there  has  been  no  time  since  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  in  1789, 
that  a  greater  majority  has  appeared  in  favor  of  the  administration,  than 
at  the  present  era.  Let  this  attachment  continue,  and  we  have  little  to 
fear  from  foreign  nations. 

Any  subject,  act,  or  event,  that  is  worthy  of  record,  is-  worth  reading  j 
but  much  time  is  spent,  and  much  labor  lost,  in  writing,  printing,  and  read- 
ing, what  makes  men  neither  wiser  nor  better. 

M-any  dangers  I've  been  in, 
Many  troubles  I  have  seen, 
Many  wicked  paths  I've  trod, 
Yet  have  been  preserved  by  God. 

March  3,  1837.  This  day  closes  the  administration  of  Andrew 
Jackson,  who  has  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  public  services.  In 
the  command  of  an  army,  he  was  never  surprised  or  defeated.  His  vic- 
tories were  many,  and  that  at  New  Orleans  was  brilliant  to  admiration^ 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 


741 


As  president,  the  energies  of  his  mind  have  proved  sufficient  to  adjust 
every  hard  question,  and  expose  and  confute  all  conspiracies  formed  against 
him.  The  rights  of  the  people,  the  integrity  of  the  states,  and  the  char- 
tered powers  given  to  Congress,  he  has  adhered  to,  with  a  moral  courage 
that  has  astonished  the  world.  Under  his  administration,  the  debt  of  the 
nation  has  been  all  paid,  with  a  large  surplus  remaining,  monopolies  have 
been  cramped,  indemnities  obtained,  treaties  made,  land  purchased,  com- 
merce protected,  &c.  And  I  know  of  nothing,  that  a  people  may  reason- 
ably expect  from  good  government,  but  that  the  United  States  have  en- 
joyed under  his  administration.  No  calamity,  that  his  enemies  predicted 
would  attend  his  measures,  has  ever  appeared ;  and  every  good  that  his 
friends  looked  for,  far  beyond  their  expectation,  has  come  to  pass.  But 
now  his  work  is  over,  and  millions  are  exclaiming  : — "  well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant."  In  returning  to  his  longed  for  home,  he  will  carry 
with  him  the  good  wishes  and  gratitude  of  a  great  and  prosperous  people. 

The  first  seven  presidents  of  the  United  States,  had,  all  of  them,  an 
active  part  in  the  revolution  ;  but  that  generation  has  now  passed  away. 
To-morrow,  a  president  will  take  the  chair,  whose  knowledge  of  the  re- 
volution is  drawn  from  books.  Whether,  during  the  presidency  of  seven 
succeeding  presidents,  should  the  world  remain,  the  principles  of  demo- 
cracy will  be  as  dear  to  the  people,  and  as  much  adhered  to  by  men  in 
power,  will  be  known  hereafter.  Our  children  will  have  the  same  right 
to  change  their  government,  and  alter  their  laws  to  suit  themselves,  that 
we  and  our  forefathers  had.  If  they  choose  a  government  of  aristocracy 
and  hierarchy,  though  we  deprecate  the  change,  yet  we  acknowledge 
their  right. 

Jan.  6,  1841.  Gen.  Harrison  comes  into  the  presidency  by  an  over- 
whelming majority  ;  of  course,  the  greatest  part  of  the  people  are  pleased. 
If,  as  many  men  believe,  the  means  made  use  of  for  his  promotion,  have 
been  ridiculous,  false  and  deceptive,  degrading  to  any  country  that  looks 
for  respectability,  still  he  is  the  chosen  one.  I  will  acknowledge  him. 
For  him  will  I  pray.  But  whether  he  is  exalted  to  be  a  scourge  to  the 
United  States,  or  a  blessing  to  the  people,  I  leave  for  the  future  historian 
to  say.     I  am  no  prophet.. 


-42 


THE    WRITINGS    OF 


HYMN. 

"  Come,"  said  Moses,  "  and  go  with  us, 

We  will  join  to  do  you  good  ; 
Prospects  biit;ht  are  now  before  us, 

Thro'  the  promise  of  our  God. 
What  good  things  the  Lord  shall  give  us, 

We'll  impart  the  same  to  you  ; 
You  shall  share  the  land  of  promise. 

When  we've  passed  the  desert  through. 

"  Manna  shall  be  rained  from  heaven, 

To  supply  you  on  the  way  ; 
Horeb's  flowing  waters  given, 

For  your  comfort  every  day  ; 
If  by  fiery  serpents  bitten, 

Only  look  upon  the  pole  ; 
He  who  was  for  sinners  smitten. 

Freely  heals  the  poisoned  soul." 

We,  like  Moses,  now  invite  you, 

Sinners,  come  and  go  with  us ; 
You  will  gain  a  crown  of  glory; 

You  will  shun  an  endless  curse. 
Whv  put  off  until  to-morrow. 

Works  that  should  be  done  to-day? 
This  will  fill  your  hearts  with  sorrow, 

When  your  souls  are  called  away. 

Lingring  souls,  how  can  you  slumber, 

When  the  storm  is  at  the  door  ? 
Hark  !  and  hear  the  rumbling  thunder  ; — 

Soon  the  storm  of  Pre  will  pour. 
G  repent,  and  seek  salvation, 

Christ  stands  waiting  to  redeem  ; 
He  will  every  sinner  pardon. 

Who  believes  and  trusts  in  him. 

If  you  feel  your  hearts  lamenting, 

If  your  wills  are  rightly  bent, 
If  you  come  to  Chrisi  repenting. 

As  the  leprous  sinner  went. 
You  will  find  a  gracious  Saviour, 

Full  of  pity,  love,  and  grace; 
He  will  take  you  into  favor, 

And  salute  with  words  of  peace. 

"I  am  Jesus,  I  will  save  you; 

All  my  blood  your  souls  have  cost, 
Power  and  grace  shall  cleanse  and  keep  you  ; 

None  that  come  shall  e'er  be  lost, 
Go  and  tell  to  all  around  you. 

What  the  Lord  has  done  for  you ; 
Tell  them  if  their  hearts  are  broksn. 

They  will  find  a  Saviour  too." 

PART    SECOND. 

MosES  chose  to  bear  affliction 
With  the  humble  saints  of  God, 

Rather  than  the  wealth  of  Egypt, 
Golden  crown,  and  purple  robe. 


ELDER    JOHN    LELAND. 

Come,  good  people,  be  like  Moses, 
Choose  the  belter  part  to-day; 

Come,  for  all  things  now  are  ready  ; — 
Come  to  Christ  without  delay. 

Why  put  off  until  to-morrow  ? 

Dangers  thicken  all  around;' 
Length  of  time  increases  sorrow, 

Till  you  know  the  gospel  sound. 
Hark,  and  hear  the  blessed  Saviour, 

Hear,  for  now  he  calls  for  you; 
Will  you,  by  your  base  behavior 

Grieve  his  love — your  souls  undo? 

Oh,  ye  humble,  wrestling  Jacobs, 

Servants  of  the  living  God, 
Pray  for  sinners — pray  most  fervent, — 

Pray  and  plead  Mount  Calv'ry  blood. 
Christ  has  promised  to  be  with  you. 

While  this  mortal  world  endures  ; — 
Plead  his  promise — do  your  duly — 

tear  not  suffering — all  is  yours. 


LINES  WRITTEN  AT  THE  AGE  OF  83. 

Not  much  can  be  expected 

From  one  of  eighty-three, 
Who  h;is  not  much  collected, 

As  all  may  plainly  see, 
But  the  old  religious  story, 

That  Christ  for  sinners  died. 
And  laid  aside  his  glory, 

To  win  himself  a  bride. 

This  theme  resounds  in  heaven. 

And  echoes  through  the  earth, 
And  shows  how  sin's  forgiven 

And  sinners  sav'd  from  wrath; 
But  after  all  our  labor. 

We  find  the  saying  true. 
Without  the  blessed  Saviour, 

The  priest  can  nothing  do. 

But  O,  thou  great  Redeemer, 

A  promise  thou  hast  made, 
"I'll  be  with  you  fore /er, 

And  be  your  constant  aid  ;. 
As  long  as  years  are  rolling, 

The  gospel  trump  shall  sound, 
And  mysteries  be  unJb'dirg    . 

Of  boundless  love  .pikjjouad. . 

"  Then  go  and  preach  the  gosjiel, 

Nor  tear  what  ma;i  can ^05.;     •    .' 
In  doctrine  and  exataple, 

Be  faithful,  just,  and  true  ; 
From  highways,  lanes,  and  hedges,] 

Compel  them  to  come  in, 
Put  on  the  nuptial  badges, 

And  come  before  the  king," 


744  THE    WRITINGS    OF 

0  sinner!  be  awakened 

To  see  your  dreadful  state  ; 
Repent  and  be  converted, 

Before  it  is  too  late  ; 
To-day  you  are  invited. 

To-morrow  you  may  die. 
And  if  the  call  is  slighted, 

How  bitterly  you'll  cry. 

How  can  you  tarry  longer, 

And  waste  your  time  away'' 
The  enemy  grows  stronger, 

The  longer  you  delay: 
Now  is  the  time  accepted, — 

Repent  and  turn  about. 
Or  you  may  be  rejected. 

And  finally  cast  out. 


The  two  following  scraps  were  written  for  a  young  person  who  had  enjoyed 
the  comforts  of  a  lively  hope,  but  was,  at  that  titrc  laboring  under 
darkness  of  mind  : 

Must  I  forever  spend  my  years, 

In  darkness,  doubts,  and  gloomy  fears. 

No  comfort  for  my  breast? 
Eternal  God,  thy  power  display, 
Remove  my  guilt  and  fears  away, 
Vain  thoughts  subdue,  I  humbly  pray. 

And  give  my  spirit  rest. 
Come,  my  dear  Jesus,  fill  my  soul, 
O,  make  the  leprous  sinner  whole  ; 
Let  me  be  sure  of  pard'ning  love, 
Ere  death  my  spirit  shall  remove. 


I  AM  thinking  while  I'm  spinning 

Wh;it  the  Lord  has  done  fur  me  ; 
Did  1  make  a  right  beginning  f 

Was  my  soul  from  sin  set  free? 
Clouds  and  darkness  rise  before  me. 

Yet  I  cannot  give  it  up  ; 
Evil  thoughts  I  find  within  me. 

Yet  I  have  a  liitic  hope. 
D  my  Saviour,  look  With  pity, 

On  my  poor,  afflicted  soul, 
Speak  the  graciotis  word,  I  pray  thee, 

"  rio.  thy  fuitli  h-ath  made  thee  whole." 
Tell  me  (hat  my  sins  are  pardoned, 

Let  me  know  I'm  born  again  ; 
Keep  mv  heart  from  being  hardened 

Ttfoiifbdeceitfulness  of  sin. 


744  THE    WRITINGS    OP 

0  sinner!  be  awakened 

To  see  your  dreadful  state  ; 
Repent  and  be  converted, 

Before  it  is  too  late  ; 
To-day  you  are  invited, 

To-morrow  you  may  die, 
And  if  the  call  is  slighted, 

How  bitterly  you'll  cry. 

How  can  vou  tarry  longer, 


ERRATA. 


Page  36,  line.  2,  for  thne  rend  the\  page  A'S,  line  7  from  bottom,  for  Uva  read  litrs  ;  {>agc  ^I, 
line  18,  for  sufficient  read  self-evident ;  page  56,  line  7  I'rom  bottom,  for  paslonal  read  proper- 
Uanal ;  page  57,  line  2  from  bottom,  for  peaceful  read  powerful ;  page  53,  line  5  from  bottom, 
for  promixe  read  proviso;  page  61,  line  2,  for  now  read  non  ;  page  70,  line  21,  for  historical 
read  rhHorical ;  page  76,  line  13,  for  ranlis  read  ranlizo  ;  page  79,  line  25,  for  set  read  stcl ; 
page  89  fine  19  from  bottom,  for  Truint!lius  read  Ziiinalius  \  page  92,  Latin  phrase  farum 
read  parum;  page  94,  line  15  from  bottom,  for  Keithbiun  read  Keitkian;  page  110,  line  6.  for 
Supralapfarians  read  Supralapsariayts  :  page  1 10,  line  19  froifl  bottom,  for  Universalists,  Pro- 
risionisis  read  Universal  Provisionists ;  page  113.  line  6,  for  ctmfidini^  read  consitJerinff  ;  page 
129,  line  16, for  To-kee  and  Bo-ket  read  Tohii  and  Bo-hu\  page  129,  line  13  from  bottom,  for 
lurid  read  lucid  ;  page  136,  line  17,  for  cast  read  lastly  ;  page  158  line  8,  for  reasons  read  ptr- 
sons;  page  168,  hne  6  from  bottom,  omit  not ;  page  181,  line  2  from  bottom,  lor  investigation 
read  instifration  ;  page  193,  line  17  from  bottom,  ior  priest  read  prince  ;  page  194,  line  10  from 
bottom,  for  prai/  read  pay  ;  page  209,  2nd  verse.  3d  line,  for  bloom  read  blossom  ;  page  222, 
hne  18  from  bottom,  before  if  supply  if;  page  222,  line  9  from  bottom,  for  ibsum  read  ipsum  ; 
page  223,  line  19  from  bottom,  for  talk  read  ask  ;  page  224,  line  4,  for  wife  read  wise ;  page 
229,  line  6  from  bottom,  for  requested  read  required  ;  page  303,  line  15,  ior  fixid  read  six ;  page 
315,  line  3,  for  Samuel  read  Lemuel ;  page  325,  line  4,  for  this  read  throueh  ;  page  337,  line 
3  from  bottom,  for  receptive  read  preceptive;  page  338,  line  2  from  bottom,  for  sight  read 
.fight;  page  3.52,  line  8,  after  dratmng  supply  near:  page  392,  line  14,  lor  improved  read  t-m- 
ployed ;  page  403,  line  6  from  bottom,  after  when  insert  regal ;  page  426,  line  9  from  bottom, 
for  affluence  read  influence ;  page  482,  line  17  from  bottom,  lor  consecrated  at  Easton  read  con- 
secrates at  Easter ;' puge  511,  line  1,  for  flesh  read  fresh  ;  page  51 1,  line  19,  for  on  read  in  ; 
page  511,  line  13  from  bottom,  for  unreasonable  read  reasonable  ;  page  .529,  line  6,  for  indicted 
read  indited;  page  534,  line  5.  fi)r  conformation  read  confirmation  ;  page  56B,  line  7,  (or  per. 
itrf  read  prtv<Tit. 


"Go.  thy  ftfith  h^th  made  thee  whole." 
Tell  me  thar  rny  sins  "are  pardoned, 

Let  me  know  I'm  born  again  ; 
Keep  mv  heart  from  being  hardened 

Thfoii^hdeceiifuiness  of  sin. 


r 


DATE  DUE 

•■ ,  ^007 

MAY 

0  0  onn 

1 

1  Irn  1 

C  C  /LUU 

f 

i>t 

P2820 

37 

SFP 

17  200 

/ 

1 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  U.SA 

COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 


0039055833 


9  3a -5 


U538 


